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Key dates
For more details on all these events, see the archives in our Events and Media sections.
| 2010 | States must start negotiations on an effective Arms Trade Treaty. The world can't wait. |
| 2009 | The Open Ended Working Group meets twice and discusses the potential content of an ATT. Many states reaffirm their view that international human rights law, IHL and socio-economic development must be central to the treaty. |
| Dec 08 | The UN General Assembly establishes an Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) for all UN Member States to further consider aspects of an eventual ATT, and that work should continue on an ATT within the UN. |
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2008 |
The Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) established by the UN Secretary-General meets three times. The GGE agrees that UN Charter principles must be central to an ATT and that work on an ATT should continue within the UN. |
| 2007 | The UN Secretary-General consults states on the ‘feasibility, scope and draft parameters of an Arms Trade Treaty.’ It is the most successful exercise of its kind within the UN, as 101 states submit their views. The majority of states call for a comprehensive treaty based on international human rights law and international humanitarian law (IHL). |
| Dec 06 | Following intense lobbying from Control Arms, an overwhelming majority of the world’s governments (153) vote to start work towards a global ATT |
| Oct 06 | Seven states co-author a General Assembly resolution to begin work on an Arms Trade Treaty at the UN. |
| June 06 | After three years of campaigning, the Million Faces petition, including photos of one million people around the world demanding an Arms Trade Treaty, is handed over to United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Kofi Annan. |
| Oct 05 | The European Union announces its support for the ATT |
| July 05 | Thirteen more governments (Benin, Colombia, Germany, Ghana, Guinea, the Netherlands, Norway, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Spain, Turkey, Uganda and the Vatican) announce their support for the ATT |
| Mar 05 | Launch of Women Under Fire, showing how women are paying an increasingly heavy price for the dangerously unregulated trade in weapons |
| Jan 05 | A Control Arms report on the marking and tracing of weapons shows that it’s easier to track a GM tomato or a suitcase than an AK47 or rocket launcher |
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Nov 04 |
A group of 20 Nobel Peace Laureates restate their support for an ATT |
| Sept 04 | The UK government announces its support for the ATT |
| June 04 | Governments are shown to be sacrificing development goals for arms exports, in the report Guns or Growth |
| Feb 04 | Release of Guns and Policing, a report calling for strict rules on the use of firearms by law enforcement officials |
| Dec 03 | The governments of Brazil, Cambodia, Mali, Macedonia, Costa Rica and Finland announce their support for the ATT |
| Oct 03 | Launch of the Control Arms campaign in almost 70 countries around the world; Shattered Lives: the case for tough international arms controls is released |
| 2000 | NGOs, with the help of international legal experts, develop the first draft “Framework Convention on International Arms Transfers” which later forms the basis of the “Global Principles for Arms Transfers. |
| 1997 | Nobel Peace Laureates, supported by NGOs call for a Code of Conduct on international arms transfers. |
