After three weeks of campaigning in New York and three years of campaigning around the world, the Control Arms campaign achieved a massive victory at the end of last month, when the UN General Assembly’s First Committee passed a resolution to start work on an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).
Find out more about the resolution and Control Arms activities at the United Nations
In a highly significant display of support for establishing common standards on the international arms trade, 116 governments from around the world had officially endorsed the resolution entitled 'Towards an Arms Trade Treaty' before it was voted on.
The resolution subsequently received resounding support with 139 governments out of 164 voting in favour. Governments now have an opportunity to create a treaty that will help make a real difference to the hundreds of thousands of people whose lives are devastated by armed violence every year.
Specifically, the resolution commits the UN to set up a Group of Governmental Experts to establish the basis for "a comprehensive, legally-binding instrument establishing common standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms" - an Arms Trade Treaty. There is still a long way to go until the treaty comes into effect, but this is an enormously important first step and progress on this resolution has been very quick in UN terms.
Visit www.controlarms.org for more information
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