The Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 97z The illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects, published in 2011.

What other versions does this mandate have?

25 versions · 2002–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/38

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/38	The illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects	3,126	87%Compare
2024	A/RES/79/40	The illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects	2,994	79%Compare
2023	A/RES/78/46	The illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects	3,046	92%Compare
2022	A/RES/77/71	The illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects	3,138	76%Compare
2021	A/RES/76/232	The illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects	2,905	74%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

18 reports · 2003–2026

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2026	A/81/72	Assistance to States for curbing the illicit traffic in small arms and light weapons and collecting them and the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/80/38
2025	A/80/111	Assistance to States for curbing the illicit traffic in small arms and light weapons and collecting them and the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/79/40
2024	A/79/77	Assistance to States for curbing the illicit traffic in small arms and light weapons and collecting them and the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/78/46
2023	A/78/126	Assistance to States for curbing the illicit traffic in small arms and light weapons and collecting them and the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/77/71
2022	A/77/77	Assistance to States for curbing the illicit traffic in small arms and light weapons and collecting them and the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/76/232

What subjects does this mandate have?

12 subjects

Capacity Building Civil Society Conferences Experts Financial Assistance Illicit Arms Trafficking Institution Building International Cooperation Programme Implementation Reporting Procedures Small Arms Technical Cooperation

What’s in this document?

31 operative paragraphs

Underlines the fact that the issue of the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects requires concerted efforts at the national, regional and international levels to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit manufacture, transfer and circulation of small arms and light weapons, and that their uncontrolled spread in many regions of the world has a wide range of humanitarian and socio-economic consequences and poses a serious threat to peace, reconciliation, safety, security, stability and sustainable development at the individual, local, national, regional and international levels;

Encourages all initiatives, including those of the United Nations, other international organizations, regional and subregional organizations, non-governmental organizations and civil society, for the successful implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects,Error: Reference source not found and calls upon all Member States to contribute towards the continued implementation of the Programme of Action at the national, regional and global levels;

Encourages States to implement the recommendations contained in the report of the Group of Governmental Experts established pursuant to resolution 60/81 to consider further steps to enhance international cooperation in preventing, combating and eradicating illicit brokering in small arms and light weapons;⁵

⁵See A/62/163 and Corr.1.

Endorses the report adopted at the fourth biennial meeting of States to consider the implementation of the Programme of Action,⁶ and encourages all States to implement, as appropriate, the measures highlighted in the section of the report entitled “The way forward”;

⁶See A/CONF.192/BMS/2010/3, sect. IV, para. 23.

Encourages all efforts to build national capacity for the effective implementation of the Programme of Action, including those highlighted in the report of the fourth biennial meeting of States;

Decides that, in conformity with resolution 64/50, the open-ended meeting of governmental experts, to be convened to address key implementation challenges and opportunities relating to particular issues and themes, including international cooperation and assistance, shall be held in New York from 9 to 13 May 2011;

Encourages States to identify, in cooperation with the Chair-designate of the open-ended meeting of governmental experts, and well in advance of that meeting, key implementation challenges and opportunities relating to particular issues and themes, including international cooperation and assistance;

Also encourages States, before the open-ended meeting of governmental experts and with the collaboration of the Chair-designate, to develop pragmatic, action-oriented draft agendas for the meeting, with a view to strengthening the implementation of the Programme of Action;

Further encourages States to contribute relevant national expertise to the open-ended meeting of governmental experts;

Stresses the importance of the contribution of civil society to the implementation of the Programme of Action with regard to the preparation of the open-ended meeting of governmental experts;

Encourages States to submit, on a voluntary basis, national reports on their implementation of the Programme of Action,⁷ notes that States will submit national reports on their implementation of the International Tracing Instrument,⁸ to the extent possible by the end of 2011, and encourages those States in a position to do so to use the new reporting template prepared by the Office for Disarmament Affairs and to include therein information, as appropriate, on progress made in the implementation of the measures highlighted in the reports of the third and fourth biennial meetings of States;

⁷See Report of the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, New York, 9–20 July 2001 (A/CONF.192/15), chap. IV (sect. II, para. 33, of the quoted text).

⁸See A/60/88 and Corr.2, annex, para. 36.

Also encourages States, on a voluntary basis, to make increasing use of their national reports as another tool for communicating assistance needs and information on the resources and mechanisms available to address such needs, and encourages States in a position to render such assistance to make use of these national reports;

Encourages States, relevant international and regional organizations and civil society with the capacity to do so to cooperate with and assist other States, upon request, in the preparation of comprehensive reports on their implementation of the Programme of Action;

Calls upon all States to implement the International Tracing Instrument by, inter alia, including in their national reports the name and contact information of the national points of contact and information on national marking practices used to indicate country of manufacture and/or country of import, as applicable;

Encourages States to consider ways to enhance cooperation and assistance and to assess their effectiveness in order to ensure the implementation of the Programme of Action, including at the open-ended meeting of governmental experts in 2011;

Recognizes the urgent need to maintain and enhance national controls to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons;

Recalls its decision to convene a conference to review progress made in the implementation of the Programme of Action, for a period of two weeks, in New York in 2012;

Decides to convene a preparatory committee for the review conference, for no longer than a total of five working days, in New York in early 2012;

Recognizes the importance of the early designation of one Chair for both the preparatory committee and the review conference, and encourages the relevant regional group to nominate the Chair-designate by May 2011;

Also recognizes that, to strengthen the implementation of the Programme of Action, the 2012 review conference may consider recommending convening a further open-ended meeting of governmental experts;

Encourages States to consider the timely establishment of a voluntary sponsorship fund through which financial assistance could be provided, upon request, to States otherwise unable to participate in meetings on the Programme of Action in order to increase the engagement of States in the Programme of Action process;

Encourages interested States and relevant international and regional organizations in a position to do so to convene regional meetings to consider and advance the implementation of the Programme of Action, as well as the International Tracing Instrument, in preparation for the meetings on the Programme of Action;

Encourages States to make use, as appropriate, of the Programme of Action Implementation Support System and the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research clearing house for matching assistance needs with potential donors as additional tools to facilitate global action on small arms and light weapons;

Emphasizes the need to facilitate the implementation at the national level of the Programme of Action through the strengthening of national coordination agencies or bodies and institutional infrastructure;

Also emphasizes the fact that initiatives by the international community with respect to international cooperation and assistance remain essential and complementary to national implementation efforts, as well as to those at the regional and global levels;

Recognizes the necessity for interested States to develop effective coordination mechanisms, where they do not exist, in order to match the needs of States with existing resources to enhance the implementation of the Programme of Action and to make international cooperation and assistance more effective;

Encourages States to consider, among other mechanisms, the coherent identification of needs, priorities, national plans and programmes that may require international cooperation and assistance from States and regional and international organizations in a position to do so;

Encourages civil society and relevant organizations to strengthen their cooperation and work with States at the respective national and regional levels to achieve the implementation of the Programme of Action;

Invites Member States to communicate to the Secretary-General their views on the progress made on the implementation of the Programme of Action, ten years following its adoption, and requests the Secretary-General to present a report containing that information as an input to the 2012 review conference;

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session on the implementation of the present resolution;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-sixth session the item entitled “The illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects”.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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