The Arms Trade Treaty has come to its end but states parties fail to adopt an agreement.

By Angeline Annesteus The UN conference on the Arms Trade Treaty comes to its end but as always a lot can happen in the last minutes of the negotiations. Yesterday, the chair of the negotiations released a new draft text but it is full of potential loopholes. Many different areas of the text would need to be reconsidered in order for the treaty to meet its overall goal and objective: a robust,...

The Arms Trade Treaty and the P5’s dilemma

By Angeline Annesteus   With one day left to conclude the first ever Arms Trade Treaty, the African states, CARICOM, NGOS, and other delegations urge the P5 to close the remaining gaps in the treaty text that is now under negotiations. The whole point is that nobody is supposed to be making profit by transferring arms to governments or any armed group that will use them to attack civilians....

The Arms Trade Treaty’s running behind schedule and under serious threats!

By Angeline Annesteus   The opening week of the Arms Trade Treaty was characterized by procedural matters and wrangling because the Arab Group (Egypt) asked for Palestine to be recognized as a state, which Israel obviously refused. The past three weeks, states got down to some important discussions but did not have the basis for negotiations on most of the key elements of the treaty. As...

Africa: Do not bow down to pressure, A Bullet Proof Arms Trade Treaty or no Treaty

By Alyne Cistone I woke up this morning feeling sad and disfranchised. Yesterday was a defining moment in the Arms Trade Treaty Negotiation process. The first draft of the ATT was finally tabled in plenary and for the first time, we all had a chance to get a sense of whether a comprehensive ATT was within reach by Friday. The item that struck a painful code for not just me but most African...

The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT): an historical opportunity and indispensable tool to help promote international peace

Angeline Annesteus The current practice of allowing irresponsible transfer of military and security equipments has resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of life, loss of livelihoods and gross International human rights and humanitarian laws violations. Nations of the world are finally gathered in New York to develop a treaty that will help bring about the much needed accountability,...