United Nations Preparatory Committee for the Second Conference to review progress made in the implementation of the UN Programme of Action to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects
19 March 2012
Thematic debate: Reviewing progress made in national, regional and global implementation
Statement by Ms Claire Elias
First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Australia to the United Nations
Australia joins others in thanking you in your capacity as Chair and your team for the highly industrious, transparent and consultative approach in preparing for this Preparatory Committee meeting for the Second Conference to review progress made in the implementation of the UN Programme of Action on small arms and light weapons (UNPoA).
From Australia’s perspective, we expect the Review Conference to 1) affirm the importance of the UNPoA, 2) evaluate of the implementation of the UNPoA and its impact, 3) identify areas of UNPoA implementation within its mandate for improvement and 4) map out a way forward to address these areas.
The UNPoA was developed by Member States, it is owned by Member States, therefore national implementation provides significant opportunities for gains in areas we have collectively deemed important. The UNPoA provides a comprehensive framework of mutually reinforcing elements to prevent the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons.
The Programme of Action remains relevant today. It requires a comprehensive approach to implementation.
The Review Conference should assess implementation of national measures such as adequate laws and offences, marking, tracing and record-keeping, transfer controls including requiring end-user certification, stockpile management and collection and destruction. Our own experience of national tragedy in 1996 led us to implement some of the strongest firearms laws in the world including tough penalties, compulsory registration and licensing, requirements for unique marking and compulsory record keeping, controls on import, export and transit, enforcement, and a collection and destruction program - more than 700,000 guns were surrendered and destroyed in two national firearms buybacks. A much more detailed outline of our implementation efforts can be found in our national report submitted online last week.
In our region we have also had notable successes in reducing the destabilising effect of illicitly-held small arms. In the Solomon Islands, for example, the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) removed 3,600 guns and 300,000 rounds of ammunition from the community during a 21-day firearms amnesty.
Since the amnesty, almost 4,000 additional firearms have been removed from the Solomon Islands community. Collection and destruction of illicitly held small arms remains an important task for States.
Australia believes that stockpile security and surplus disposal is an important issue for UNPoA implementation. There have been concerted efforts in our region. For example, the Australian Defence Force has assisted countries in the region with weapons storage, stock control and weapons management practices. Since 2002 Australia has partnered with PNG to build seven armouries at key PNG Defence Force bases. In 2011, Australia supported the first comprehensive weapons audit, which accounted for all weapons of the East Timorese Defence Force, and this year two armouries are being constructed in East Timor with Australian support. Stockpile security remans an important issue for many
member states. We believe there could be more done in our follow up to the Review Conference including exploring successes and best practices.
On this point, I note the non-paper that Japan has referred to today. We fully support this approach and believe the Review Conference should identify areas within the UNPoA mandate that require further attention and map out types and mandates for future intercessional meetings in the
next cycle to address these areas.
Australia’s biggest challenge in implementing the PoA has been the coordination of a number of national agencies and state jurisdictions. In our Federal system of government, the six State and two Territory governments have direct legislative responsibility for the control of firearms. Overcoming the challenges of consistency and coordination was important for the development of policy and legislation, and will continue to be important for ongoing law enforcement efforts. This is a good illustration of the fact that developed and developing countries face interagency coordination challenges. It is something that we all face and have to work on. In this context, in February 2012, the Australian Crime
Commission began developing a contemporary national intelligence assessment of the illicit firearm market in Australia due for completion in July 2012.
We will address international cooperation and assistance later in the week. However, in discussing national implementation it is important to note that effective implementation requires states in a position to do so, to provide assistance to developing countries to enable national measures to realize the benefits of the UNPoA. Australia is committed to its responsibilities to provide financial and technical assistance. I also note the initiative of NAM to submit a non-paper on international cooperation and assistance – as a donor we welcome substantive exchanges in this area.
Regional organisations and networks have played an important role in facilitating and reinforcing national implementation efforts. As States increasingly cooperate with their regional partners, and as regional organisations strengthen in terms of credibility, mandate and resources, regional implementation will contribute even further to the UNPoA. Regional organisations provide a constructive forum to share lessons learned
and best practices among countries with common interests and similar circumstances.
Regional organisations also play a crucial role in facilitating legal harmonisation, tracking and tracing, customs and enforcement cooperation, particularly relevant where borders are porous.
