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We can win an international Arms Trade Treaty.

After over 10 years of campaigning we are at the edge of making history. Join the Control Arms campaign and keep up the pressure on governments to agree a bullet proof arms trade treaty.

2013 is the make or break year. This is what we want:

• no arms that contribute to human rights abuses
• no arms that contribute to war crimes
• no arms that keep people in poverty
• yes for global regulation of the arms trade

You can join the campaign by signing up below, and “liking” us on facebook.com/controlarms. Tell your friends to join us too by sharing a short tamen like this with your friends:

“I’m calling on governments to agree an #armstreaty to prevent arms fuelling human suffering. Join us: http://www.facebook.com/ControlArms”

NEED HELP?
Who Supports an ATT?

Calls for a bulletproof Arms Trade Treaty have come from diverse sectors of society, demonstrating the broad-based support that exists for these negotiations. Here are some of the groups that have spoken up in favor for a strong and effective  ATT to protect lives and livelihoods.

Medical Professionals A strong and effective Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) would create a framework for regulating trade in weapons. Public health has an important role to play in helping to pass, implement and monitor such a treaty. Physicians deal first-hand with the human consequences of armed violence and they can help in building the capacity of states to comply with a strong and humanitarian-based ATT. Simply put, a robust ATT will help to achieve better health, as it is impossible to maintain and promote health in the midst of armed violence. To meet this goal, we have created the Medical Alert for a Strong Arms Trade Treaty, a petition open to signature by all medical professionals.

View the alert.
To learn more, visit the Medical Alert homepage.

Global Investors

In July 2011, a group of global investors, who collectively own or manage $1.2 trillion in assets, made a call for a robust and comprehensive ATT. The 21 investors, who are all signatories to the United Nations-backed Principles of Responsible Investment, issued a statement highlighting the need for the establishment of general international standards on transfers of conventional arms. Citing the “environmental, social and governance issues” that can affect the performance of investment portfolios, the investors noted that the irresponsible trade in conventional weapons can contribute to insecurity, making an ATT a vital component of long-term financial stability and growth.

View the statement.
For more information, visit the UN Principles of Responsible Investment website.

Parliamentarians

Parliamentarians have a significant role to play in the success of the future Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). They can act as advocates, lawmakers, guardians of public trust and also as moral individuals. Parliamentary support for an ATT was first demonstrated in 2008, when Control Arms partners and other organizations around the world collected more than 2,000 signatures from parliamentarians in over 124 countries. A renewed declaration from parliamentarians has been launched by Control Arms, and urges decision-makers to create an international agreement that encompasses all transfers of conventional weapons and commitments to strong criteria that will prevent irresponsible arms trading. It acknowledges the role of parliamentarians in making the treaty a “meaningful reality”. The Declaration will remain available for new signatures and use in domestic lobbying until it is delivered to government representatives shortly before the July negotiation conference on the Arms Trade Treaty. Current Members of Parliament are invited to add their signatures to this declaration.

View the declaration in English (Also available in Arabic, French, Portuguese and Spanish)
For more information, visit the Control Arms Parliamentarian Declaration page.

Survivors of Armed Violence

At the July 2011 PrepCom, a group of international armed violence survivors issued a survivors declaration in support of a comprehensive and robust Arms Trade Treaty. Survivors from Albania, Burundi, Guatemala, Jamaica, Namibia, Sri Lanka and the USA delivered the statement at the 3rd ATT PrepCom, on behalf of the survivors all over the world who contributed to the drafting of this declaration. It calls on states participating in the negotiations to ensure that the treaty agreed upon is effective in preventing future victims and acknowledges the rights and needs of survivors.

View the statement

Religious Leaders and Organizations
Senior religious leaders from many of the worlds major religions recently added their voices to the global call for a robust Arms Trade Treaty in an Interfaith Declaration launched in September 2011. A significant number of leaders and faith-based organizations have already signed onto the declaration, including the Archbishop of Sweden, the Grand Mufti of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro in the Philippines. The declaration calls on member states of the UN to negotiate and deliver a strong and effective ATT that has a real impact on people’s lives. It further reminds political leaders of the humanitarian imperative that sparked the Arms Trade Treaty process in the first place. It will remain open for signature until the negotiations of the treaty in July 2012.
View the statement in English (Also available in Arabic, French, Portuguese, and Spanish)
For more information, visit the Control Arms Interfaith page.

 

Women
The IANSA Women’s Network advocates for an Arms Trade Treaty that prohibits the international import, export and transfer of conventional arms, including small arms and ammunition, where there is a significant risk that the transfer will be used to violate women’s human rights or perpetuate a pattern of gender-based violence, including rape and other forms of sexual violence. Its most recent policy paper issued at the Third PrepCom in July 2011 makes clear and concrete recommendations for member states and civil society alike. IANSA women have also highlighted this position though articles in the Arms Trade Treaty Monitor. The IANSA Women’s Network continues to develop position papers, reports and statements raising the issue of women’s rights and gender in relation to the ATT as we head towards the negotiations in 2012.
For more information, visit the IANSA Women’s Network website.
Additional resources are available at the Control Arms Act for Women page.
View the policy paper, “Including Gender in the Arms Trade Treaty” is available.
View several articles from the Arms Trade Treaty Monitor.
Voice Your Support

Want to add your voice to those supporting a bulletproof Arms Trade Treaty?

Visit our Speak Out information page to find out more about our upcoming campaign launch and to learn how you can speak out to support a robust Arms Trade Treaty that will save lives and protect livelihoods.

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