Benn promises continued support for weapon destruction
The International Development Secretary has said that that the Government will continue to support efforts to tackle the supply and demand for small arms and light weapons.
Speaking to mark World Small Arms Destruction Day Hilary Benn said that in the past three years 300,000 weapons have been destroyed around the world as a direct result of UK actions.
Mr Benn said that: “There are an 639 million small arms and light weapons in circulation: more than one for every 10 people on the planet. Easy access to these weapons exacerbates conflicts, facilitates violent crime and terrorism, thwarts post conflict reconstruction and undermines long-term sustainable development.”
“The vast majority of current conflicts are being fought with these weapons, which kill over 300,000 people in conflict each year, cause at least three times as many injuries, and affect millions more indirectly through the 200,000 weapons related deaths each year in so called ‘peaceful’ societies.”
Mr Benn said that he believes that “The demand for small arms and light weapons stems, in part, from economic and physical insecurity” and that aside from polices to reduce availability, “we believe that by reducing poverty and encouraging development, we can counter people’s perceived need for such weapons.
“We have commissioned research into the impact of arms and armed violence on poverty, which will encourage donors and developing countries to integrate small arms issues into wider poverty reduction programmes.”
The International Development Secretary said that the UK will be pushing for agreement on minimum common international standards when the UN Programme of Action is reviewed in 2006.
The UK he said has provided £7.5 million to the UNDP Small Arms Reduction and Demobilisation Unit and funded a number of individual weapon destruction projects.
Control Arms, which campaigns for better controls on all weapons, is calling for international agreement on an Arms Trade Treaty. They warn that most of the arms used in conflicts originate from western countries, and are calling for common agreement to ensure that weapons do not fall into the hands of human rights abusers or unstable governments.
They claim that from 1998 to 2001, the USA, the UK, and France earned more income from arms sales to developing countries than they gave in aid, and call for real restrictions on sales.
Rebecca Peters, director of the International Action Network on Small Arms said: “It is conventional weapons that are the real weapons of mass destruction. It’s about time that governments put as much effort into controlling the arms trade as they do trying to stop the spread of WMD”
