Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty

The Arms Trade Treaty was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 02 April 2013 and entered into force on 24 December 2014. As called for by Article 17 of the Treaty, a Conference of States Parties (CSP) was convened by the Provisional Secretariat one year after the Treaty entered into force.

•  Ambassador Jorge Lomónaco of Mexico presided over the First Conference of States Parties from 24-27 August 2015 in Mexico City, Mexico.
• Ambassador Emmanuel E. Imohe of Nigeria presided over the Second Conference of States Parties from 22-26 August 2016, in Geneva, Switzerland.
• Ambassador Klaus Korhonenof Finland presided over the Third Conference of States Parties from 11-15 September 2017, in Geneva, Switzerland
• Ambassador Nobushige Takamizawa of Japan presided over the Fourth Conference of States Parties from 20-24 August 2018, in Tokyo, Japan
• Ambassador Jānis KĀRKLIŅŠ of Latvia is presiding over the Fifth Conference of States Parties from 26-30 August 2019, in Geneva, Switzerland.
• Ambassador Carlos Foradori of Argentina is presiding over the Sixth Conference of States Parties from 17-21 August 2020, in Geneva, Switzerland.

The adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty was a historic victory. However, its humanitarian impact will depend on the effectiveness of its implementation. The CSP is an important part of this, since the annual forum is where States Parties, signatories, UN bodies and civil society meet to assess and discuss implementation progress.

Advocacy and Side Events

• Side Event Schedule
• Top Secret file – 8 Reasons Why Public Reporting is Essential

Daily Summary Reports

• CSP2016 Day One Summary [Spanish]
• CSP2016 Day Two Summary [Spanish]
• CSP2016 Day Three Summary [Spanish]
• CSP2016 Day Four Summary [Spanish]
• CSP2016 Overall Summary

Photos

More photos can be found here

Extraordinary Meeting of States Parties

Geneva, 29 February 2016

It may have been called the Extraordinary Meeting of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty, but the only extraordinary thing about the meeting was the refusal of States to actually discuss arms transfers.

Over 75 governments – including 52 States parties, 22 signatories, and 3 observers – attended the Geneva meeting, along with more than 30 NGO and UN representatives.

The meeting did make progress on some procedural issues, including administrative and budget arrangements for the ATT Secretariat, and arrangements for the second Conference of States Parties (CSP), to be held in August later this year. The meeting also agreed to the re-establishment an Informal Working Group on Reporting, with the aim of making progress on templates for States Parties official reports.

Despite irrefutable evidence of serious violations of international law in a conflict that has killed more than 35,000 people, several States Parties and Signatories to the ATT have continued sending weapons to Saudi Arabia, in violation of the Treaty’s obligations. Control Arms therefore made a request to the meeting for an Agenda item to discus the issue. This request was rejected by the President on the grounds that it would be “fraught with danger” to discuss the topic without sufficient time.

Nawal al-maghafi, a Yemeni researcher, addressed the meeting on behalf of Control Arms with the following call to action:

We understand that there is no time to discuss the situation in my own homeland of Yemen today, but states must not wait until the CSP in August to take action. All States should cease arms transfers to any of the warring parties in Yemen immediately. States Parties have an especial legal obligation to do this. There is irrefutable evidence – from the UN and many other credible sources – of serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law being committed in the conflict in Yemen, and we urge you to read our report on this issue.

The report – part of Control Arms’ ATT Monitor Project – was the most publicised component of the meeting in the media, despite not being part of the official agenda. See some of the media coverage here.

Note: A full, detailed summary of the Extraordinary Meeting is available here.

Policy Paper: Looking Ahead – Making the ATT Work