Small arms that have played big roles in
conflicts that killed, injured, and terrorized millions of people over
the last decade will be ceremoniously destroyed in several countries on
Monday, 9 July. The events will mark Small Arms Destruction Day and the
start of the UN
Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms,
taking place in New York, 9 - 20 July.
Together with UNDP, which supports programmes
to reduce the proliferation of small arms, Albania, Kosovo, Niger, and
the Solomon Islands will mark the day with events such as large public
bonfires of illicit weapons. The Philippines will hold an event later this
month.
UNDP also helped organize similar events prior to the conference, in the Republic of the Congo and Mali, that were filmed for a special video sponsored by the Netherlands to be shown at the UN on Small Arms Destruction Day.
The conference seeks to develop and strengthen measures to prevent and combat illicit small arms trafficking and manufacturing and to reduce excessive and destabilizing stockpiles and transfers of such weapons throughout the world.
The destruction of illicit small arms is a high-profile component of efforts by the UNDP Small Arms Reduction Programme to limit the availability of small arms in conflict-prone countries. Because they cause and perpetuate destructive conflicts, these weapons are a formidable obstacle to development, stagnating or reversing development efforts in countries where they are widely available.
"People don't think of illicit small arms as a huge global problem," according Robert Scharf, who heads the Small Arms Reduction Programme, "but more than 5 million people have been killed by small arms used in conflicts over the last decade. The use of these weapons has crippled economies and impoverished millions."
Mr. Scharf added that the Small Arms Destruction Day events will help raise global awareness of the problem of small arms and also help people in the countries where the events are held "feel that concrete efforts are underway to make their communities safer and the prospects for the future brighter."
To help limit the demand for small arms and their availability, UNDP works with governments and civil society groups to improve security and promote the rule of law. UNDP also supports reintegration of former combatants into society by providing job training and other income generating opportunities in return for handing in weapons.
UNDP is working to reduce the proliferation of small arms in Albania, the Republic of the Congo, Kosovo, Niger, El Salvador, and the Solomon Islands. New programmes are planned for Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes region of Africa, and Haiti.
The UNDP approach to curbing small arms, which puts the problem and solutions to it within the broader context of human development, is one of many aspects of the issue to be considered at the conference. UNDP cooperates with the UN Secretariat and a wide range of humanitarian agencies, as well as non-governmental organizations, in support of initiatives to confront the problem.
For more information, please contact Dan Shepard, UNDP Small Arms Reduction Programme, or Trygve Olfarnes, UNDP Communications Office