Campaign events in 2007

Following the historic vote by a large majority of States in the UN General Assembly in December 2006 for a process to develop an Arms Trade Treaty (resolution 61/89), the UN Secretary General was mandated to consult with all governments during 2007 on the ‘scope, feasibility and draft parameters of the proposed treaty’ – what the treaty should cover and contain.

Usually, very few governments take part in these consultations. Control Arms wanted as many of the 153 states that voted in favour of the ATT to submit responses to the UN Secretary General.

To make sure that the voices of ordinary people all around the world were heard during the process, we set up our own parallel ‘People’s Consultation (PC) on the Arms Trade Treaty’.

In the first half of 2007 a huge range of PC events were held in over 50 countries. In Tanzania, the president was briefed on the ATT; 10,000 people signed banners at a Motorhead concert in Caracas, Venezuela to show their support for an ATT; in the Philippines people traveled for hours to speak at their nearest consultation. And in Bahrain, a coalition of human rights organisations broke a SMS text message record, when 40,000 people texted “ATT” in support of a global and effective treaty. You can find full details about the PC in our Voices Around the World report.

In April, Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights made a speech at the UN in favour of the ATT, and British actress Helen Mirren recorded a special video message calling on governments to make urgent progress towards an effective global treaty that will save lives. 

By late 2007 there was a record number of responses to the UN consultation exercise, with 101 states sending in submissions. A Control Arms analysis of 97 of these showed that over three-quarters mentioned the need for respect of international human rights and humanitarian law, and just under half mentioned sustainable development, both of which are essential for a strong and effective treaty.

Control Arms campaigners were back in New York in October 2007 for the General Assembly First Committee on Security and Disarmament. Our first campaigning event was From the Frontline: Military Leaders and War Correspondents Call for an ATT, three ex-Generals from Canada, India and the Netherlands, and top war journalist Janine di Giovanni, all spoke to add their support for a global Arms Trade Treaty.

Later in the week, Oxfam, IANSA and Saferworld released a report, Africa's Missing Billions, which highlighted that conflict has cost Africa almost $300 billion in the last decade. The foreword of the report was written by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia. President Sirleaf met with IANSA and Oxfam representatives during a visit to New York, and was presented with a portfolio of media coverage on the report.

Over 40 States were represented at two side meetings on an Arms Trade Treaty organised and addressed by Control Arms. We presented the results of our analysis of State’s views on an ATT and put forward arguments about what elements are needed if an ATT is to be effective in saving lives and protecting livelihoods.

The next group of people to speak about the need for an ATT were those who took part in the Global Consultation. Three women who had been personally affected by armed violence in their home countries of Haiti, Iraq and Papua New Guinea all spoke about the devastating effect of gun violence on their lives.

Our final event was held jointly with the Parliamentary Forum on Small Arms and Light Weapons, and looked at what parliamentarians could do to support the ATT, and promote the Control Arms’ Parliamentarians' Declaration. Parliamentarians from Uruguay, Mozambique and Albania gave personal, powerful speeches stressing the importance of an ATT.

During the First Committee, the membership of the Group of Governmental Experts on the ATT was announced. This group will meet three times in 2008 to examine detailed proposals for the content of the ATT. The GGE will be made up of 28 experts from the following countries:  Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Russian Federation, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, UK, Ukraine, and the USA.

Some of these countries oppose or are strongly sceptical about the ATT, so we need to keep up the pressure to make sure that the momentum towards agreeing an effective ATT is not lost.

You can support us by joining the Million Faces petition and you can download campaigning materials here.