Review conference on global small arms menace

United Nations: The Small Arms Review Conference, a crucial meeting that could give a new impetus to a global action against proliferation of small arms in the hands of those who are not supposed to carry weapons, will be held on June 26 where hundreds of delegates from 191 member states of the United Nations will gather in New York, a statement issued by the South Asia Small Arms Network - Sri Lanka said.

Sri Lanka will chair the UN Review Conference, which is not merely a matter of prestige but also lays responsibility of giving a direction to the efforts to control small arms. It would be a challenge for Sri Lanka to convince and persuade the member states to agree to a possible arms trade treaty.

Sri Lanka's permanent representative to the UN, Prasad Kariyawasam, will chair the conference, the Network sources added.

"Every government in the world has a responsibility to control arms - both their possession within its borders, to protect its citizens, and their export across its borders, to ensure respect for international human rights and humanitarian law in the wider world. Governments must cooperate to control and limit the flow of arms and the spread of arms production," Kingsley Rodrigo, chairperson South Asian Small Arms Network Sri Lanka, said.

"At the very least arms-exporting countries must not supply arms where there is a clear danger that they will be used for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law."

In Sri Lanka, the South Asia Small Arms Network (SASAnet) collected nearly 12,000 pictures of people, who came out in support of the campaign against small arms.

This apart, Sri Lanka was perhaps the only country, which had participation of large number of people in the control of arms campaign. SASA-Net has organised a lantern competition on the occasion of Poson Poya.

Around the world, over 6,000 civil society organisations, Parliamentarians, Nobel Peace Laureates, many key figures and celebrities and over 900,000 campaigners from 152 countries support the treaty, Network sources said.