Control Arms
Photo: Crispin Hughes/Oxfam
The unregulated arms trade is fuelling conflict, poverty and human rights abuses worldwide. Oxfam joined the Control Arms campaign in 2003 to call for a global, legally binding Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).
Did you know?
- 1,000 people a day are killed because of armed violence
- 26 million people have been forcibly displaced because of armed conflict
There are around 30 conflicts raging around the world right now, all fuelled by the uncontrolled arms trade.
Time for an Arms Trade Treaty
No legally binding rules exist that cover the international arms trade. As a result arms often end up in conflict zones where they’re used to perpetrate human rights abuses.
Every day thousands of people around the world are killed, injured, raped or forced to flee their homes because of the unregulated global arms trade.
Since it started in October 2003, Control Arms has gathered the support of over one million people around the world. In June 2006 the “Million Faces” petition was presented to Kofi Annan. And in December of that year 153 out of 192 countries voted in the UN general assembly to start work on an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).
On 30 October 2009 at the United Nations, after years of discussions and debates, most of the world’s governments agreed on a timetable to establish a Treaty with the “highest possible common international standards” to control international transfers of conventional arms. Negotiations on the Treaty terms began in July 2010 in New York, leading up to a conference in 2012 where we hope member states will develop, sign and ratify an International ATT.
Oxfam attended the UN conferences in July 2010 and February 2011 to encourage the nations of world to establish a treaty that is workable, enforceable, and holds governments to account. Follow the world's progress on forming a treaty.
Watch the video - Dying for Action
Find out more
- Read the report Brokers Without Borders - How illicit arms brokers can slip through gaps in the Pacific and international arms control system
- Read the report Dying for Action - Why the world needs an arms trade treaty.
- Read the report National Implementation of the proposed Arms Trade Treaty: A Practical Guide
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