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 98q The illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects, published in 2019.

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?

4 subjects

Capacity Building Illicit Arms Trafficking Small Arms Technical Cooperation

What’s in this document?

29 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 socioeconomic consequences and poses a serious threat to peace, reconciliation, safety, security, stability and sustainable development at the individual, local, national, regional and international levels;

Recognizes the urgent need to maintain and enhance national controls, in accordance with the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects,1 to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, including their diversion to illicit trade, illegal armed groups, terrorists and other unauthorized recipients, taking into account, inter alia, their adverse humanitarian and socioeconomic consequences for the affected States;

Calls upon all States to implement the International Instrument to Enable States to Identify and Trace, in a Timely and Reliable Manner, Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons (the International Tracing Instrument)2 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 all relevant initiatives, including those of the United Nations, other international organizations, regional and subregional organizations and civil society, for the successful implementation of the Programme of Action, 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 of 8 December 2005 to consider further steps to enhance international cooperation in preventing, combating and eradicating illicit brokering in small arms and light weapons;⁶

⁶See A/62/163 and A/62/163/Corr.1.

Endorses the outcome of the third United Nations Conference to Review Progress Made in the Implementation 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 18 to 29 June 2018 (the third Review Conference);3

Decides, pursuant to the schedule of meetings for the period from 2018 to 2024 agreed upon at the third Review Conference, to convene a one-week biennial meeting of States from 15 to 19 June 2020 to consider key challenges and opportunities relating to the implementation of the Programme of Action and the International Tracing Instrument at the national, regional and global levels for the purposes of preventing and combating the diversion and the illicit international transfer of small arms and light weapons to unauthorized recipients, as well as a one-week biennial meeting of States in 2022;

Also decides to convene the fourth United Nations Conference to Review Progress Made in the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects in 2024, to be preceded by a preparatory committee meeting in early 2024 of not more than five days;

Underlines the importance of the full and effective implementation of the Programme of Action and the International Tracing Instrument for attaining Goal 16 and target 16.4 of the Sustainable Development Goals;⁷

⁷See resolution 70/1.

Emphasizes that international cooperation and assistance remain essential to the full and effective implementation of the Programme of Action and the International Tracing Instrument, while being mindful of the need to ensure the adequacy, effectiveness and sustainability of international cooperation and assistance;

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, and in this regard encourages States to make use, as appropriate, of the Programme of Action Implementation Support System;

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;

Also encourages States, on a voluntary basis, to make increasing use of their national reports as a 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 those national reports;

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

Encourages States to reinforce, as necessary, cross-border cooperation at the national, subregional and regional levels in addressing the common problem of the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects, with full respect for each State’s sovereignty over its own borders;

Also encourages States to take full advantage of the benefits of cooperation with the United Nations regional centres for peace and disarmament, the World Customs Organization, the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in accordance with their mandates and consistent with national priorities;

Encourages all efforts to build national capacity for the effective implementation of the Programme of Action, including those highlighted in the outcome document of the third Review Conference;

Encourages States to submit, on a voluntary basis, national reports on their implementation of the Programme of Action, notes that States will submit national reports on their implementation of the International Tracing Instrument, encourages those States in a position to do so to use the reporting template made available by the Office for Disarmament Affairs of the Secretariat, and reaffirms the utility of synchronizing such reports with biennial meetings of States and review conferences as a means of increasing the submission rate and improving the utility of reports, as well as contributing substantively to meeting discussions;

Encourages States in a position to do so to provide financial assistance, through a voluntary sponsorship fund, that could be distributed, upon request, to States otherwise unable to participate in meetings on the Programme of Action;

Welcomes the establishment of the Saving Lives Entity fund to ensure sustained financing for coordinated, integrated small arms control measures in countries most affected by the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, and encourages States in a position to do so to make voluntary financial contributions to the fund;

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, including in preparation for the meetings on the Programme of Action;

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;

Reaffirms the importance of States undertaking to identify, where applicable, groups and individuals engaged in the illegal manufacture, trade, stockpiling, transfer, possession, as well as financing for acquisition, of illicit small arms and light weapons, and take action under appropriate national law against such groups and individuals;⁸

⁸Report of the United Nations Conference on Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, New York, 9–20 July 2001 (A/CONF.192/15), chap. IV, para 24, sect. II, para. 6.

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

Also requests the Secretary-General to seek the views of Member States on best practices, lessons learned and new recommendations on preventing and combating the diversion and illicit international transfer of small arms and light weapons to unauthorized recipients and to include them, along with views from the United Nations system, in particular those agencies participating in the small arms coordination mechanism, as well as input from INTERPOL and the World Customs Organization, in a report for consideration at the Seventh Biennial Meeting of States to Consider the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, in 2020;

Requests the Secretariat, within existing resources, to present an analysis of implementation trends, challenges and opportunities relating to the Programme of Action and the International Tracing Instrument, including needs for cooperation and assistance, based on information submitted by States, at the Seventh Biennial Meeting on the Programme of Action and the International Tracing Instrument;

Also requests the Secretariat to report on support provided by the United Nations system for the implementation of the Programme of Action and the International Tracing Instrument, including experiences, best practices and lessons learned regarding the efficient use of available resources, for presentation at upcoming meetings on the Programme of Action and the International Tracing Instrument;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-fifth session, under the item entitled “General and complete disarmament”, the sub-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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