Topic: Illicit Trade in Small Arms
Country: France
Delegate Name: Andrew Romano
School: Roeper School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All France position papers GLIMUN 2009 committees
Small arms and light weapons are the favored arms of insurgency and terrorist groups all around the world. Most of these weapons have been obtained illegally thought the massive illegal arms market, which is estimated to be over a billion dollars. Illegally obtained small arms and light weapons can be attributed to 60-90% of conflict deaths worldwide each year. An AK-47 assault rifles can be bought in many developing nations for as little as $20. It is the cheap price and easy access of small arms that create such a large problem for the United Nations and its composing nations to handle. The size of the illegal arms trade also makes it hard to control; it makes up the majority of arms trade in the world, somewhere between 50 and 60%.
The French Republic, being the world’s third largest exporter of legal small arms, realizes the dire need to stop such a life threatening issue. The French Republic believes that the United Nations must come up with a solution that all states will be agreeable to. The French Republic calls on states which have been reluctant to support stronger measures to control small arms, particularly the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran, to put aside political, ideological, and economic rivalries in order to effectively strengthen measures that many nations are in agreement on. If not every nation involved will follow the decision of the general political committee, then we as humans cannot possibly be able to put an end to such a large issue.
We, the United Nations, in order to solve this problem, could, as a start, potentially set up regulations that require nations that produce weapons legitimately to destroy weapons that have been created for legitimate reasons but are not in service. This would prevent weapons from getting into the hands of criminals who would sell them on the black market. The case of Victor Bout is but one example of the negative impact criminal trade in small arms can have on measures to control small arms. France is willing to work with all nations to remedy this problem.
