The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is the first legally binding agreement linking international conventional arms transfers to gender-based violence (GBV), but there has been limited practical application of these specific provisions to date.

This Guide is designed to assist and inform those responsible for implementing the ATT at the national level. It provides practical guidance on the following thematic areas: national control systems; national control lists; export controls; import controls; transit and trans-shipment controls; controlling brokers and brokering; diversion; record-keeping; and reporting. The manual includes definitions and terminology, a brief history of the ATT negotiations, options for regulating transfers, and information on the roles of various ministries and agencies.
 

This Handbook is designed to assist and inform policymakers who are new to  small arms on the international agenda. While it is not meant to serve as a policy tool or as an exhaustive review of the small arms process, this concise manual includes:

The diversion of conventional arms from licit to illicit entities can occur at any stage of the arms transfer chain. Preventing diversion therefore requires varied measures that effectively tackle the issue along the chain.

The 2018 edition of the Small Arms Trade Transparency Barometer—analyzing the transparency of the authorized small arms trade in 2015—identifies, in descending order, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Serbia as the most transparent exporters for 2015. The least transparent exporters for 2015 are, in ascending order, Iran, North Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Israel.

Arms Control 2.0: Operationalizing SDG Target 16.4 describes how the implementation of international arms control instruments supports the aim of reducing illicit arms flows in line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 16.4.

For decades, armed groups around the world have converted rockets intended for use with large, vehicle-mounted launchers into improvised light weapons. Indiscriminate and lethal, these weapons have killed and injured thousands of people in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere.

Yet, despite the demonstrated threat posed by artillery rockets, they have received significantly less attention from policy-makers than conventional small arms and light weapons do.

United Nations Member States will meet in New York this week for the UN Preparatory Committee for the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA PrepCom). The objective of this meeting is to prepare the agenda for the Second PoA Review Conference (to be held in August and September), which will assess progress made in meeting the wide-ranging commitments laid out by the PoA to address the problem of small arms proliferation and misuse.