New York - America — The African Group at the United Nations has launched an appeal for closer international cooperation towards the realization of the dream of a safer world devoid of small arms and light weapons through a sustainable programme that will incrementally reduce its availability and ultimately ensure their elimination.
An official in Nigeria's Permanent Mission to the UN, Mr. Lawrence Olufemi Obisakin, launched the appeal on behalf of the group during the Fourth Biennial Meeting of States to consider the implementation of the Programme of Action (PoA) to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons held on 14th June 2010 at the UN Headquarters in New York. Mr. Obisakin said the dream can only be realized through concerted international action by UN Member States, noting with satisfaction the development and implementation of various legally binding instruments within the different sub-regional groupings and the encouraging successes at national and regional levels in addressing the scourge. He then suggested the harmonization of the various instruments as this will aid the monitoring of compliance with the UN programme of action.
Earlier, the Ambassador of Mexico, Mr. Pablo Macedo, restated the message that "small arms in the wrong hands destroy lives and livelihoods, impede peace efforts, hinder humanitarian aid, facilitate the illicit trade in narcotics and obstruct investment in people". The envoy who had conveyed the same sentiments in an earlier letter to Member States described the programme of action as a global shared responsibility to increase security and foster development for all.
He pledged to work with all States and regions to ensure that the upcoming biennial meeting achieved substantial success. In his comments, the High Commissioner for Disarmament Affairs, Mr. Sergio Duarte, drew attention to the devastation still being wrought by the illicit trade in such arms and manifested in "youth gangs terrorizing a neighbourhood; pirates capturing commercial vessels - including oil tankers; armed groups attacking peacekeepers; insurgents fighting government forces; drug lords randomly killing law enforcers or anyone interfering with their unlawful business and bandits hijacking humanitarian aid convoys". Citing earlier comments by the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki Moon that identified major limitations of the programme of action as the lack of measurability and specific numerical targets, Mr. Duarte challenged participants to come up with innovative ways to achieve measurability, acknowledge the value of web-based information platforms and match needs with available resources.
The Biennial Meeting of States is a biennial meeting of UN Member States to evaluate the level of implementation of the various provisions of the programme of action. The ECOWAS delegation is led by retired Major General Charles Okae, the Director of Peacekeeping and Security. The meeting ends on Friday, 18th June 2010.
