The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated his support for a comprehensive Arms Trade Treaty in a statement released today.
In the statement, he reiterated his “support for an Arms Trade Treaty that regulates international transfers of both weapons and ammunition and provides for common standards for exporting States. These standards are important for assessing the risks that transferred weapons are not used to fuel conflict, arm criminals or abet violations of international humanitarian or human rights law,” Mr. Ban said in today’s statement.
He also said that he feels “confident that Member States will overcome their differences and muster the political will needed to agree on an Arms Trade Treaty.”
Last July, Control Arms presented the Secretary-General with the over 600, 000 signatures that it had collected on a global petition, along with statements from health professionals, parliamentarians and religious leaders.