The following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the ninth Biennial Meeting of States on the Program of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons, on Monday.
For 25 years, the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons has been a cornerstone of global disarmament and peace efforts.
But our world has fundamentally changed over the last quarter century. Armed conflicts are multiplying. Divisions are deepening. Military spending is skyrocketing.
New threats are rapidly emerging, including 3D-printed arms and untraceable “ghost guns” circulating across the black market.
And diversion, your focus this year, remains the primary method of acquiring weapons that fuel terrorism, crime and gender-based violence, while killing peacekeepers and blocking humanitarian access.
The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) tells us that there are more than 2 million records of lost, stolen or trafficked firearms in circulation today.
Using the Programme of Action as a base, countries must act together to end this scourge, by sharing intelligence, technical support and capacity-building, by developing new solutions to address the threat of emerging technologies and diversion, and by curbing illicit weapons flows and closing regulatory loopholes.
We must ensure the Programme of Action is fit for today’s challenges. I urge you to adopt an outcome document that keeps communities free of illicit small arms and weapons. Together, let’s build safer societies and a more secure world.
(UN News)
