UN 2017 Topic - The Proliferation of Arms
Last updated:The world is over-armed and peace is under-funded. Guns can be licensed, marked or confiscated; ammunition can be tracked, removed or destroyed; and depots can be guarded, cleared or secured,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The human suffering caused by the small arms & arms trade is large and global, including the denial of education and health, criminality, illicit plundering of natural resources, decreased trade and investment, violence against women and girls, gang violence and the collapse of the rule of law. These issues are made worse by widespread access to the weapons.
The excessive accumulation of arms had fuelled insecurity and conflict from Mali to Afghanistan, Nigeria to Syria and beyond. The increase in availability of small arms has led to a vast range of human rights violations — killings, rapes, enforced disappearances and torture, among them.
These are the weapons of the easy kill: the most portable, most easily accessible, most casual instruments of death.
Final papers and photos of the event are available upon request.