On 4 November, the UN First Committee adopted the Arms Trade Treaty Resolution (UN L.54). 150 States voted in favour of the resolution, with zero opposed and 26 abstentions.
This year’s resolution voting result was evocative of last year’s ATT vote. There were only two differences in the voting figures – Somalia’s opposition vote became an abstention and Kiribati, absent last year, voted in favour of the resolution this year.
The newly-adopted resolution, amongst other provisions, encourages States Parties and recent signatories of the ATT to:
Make available their initial report, as well as their first annual report for the preceding calendar year, to enhance confidence, transparency, trust and accountability.
Provide financial assistance to States likely unable to attend Treaty meetings due to lack of funding.
Strengthen State cooperation with civil society, including NGOs, industry, and relevant international organisations and to work with other States parties to ensure Treaty implementation.
The resolution also calls on States that have not already signed, ratified, or acceded to the Treaty to do so immediately. Control Arms welcomes its adoption and looks forward to further implementation and universalisation in future.
In addition to UN L.54, two other resolutions (L.6, L.16) contained references to the ATT – ‘Assistance to States for curbing the illicit traffic in small arms and light weapons and collecting them’ and ‘Problems arising from the accumulation of conventional ammunition stockpiles in surplus, ‘ respectively. Both were adopted without a vote.
The Arms Trade Treaty resolution was co-sponsored by more than sixty States.
