A primary objective of the Non-Alignment Movement is the establishment of a peaceful world order. However, as the United Nations Secretary-General remarked recently, new and protracted conflicts are placing millions of people in the line of fire. Small Arms and Light Weapons (SLAW) play a major role in these conflicts. Small Arms and light weapons are man-portable weapons made or modified to military specifications for use as lethal instruments of war. Small arms are broadly categorized as those weapons intended for use by individual members of armed or security forces.
NAM, which is committed to world peace, has expressed its deep concerns about the illicit trade, transfer, and SALW and their excessive accumulation and uncontrolled spread in many regions of the world with its wide range of humanitarian and socio-economic consequences as well as the close link between terrorism, organized crime, trafficking in drugs and precious minerals and the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. During the Fourth Review Conference of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects held in New York from June 17 to June 28, 2024, Indonesia, on behalf of the NAM submitted a Working Paper on “Full and Effective Implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects: Enhancing International Cooperation and Assistance” which outlined the position of NAM on this issue.
The Working Paper states that NAM reaffirms the total validity and vital importance of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA), as the main international framework to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in SALW. The Movement underlines the need for balanced, effective and full implementation of the PoA, which is the only universal framework to address challenges of the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. The Movement stresses in this regard, the urgent need to intensify efforts to promote international cooperation and assistance aimed at combating this illicit trade.
NAM emphasizes that States bear the primary responsibility for preventing, combating and eradicating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects and, accordingly, should intensify their efforts to identify the problems associated with such illicit trade and find ways of resolving them. In this context, the Movement stresses in particular the urgency and importance of international efforts and cooperation aimed at combating this illicit trade simultaneously from both a supply and demand perspective. The Working Paper by NAM has also underlined the need for the full and effective implementation of the International Instrument to Enable States to Identify and Trace, in a Timely and Reliable Manner, Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons, the purpose of which, inter alia, is to promote and facilitate international cooperation and assistance in marking and tracing and to enhance the effectiveness of, and complement, existing bilateral, regional and international agreements to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects.
NAM has also expressed concerns over the acquisition of SALW in the hands of unauthorized recipients, including criminal and terrorist groups. The Working Paper submitted by NAM also underlines the importance of international cooperation and adequate assistance to developing countries, including financial and technical assistance, upon their request, by States in a position to do so, and regional and international organizations, including INTERPOL and the World Customs Organizations. Such assistance should not be made conditional on being part of, or detracting from, the recipient States’ Official Development Assistance.