Australia is committed to working with our neighbours, regional organisations and with civil society to address the challenge of small arms proliferation in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. In partnership with the Pacific Islands Forum and Oxfam Australia, Australia recently hosted a Pacific Regional Workshop to enhance support for the UNPoA and strengthen its implementation. The workshop highlighted the value of
regional implementation activities under the UNPoA, emphasised the potential benefits of allowing for regional reporting arrangements and also stressed the importance of identifying National Points of Contact. A number of concrete outcomes and recommendations are being finalised by Pacific countries and a PIF regional statement this week will provide more details on our views on regional cooperation.
Australia is also engaged in efforts to encourage knowledge sharing between small island countries in the Caribbean and the Pacific, and sees value in this cross-regional exchange.
Despite geographic distance, these small island developing states share very similar experiences, face comparable vulnerabilities and capacity challenges. Our experience has shown us that there are significant opportunities for regional cooperation to strengthen UNPoA implementation, there are also important lessons that we can share among regions, and more that regions can do together. Looking ahead, Australia considers that regional cooperation merits further attention and exploration.
At the global level, the UNPoA must have the full support of Member States to enhance its implementation, and to strengthen its integration in the UN system. States should endeavour to utilise the PoA-ISS, the online reporting template, and the matching needs with resources tool and we should commit ourselves to providing feedback for their ongoing improvement.
Australia is fully committed to utilising and supporting these tools. We have submitted our national report electronically. We have made a significant contribution to the UNDP voluntary sponsorship fund to enable developing countries to participate in these UNPoA meetings so that UNPoA discussions are inclusive, and the outcomes are practical and effective to those countries particularly facing the problem of small arms and light weapons illicit trade.
Along with effective implementation of the UNPoA - the negotiation of a strong, robust, and legally binding Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is key to addressing the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons. A strong ATT will significantly contribute to achieving some of the goals of the UNPoA but it will not and cannot replace it. The Review Conference should be able to take stock of the complementarities and distinctions of
these parallel processes and look for ways for these two UN processes to operate closely and to avoid the burden of duplication.
Much has been done to tackle the challenge of brokering – the Group of Governmental Experts in 2007 demonstrated the size and dimensions of this challenge. To increase awareness of the measures to combat brokering Australia has co-authored with Republic of Korea the biennial General Assembly resolution on “Preventing and combating illicit brokering activities” at UNGA 65 and UNGA 63.
The Second Review Conference of the Geneva Declaration held in October last year highlighted small arms control as an effective means to reduce armed violence. States agreed to strengthen their efforts to integrate armed violence reduction and conflict prevention programmes into national, regional, and multilateral development frameworks and strategies.
We see value in considering how the UNPoA could better coordinate and integrate with the emerging global security and development agendas, including disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, armed violence, and transnational crime. An indication of the links across these agendas and the benefits that can come from integration, was provided in UN Security Council Resolution 2017 on Libya, which integrated conflict prevention, terrorism prevention, and small arms and light weapons issues including MANPADS into a UN special political mission and arms embargo. Australia believes that the International Small Arms Control Standards will facilitate enhanced coordination and mainstreaming of the small arms best practices into these agendas. Australia has provided significant support to the development of these standards.
Australia hopes that some of these assessments, achievements, lessons learned and challenges that I have identified today will help in approaching the issues for the Review Conference, and in refining some of the elements of the outcome document. We stand ready to assist you and your team, and all members states here to achieve a strong outcome in September.
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Thematic debate: Implementation, international cooperation and assistance
20 March 2012
Statement by Ms Claire Elias
First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Australia to the United Nations
International cooperation and assistance is vital to ensuring all States can realise the intended outcomes of the UN Programme of Action (UNPoA), including reduced armed violence and fatalities, greater stability and improved conditions for enduring developing.
Australia is committed to fulfilling its responsibilities under the UNPoA to provide financial and technical assistance. In 2010, we acted as facilitator on these issues at the fourth biennial meeting of states. At that meeting, States agreed on a number of additional measures on international cooperation and assistance. These included sharing knowledge and expertise on the implementation of the UNPoA, enhancing cooperation
and increasing inter-agency coordination nationally, regionally and internationally, including with existing organizations and structures, recognising the role of the UN in building capacity to identify, prioritise and communicate assistance needs and public awareness campaigns on small arms and light weapons.
Through our aid program, Australia provides bilateral assistance to a range of small arms programs including in PNG, Tuvalu, DRC and Somalia. We support programs that complement small arms control activities by building sustainable government institutions, improving service delivery, and strengthening community capacities to resolve conflicts without reverting to violence. As part of our integrated approach to reducing and preventing armed conflict, we are supporting policing, legal, judicial and penal systems in Timor-Leste, Tonga, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Cambodia.
