Control Arms Campaign a Success
Published 42 months ago
A report on the Control Arms campaign from Amnesty International.
(Thanks to everyone who joined the Million Faces campaign that we supported
in our July human rights special issue. It helped make the Control Arms
Campaign a resounding success in New York this week and your support made
all the difference – DAZED.)
After three weeks of campaigning in New York and three years of campaigning around the world, the Control Arms campaign achieved a massive victory yesterday, 26 October, when the UN General Assembly's First Committee passed a resolution to start work on an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). In a highly significant display of support for establishing common standards on the international arms trade, 116 governments from around the world had officially endorsed the resolution entitled "Towards an Arms Trade Treaty" before it was voted on. The resolution subsequently received resounding support with 139 governments out of 164 voting in favour. Governments now have an opportunity to create a treaty that will help make a real difference to the hundreds of thousands of people whose lives are devastated by armed violence every year. There is still a long way to go until the treaty comes into effect, but this is an enormously important first step and progress on this resolution has been very quick in UN terms. We would not have reached this point without the support of the more than 1 million people who have joined the Million Faces, and the thousands of dedicated and creative campaigners who have worked so hard on the campaign. Congratulations!
