UNSC Adopts First-Ever Resolution Dedicated to Question of SALW

On 26 September 2013 the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted the Resolution 2117 - the first-ever resolution dedicated to tackling the issue of small arms and light weapons (SALW) proliferation and relates it clearly to the issue of gender-based violence.

In the Resolution, the Security Council expressed its grave concern that illicit transfers still represent a major problem, leading to a significant number of victims each year, destabilization and under-development. With this in mind the Council urged governments, once more, to respect and comply with the imposed arms embargos and take measures in cases of violation.

In order to address the issue of illicit transfers of SALW, the UNSC stressed the importance of enhancing stockpile security and management, and implementing national weapons-marking programmes in line with the International Tracing Instrument.

In post-conflict areas the Council supported building the capacity of host governments “to implement commitments under existing global and regional instruments addressing the illicit trafficking of small arms, through weapons collection; disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes”. It also reiterated the need for establishing regional and sub-regional cooperation, coordination and information-sharing networks. 

Another major issue taken into consideration in the Resolution 2117 is the misuse of SALW that causes serious human rights violations and in particular the disproportionate violence perpetrated against women and girls, exacerbating sexual and gender-based violence.

Emphasizing the importance of the UNSC Resolution 1325, the Security Council called on governments to take necessary measures to help facilitate full participation of women in policy-making, planning and implementation processes related to tackling the issue of SALW proliferation, including their involvement in establishing disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes. The UNSC once more encouraged the efforts to take into consideration the specific needs of women working in the armed forces and to secure their full access to relevant programmes and courses.

In order to address all these issues the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reminded the governments of the historic adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) earlier this year and called on governments to sign and ratify the Treaty as soon as possible. The aim of the ATT is to eradicate the illicit transfers of conventional weapons, including SALW, and thus to put an end to the human rights abuses, among them gender-based violence.

The SEESAC team welcomes the adoption of Resolution 2117 as it directly supports our work on SALW Control, Arms Exports Control and the promotion of Gender Equality in the Military.