Australia believes that improving the mechanisms of international cooperation and assistance could deliver significant gains. Based on our experience, we would like to provide a few preliminary areas which the Review Conference could explore:
• Consideration should be given to enhancing the measurability of implementation and evaluating the effectiveness of cooperation and assistance, to ensure that resources are being allocated wisely and also to gain a better picture of which activities are working well and could provide useful precedents for other countries and regions. Australia funds analyses of UNPoA implementation to improve its effectiveness, including by UNIDIR and Small Arms Survey, and we would support the call in the NAM paper for continued studies on the financial and technical needs of developing
countries for the full implementation of the UNPoA.
• Strengthening mechanisms to help match needs and available resources. Australia utilised the POA-ISS tool to match our funding with the needs of the DRC. This is a valuable mechanism, but it will require refining so that it is accessible to both developed and developing states, and clearly articulates needs. The tool is also important for matching resources with regional needs.
• We need to improve the identification and articulation of national needs – through needs assessments and improved self assessment tools. However, we don’t necessarily believe that the way to do this is in national reporting – the burden of reporting is already significant.
• Mapping of donor expertise and improving understanding of donor requirements – there are certain requirements that we are required to fulfil not least relating to sustainability of outcomes and integration with development programs. Here, the work with OECD DAC guidelines has been important.
• At the Pacific Regional Workshop in Brisbane last month, Australia and other Pacific countries noted the importance of identifying national points of contact – these contact points are well positioned to identify and communicate priority areas for assistance from partners. Many national points of contact face resource constraints and competing priorities (in other words, being the national point of contact on small arms might not be their only role), and consideration could be given to providing specific tools and training to national points of contact to better equip them for the task, including with regards to national coordination.
• Ensuring the ongoing availability and effectiveness of the UNDP voluntary sponsorship fund to assist developing countries participate in all UNPoA meetings. Australia has been a significant contributor to this facility ($375,000 in the last review cycle). We call on others to contribute to this facility because it fosters inclusiveness, builds capacity and expertise, it broadens ownership and enhances implementation.
• Better integrating the UNPoA with other global security and development agendas, including disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, armed violence, transnational organised crime and drug trafficking and governance reform so that small arms programs are mainstreamed and the outcomes are sustainable.
• There are potential opportunities in the implementation of the International Small Arms Control Standards which will streamline policymaking, programming and practice on small arms control across the UN system of organizations. Australia has committed over $350,000 to support the development of the International Small Arms Control Standards.
• The establishment of trust fund arrangements, under the auspices of the United Nations, as suggested in the NAM working paper is a proposal that we believe merits further discussion.
• Given the broad agreement that international cooperation and assistance under the UNPoA requires more attention, and its cross cutting nature in addressing national, regional, global implementation, we recommend that international cooperation and assistance remain the focus for follow up action in the next cycle.
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Thematic debate: Follow up to the Review Conference on the Programme of Action
21 March 2012
Statement by Ms Claire Elias
First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Australia to the United Nations
Ahead of the Review Conference later this year, Australia looks forward to considering, with others, what further needs to be done within the UNPoA mandate to strengthen implementation.
Australia supports the approach in Japan’s working paper. Specifically, Australia would like to see the Review Conference identify a small number of areas on which to focus efforts in the next review cycle as a means of strengthening implementation. We do not think that this will detract from the implementation of other areas. We have said in previous statements that we consider that stockpile management and surplus disposal,
regional organisations and international cooperation and assistance are important areas for follow up action.
The Review Conference should consider the appropriate frequency and nature of UNPoA meetings to be held over the next cycle – it should provide us with something that is structured and predictable – this particularly helps states with limited resources and capacity challenges. We agree with Japan’s approach in having the Review Conference map out the types and mandates of future meetings – to maximise the effective and efficient use of the next review cycle.
We will need to get the balance right between expert and political meetings. We greatly valued the Meeting of Governmental Experts last year and we would support more exchanges between experts. Ideally we could keep the BMS title, because this is in the UNPOA instrument, but ensure expert participation. We will need to work at this, ideally with a directive mandate. Expert meetings obviously feed into political commitment.
The main thing is that these meetings should facilitate exchanges of views, lessons learnt and expertise, have clear objectives and outcomes and over time build improved understanding of and commitment to the UNPoA.
