Campaigners and governments from around the world gathered in Geneva, Switzerland from 6-8 July for the final preparatory meeting for the first Conference of States Parties (CSP) for the Arms Trade Treaty. The three day meeting was a critical moment with the potential for taking decisions to make the ATT’s First Conference of States Parties a success. The results of the meeting unfortunately feel short of the ambitious goals. With the exception of what appeared to be agreement in principle on a set of rules to govern the first CSP, it was determined that issues of reporting, financial rules, and the ATT Secretariat required more time for discussion.
Throughout the conference, civil society working in support of the ATT advocated for strong principles and practical decisions that would produce effective ATT implementation. Calls to action for transparency in reporting, rejecting a decision-delaying deferment clause in the rules, and allowing full participation as Observers for the Control Arms Coalition were met at times with opposition from many of the large arms exporting countries. See below for the full NGO statements:
- 1st intervention on CSP Rules
- intervention on financial rules
- intervention on ATT Secretariat
- intervention on reporting
- 2nd intervention on CSP rules
In the interim period between the Geneva meeting and the First Conference of States Parties to be held from 24 – 26 August in Cancún, governments must make substantial progress on a variety of substantive areas or risk weak ATT implementation.
Click here for the full Control Arms summary and analysis of the Geneva preparatory meeting.
