Political leaders have a historic opportunity to place human rights and humanitarian aims above self-interest and profit when final negotiations to regulate the global arms trade begin today at the United Nations, campaigners from across the world said.
News & Media
Artists write to UN leader Ban Ki-moon on “a matter of life and death”
International artists including Keira Knightley, Yoko Ono, Scarlett Johansson, Coldplay, Tim Roth, Annie Lennox and Kevin Spacey have joined forces to demand governments take immediate action to help improve regulation of the international arms trade.
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Piecing it all together: Why the Arms Trade Treaty must regulate parts and components
Modern weapons and military equipment cannot be made or maintained without the parts and components that are traded around the world in a globalised market. Without regulating this trade alongside the trade in complete weapons, it will be impossible to reduce the impact of irresponsible arms transfers on human rights, security, and development. Between 2008 and 2011, the global trade in parts and components was worth at least $9.7bn. This vast stockpile of weapons parts ranged from high-end components for aircraft to parts for small arms and light weapons (SALW). Without this huge movement of parts and components, the arms trade as we know it could not exist.
Sales of parts for weapons must be as tightly regulated as sale of weapons themselves
The prospective new international Arms Trade Treaty must regulate the sale of parts and components being used to maintain or manufacture deadly weapons and military equipment, according to a new report by Oxfam.
NZ can take lead on halting unfettered global arms trade
Next month, UN member states will gather to negotiate what might be the most important international agreement you’ve never heard of: the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). In a world with tight international regulation of everything from apples to iPods, it’s hard to believe there are no global controls on the international arms trade. The ATT seeks to remedy this by establishing common minimum standards for international arms transfers.
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Rio 1992 connected the environment and development. Rio +20 looks like splitting them up
The Rio+20 Summit will fail if it agrees to current proposals, which risk worsening the divide between environment and development efforts, warned anti-poverty and environmental campaigners today.
