PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR THE 2001 UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON THE ILLICIT TRADE IN SMALL ARMS AND LIGHT WEAPONS

General Debate

Statement by Mr Rod Smith, Counsellor

28 February 2000

Mr Chairman

Today we begin the formal process which will lead to the 2001 United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects. Through the 2001 conference, we can make a real contribution to reducing the devastating humanitarian, social and economic effects of the spread, misuse and destabilising accumulation of small arms and light weapons - to making the world safer for millions of people.

We are all aware of the gravity of the small arms problem. Over 90% of the victims of the use of small arms are civilians - women and children account for 80% of the casualties. Of the 49 major conflicts since 1990, small arms and light weapons were the only arms used in 46. The lives of civilians - often women and children - in the conflict-affected regions of Africa or Europe or Asia or the South Pacific, are threatened by the ready availability of transportable, easily concealed, lethal weapons. Over the period leading up to the 2001 conference, we must not lose focus of the overriding objective of our efforts - to help people under threat to enjoy safe and productive lives.

The small arms problem is complex and multi-faceted. It encompasses a diverse range of issues, including personal and national security, arms control, disarmament, law enforcement, development, legal, governance and human rights, and lawful recreational use of firearms, which present specific challenges. These challenges cannot be addressed effectively in a simple or all-encompassing manner. Australia believes that coordinated, complementary efforts at national, regional and international levels will help generate an effective global response to the small arms issue.

So far, the most proactive efforts to address the small arms problem have occurred at the regional level. Initiatives such as the EU's Code of Conduct and "Joint Action", the ECOWAS ban on the production, import and export of small arms, and the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials, are examples of innovative and positive efforts which provide a framework for more concerted action at the broader, international level.

In Australia's region there have been positive developments also. For example, members of the ASEAN Regional Forum are giving consideration to holding a regional experts meeting to discuss transnational crime issues, including small arms, and a sub-committee of the South Pacific Chiefs of Police Conference, within the South Pacific Forum, is developing a common regional approach to weapon control. But in some respects the Asia Pacific has been slow off the mark. It is a priority for Australia to increase the profile of the small arms issue in the Asia Pacific region, by encouraging further work in regional forums and by encouraging regional countries to contribute positively to the 2001 conference process, including the prepcoms. This priority and other actions taken by Australia at the national, regional and international levels to address the problems posed by small arms are outlined in Australia's small arms policy, which was released in July 1999.

Regional initiatives, and others such as the negotiations in Vienna for a Protocol on Illegal Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, have laid the groundwork for more effective international action on small arms. Participants at the 2001 conference should draw on and build upon this framework. But it is important that the 2001 conference not simply duplicate what is going on elsewhere. The 2001 conference should add value to present international efforts. This could involve, for example, the development of an international plan of action establishing regional or international norms with provisions on export controls, brokering, marking, transparency, information exchange, and disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of ex-combatants. The core aim of these norms would be to ensure more effective regulation of the illicit small arms trade - to stop small arms from ending up in the hands of those willing to use them nefariously, and often with impunity.

By agreeing to hold the 2001 international conference, the international community has shown its commitment to putting in place concrete measures to reduce the humanitarian and socio-economic damage caused by small arms. Governments, NGOs and civil society must work together to ensure this commitment yields results.

Thank you Mr Chairman.