It is eight years since a UN treaty on the trade in arms came into force. As the world meets in Geneva this week to assess progress and pathways for the treaty, a look back reveals mixed results to date.
The 2013 Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) was the culmination of protracted negotiations over agreed common standards regulating the conventional arms trade, and reducing the flow of unregulated arms. However, among the top 25 arms exporters in 2020, eight were not ATT parties, yet represented 62 per cent of recorded exports. One hundred and eleven nations are party to the treaty; the ATT absentees include the United States, Russia, and India.
Yet viewed positively, the treaty to restrict arms proliferation and gender-based violence has strengthened and legitimised local and international advocacy to end human rights violations. When it comes to gender-based violence, small arms and light weapons are the most utilised — much of them diverted and transferred illicitly from official trade shipments. The ATT has allowed the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to repeatedly recognise the detrimental impact of this weaponry upon women and girls.