If we are looking at expert discussions, then we need to also take into account the pros and cons of MGEs and the meetings of Groups of Governmental Experts (GGEs). We note that the MGE format is useful because it involves all States, and this has a number of benefits, not least that the meeting outcome has better potential to take into account the challenges of all States, and therefore the outcome may be more practical and reflective of the issues of the ground. Meanwhile, a GGE format includes a smaller subset of States and is useful for exploring specific technical matters and testing their elements and feasibility before going open ended.
Building on the BMS4 outcomes follow-up section, Australia supports the following steps that would have merit in facilitating all meetings of the UNPoA:
• Early identification of the chair-designate
• Early development of meeting agendas in consultation with member states
• Support for increased engagement by all relevant actors, including as appropriate voluntary sponsorship programs, such as the UNDP voluntary sponsorship fund, to which Australia has contributed.
We have seen the positive impact of these early actions from your own preparations for this Preparatory Committee and Review Conference – we would like to see this institutionalised. Beyond the follow up cycle, as raised by the delegation of the Netherlands yesterday, Australia sees some benefit in exploring the idea of an “implementation plan” from the Review Conference. The concept of an action plan or implementation plan has been developed and used by States in the context of other international instruments. This would be ambitious for the Review Conference, but the plan could assist states in unpacking, in a clear step-by-step way, a concrete approach to implementing their respective commitments under the instrument.
Thank you Madam Chair.
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Thematic debate: International Tracing Instrument (ITI)
21 March 2012
Statement by Ms Claire Elias
First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Australia to the United Nations
Australia would like to echo other comments today that there is great potential to eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons through implementation of the ITI, but much more needs to be done to realise that potential. The constructive discussions by experts at the first Meeting of Governmental Experts in 2011 highlighted a number of implementation challenges in relation to marking, record-keeping and tracing. In this context, Australia sees that the Review Conference later this year could consider how some of these challenges can best be addressed.
Australia is a strong supporter of the tracing requirements of the ITI. Tracing is a fundamental part of prosecution and law enforcement to prevent the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. Australia believes that effective tracing relies on unique marking, firearms registration, and accurate and comprehensive firearms records. The Review Conference should assess the implementation and impact of these measures.
More broadly, we expect the Review Conference to affirm the importance of, and ways to better implement, strong legal and administrative frameworks at the national level but also across various internal jurisdictions. We should exchange best practices to improve whole-of-government implementation across multiple jurisdictions. Given the transnational nature of illicit trade in firearms, tracing relies on strong international
cooperation and timely processing of requests between countries. We hope that the Review Conference can consider ways to strengthen law enforcement cooperation, as well as greater utilisation of useful electronic tracing tools, including E-trace, and databases.
The Australian Crime Commission (ACC) undertakes serial number tracing of illicit firearms and handles requests for such traces from both domestic and international agencies. Working with partner agencies, the ACC’s illicit firearm tracing capacity only very recently assisted in the disruption of a major firearm trafficking ring which was illegally importing handguns into Australia from Europe. This shows that illicit small arms trade affects us all, and the importance of tracing.
To further enhance our domestic system we are conducting a national intelligence assessment to include trace data analysis to assist in developing an understanding of the Australian illicit firearm market. The recent disruption reinforces the need for such an assessment. We hope to be able to share key aspects and indicators of this assessment to assist others in their own self assessment of this challenge.
Australia continues to review and implement the ITI in parallel with taking steps towards ratification of the Firearms Protocol, and in relation to existing marking practices. We support the implementation of marking and tracing mechanisms that are clear, implementable and practical and in pursuit of this we need to enhance linkages between the work of UNODC, the Firearms Protocol and the ITI.
Looking at enhancing implementation in the next review cycle, we suggest the same principle that we have heard many times this week in relation to the UNPOA, and that is that we perhaps unpack the ITI and identify focus areas that experts from States could explore. We would see value in the Review Conference providing the opportunity for States to explore the continuing challenges faced in relation to import marking, such as
forgery and challenges associated with the marking of firearms of some materials, for example polymer frames.
Australia fully supports the calls by some delegations today for enhancing implementation of the ITI in post conflict situations. On this point, I draw attention to the efforts by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in this area, as the distinguished representative of the DRC outlined yesterday. This is a very good example of a well structured phased approach to the different international assistance dimensions of implementing the ITI and the UNPoA, including the provision of equipment as well as capacity building. This program was made possible through the useful ‘matching needs
with resources’ tool.
Thank you.