Embargoed until 00:01 GMT on Tuesday, 26 June 2007

Campaigners around the world are celebrating a significant victory after more than 80 governments participated in the UN consultation process on an Arms Trade Treaty.

The arms trade has no effective global controls at present. The proposed treaty would establish global standards that could save thousands of lives and hold irresponsible arms dealers accountable for their actions.

Speaking earlier this month at a conference in New York, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon confirmed the proposed treaty would establish common international standards for the import, export and transfer of all conventional arms. The treaty would make a major contribution to the attainment of humanitarian, human rights and development objectives worldwide, he said.

Control Arms says the work of global civil society must be recognised as a major contributing factor to the success of the treaty process so far. Control Arms coordinated more than 100 People’s Consultations around the world where ordinary people shared their views on what the ATT should include.

The majority of states where consultations were held made submissions to the UN. The submissions showed widespread support for a treaty that protects human rights and sustainable development and enhances regional security.

Over the past week, two major regional bodies have restated their support for the proposed Treaty. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Council of the European Union (EU) both issued public statements last week supporting moves towards more responsible and stringent regulation of the global arms trade.

"We welcome supportive statements from the UN Secretary-General, ECOWAS and the European Union and are especially happy to see so many responses from Latin American governments and from other developing nations, since these are the countries that suffer the highest costs of gun violence. All governments must now ensure that human rights, international humanitarian law and sustainable development are at the heart of the Arms Trade Treaty so it can save lives," said Heather Sutton from Sou da Paz in Brazil.

"Heads of State will be meeting at the African Union, Southern African Development Community and Pacific Islands Forum meeting over the coming months – we want to see those regional organisations pledging support for an Arms Trade Treaty. We hope all responses to the Secretary-General will be carefully considered when the UN General Assembly holds further discussions on the treaty in October this year," said Charles Nasibu-Bilali, a Congolese researcher and Control Arms campaigner.

Government submissions are now being collated for the Secretary-General, whose next move will be to establish a Group of Governmental Experts that will formally start work on the Arms Trade Treaty in 2008.

ENDS

For more information, please contact:  Control Arms http://www.controlarms.org/

Oxfam International: http://www.oxfam.org/

• Interviewees are available from People’s Consultations in South Africa, Thailand, Democratic Republic of Congo, Brazil, India and Fiji. Requests for interviews in English, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese can be facilitated. Short biographies of available interviewees are attached.
• The Control Arms Campaign is a joint initiative by Amnesty International, Oxfam International and the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA). Hundreds of non-governmental organisations from all over the world work with Control Arms to reduce arms proliferation and misuse.
• The official deadline for government submissions on an Arms Trade Treaty to the UN Secretary General was 20 June but submissions will be accepted until the end of the month and issued as addendums to the main consultation document.

Anna Macdonald is the Oxfam International Control Arms campaign manager. She helped to coordinate People’s Consultations in more than 50 countries around the world. Anna is available for interview in English.

Rebecca Peters is the Director of the International Action Network on Small Arms. She helped to coordinate People’s Consultations in more than 50 countries around the world. Rebecca is available for interview in English, Spanish and French.

Sauro Scarpelli is the Control Arms Campaign Coordinator at the Amnesty International Secretariat. He helped to coordinate People’s Consultations in more than 50 countries around the world. Sauro is available for interview in English, Spanish or Italian.

Ema Tagicakibau is the Assistant Director-Demilitarization at the Pacific Concerns Resource Centre (based in Fiji). Ema is a former Member of Parliament who was held hostage with 33 colleagues when six gunmen entered Parliament during Fiji’s coup in May 2000. She was responsible for coordinating a national consultation in Fiji along with several other non-governmental organisations and also lobbied Pacific Island Forum member states to support the UN ATT process. Ema is available for interview in English.

Heather Sutton works with Sou da Paz in Brazil. Sou da Paz coordinated 12 People’s Consultations in every region of Brazil and the outcome document of the Consultations was presented to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in April. Heather is available for interviews in English, Portuguese and Spanish.

Binalakshmi Nepram is the founding Secretary General of the Control Arms Foundation of India (CAFI) and also of the Manipur Women's Gun Survivor Network. Bina has worked tirelessly on arms control issues throughout India for around 10 years. Bina is available for interviews in English and Hindi.

Fred Lubang works with Non-Violence International in Thailand. He founded the Philippines Action Network on Small Arms (PhilANSA) and developed the idea for the People’s Consultation in 2006. Fred is available for interviews in English.