Small arms fire kills more than 500,000 people a year and while those pulling the trigger include police and soldiers, most are members of armed groups, terrorist organisation, criminal gangs or national security forces abusing their power, a UN conference has heard.
Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, the UN Chef de Cabinet, made the comments at the RevCon3 conference which opened in New York on Monday. Delivering a message on behalf of the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, she said that regulating small arms was a “unique challenge”.
“It is not simply a question of addressing government stockpiles,” she said. “Out of some 900 million small arms in the world, three-quarters are in civilian hands – the majority unlicensed.”
Viotti said small arms control was a prerequisite for stability and conflict prevention – critical to maintaining peace and achieving sustainable development, and added that they are a factor in large-scale human rights abuses and the forced displacement of civilians around the world.
“Only through sustainable development will we be able to build just, peaceful and inclusive societies and achieve lasting peace,” she said.
