On Monday, Robin Geiss, Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), stated that small weapons trafficking is a defining component in undermining international peace and security.

Speaking at a UN Security Council ministerial debate, the German scholar encouraged states to take a more inclusive, participative, and gender-sensitive approach to weapons and ammunition management that may boost global, regional, and national policy.

According to Robin Geiss, the diversion and trafficking of weaponry destabilizes communities and exacerbates instability conditions, notably by committing major violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, as well as violence against women and children in diverse settings.

While there are immediate costs like fatalities, injuries, relocation, and psychological suffering, there are also long-term socioeconomic consequences such as access to health and education, humanitarian assistance, and civilian protection.

“When loopholes and gaps are closed in one domain, vulnerabilities are exploited in another”, he said.

“States affected by patterns of recurring armed violence, therefore, face many challenges to prevent the diversion and misuse of arms”.

 

On the other hand, Mexico's Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, who presided over the Security Council meeting, urged the international community to put in place and enhance measures to monitor and prevent illegal global arms transfers, diversion, and cross-border trafficking.

He emphasized that if weapons were not practically infinitely available, most of the problems on the Security Council's agenda would have better prospects for a peaceful resolution.

The number of people killed every day as a result of the employment of small guns and light weapons, both in armed conflicts and in acts of violence other than war, was regarded as disturbing by Ebrard.

According to estimates, around 500,000 people die and about 2,000 are injured worldwide.