(Rocard, Cont'd) While NGOs may prove useful in pushing the envelope where official diplomacy, for larger reasons at stake, may have to obfuscate, small arms control will of necessity have to be advanced by States. And that puts a special burden of responsibility upon you, the high representatives of States Members of the UN. The Bamako Declaration, the Brasilia Declaration and the OSCE Document on Small Arms are important steps in delineating regional approaches to Conference scope and mandate. Nonetheless, adoption of these documents has been paved by constructive ambiguity. Such, at times, is necessary, to advance cohesion. Diplomacy, however, must not stand in the way of alleviating the urgency of the moment! For we must be prepared to face tomorrow’s challenge. States’ willingness to agree upon a follow-on process to the Conference will be an important indicator of true political intentions. Even with consensus on treaty mandates elusive in time for the Conference, agreement should be reached on a mandate for the Conference to deliberate various treaty-making mandates. For shortcomings of the UN framework notwithstanding, the UN must for now remain at the center of concerted global efforts to redress the phenonomenon of small arms proliferation and illicit trafficking. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Controlling Small Arms Proliferation is Vital to the survival of the Nation-State System Statement of Dr. Sola Ogunbanwo Member, Eminent Persons Group, Before the International Press Conference At the Conclusion of the Second Meeting Of the Preparatory Committee for The UN Conference on the Illicit Trade In Small Arms And Light Weapons In All Its Aspects, United Nations Headquarters, January 19th, 2001 In countries across Africa good governance, human rights, economic development, political stability, social justice and peace are being undermined by an overabundance of small arms. In addressing himself on the subject, Salim A. Salim, the secretary-general of the Organization of African Unity and a distinguished member of the eminent persons group, states: “In confronting the challenge of ensuring peace and security on the Continent, we have come to the inescapable conclusion that there is an urgent need to address the issue of small arms trafficking and light weapons proliferation in Africa, because of the negative effects this development has had on the stability of many of our societies and countries.” Africa’s regional conflicts have caused an estimated 7-8 million fatalities, 2 million of who were children. Moreover, 4-5 million children have been disabled, another 12 million left homeless, and more than 1 million orphaned or separated from their families. UNICEF estimates that a quarter million have ended up as “child combatants” in some 30 recent conflicts. A whole generation of African children is being inducted into a culture of violence marked by violent death and injury, with dire psychological consequences. Africa is bleeding from the humanitarian toll inflicted by small arms. The mental militarization of children throughout Africa will, over long, tear apart the last remnants of civil society. Olara A. Otunnu, the secretary-general’s special representative for children and armed conflict, has eloquently and passionately spoken to this before the General Assembly. Similarly, the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity at the thirty-fifth ordinary session stressed “the impact of the illicit proliferation, circulation and trafficking of light weapons on the increased involvement of children as soldiers and the psycho-social trauma thereof and the need to comply with the African Charter for the Rights and Welfare of Children and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.” Growing control of crime over civil society poses serious dangers to political and economic reform by threatening democratic structures. The accumulation of power in the hands of those with guns has led to the collapse of states across the African continent. A dangerous strategic triad has developed between the trade in diamonds, oil and precious metals as means of funding illicit arms purchases. Throughout Africa, conflicts are being fueled, inter alia, in an effort by irresponsible and reckless profiteers to control precious natural resources which, rather than being means for economic and political empowerment end up fueling the engines of war and annihilation. As President Nelson Mandela pointed out, “the wars of Africa, like those of Europe and Asia, are not inevitable. They are caused by leaders who yield to the narrowest definition of self-interest and sacrifice their own citizens to their own greed, their ambition, their weakness."    Virtually every low-income country in Africa has either undergone major conflict, or borders on one or more countries in conflict. While the mere presence of small arms in large numbers and outside formal security structures may not in and of itself generate conflict, it nonetheless increases the likelihood of violent eruptions and increases their scale and lethality. Continued