Chairperson's summary of the Tokyo Follow-up Meeting of the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects

January 2002

The Tokyo Follow-up Meeting of the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects was held from January 23-25, 2002 at the invitation of the government of Japan. 47 representatives from 32 governments as well as 32 individuals representing various organizations and research institutes participated.
The objective of the Follow-up Meeting was to keep up the momentum of the UN Conference and to give the participants a first-hand opportunity to assess the outcome of the Conference and to consider ways to vigorously implement the Programme of Action adopted by the Conference.

The participants of the Meeting considered that the September 11 terrorist attacks that took place in between the UN Conference and the Tokyo Follow-up Meeting had the effect of making the issues of small arms and light weapons even more relevant, since the problems of terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime, regional conflicts and the weapons used in such conflicts are closely linked together and that the international community had to make greater efforts to deal with such new challenges.

The Meeting turned out to be very timely and useful, achieving its objectives. Most of the participants reiterated the need to keep up the momentum of the Conference and to take active initiatives at all levels to implement the Programme of Action. All the key-note presentations made were valuable and enlightening, and the exchanges of views that followed were stimulating and productive. The outline of the Meeting and some of the many salient points discussed or raised during the sessions are summarized below. Mr. M. Donowaki, special assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, served as the chairperson of most of the sessions.

At the opening session, a message from H.E. Mr. Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister of Japan, was introduced, then, H.E. Mr. Seiken Sugiura, Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, H.E. Mr. Camilo Reyes, President of the UN Conference and Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations in Geneva, and H.E. Mr. Carlos dos Santos, Chairman of the Preparatory Committee of the UN Conference and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Mozambique addressed the Meeting.

In Session 1, under the theme of "Assessment of the UN Conference", Chairperson Mitsuro Donowaki Special Assistant to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Mr. Camilo Reyes Rodriguez President of the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, Mr. Joao Honwana, Secretary of the UN Conference and Chief of the Conventional Branch of the UN Department for Disarmament Affairs, and Dr. Keith Krause, Programme Director of the Small Arms Survey, Geneva, made key-note presentations which were followed by a general exchange of views.

In the discussion there was broad agreement on the value of the UN Conference and the Programme of Action as a legitimation of the various activities related to the SALW issue and recognition of its importance. Although some participants thought that the Programme of Action did not go far enough, all agreed that it was a valuable first step. Moreover, there was broad agreement that the Programme of Action was a common basis from which different states and regions could move forward at a speed appropriate to their desires, needs and capacities. The Programme of Action empowers states and regions to decide what aspects of the issue to priorities.

In Session 2, under the theme of "Exchange of Views on the Programme of Action Adopted at the UN Conference", Ms. Anna Maria Sampaio of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Mr. Denis Chouinard of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Canada, Mr. Fu Chong of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, Mr. C. Edward Peartree, Senior Policy Expert on Small Arms, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Department of State of United States of America, H.E. Mr. Antonio Cosano Perez, Ambassador at large for International Security Affairs of Spain on behalf of European Union and Ambassador Pasi Patokallio of Finland made key-note presentations which were followed by a general exchange of views. The participants endorsed the approach of H.E. Mr. Camilo Reyes in highlighting a range of measures that could - and should - be taken immediately by states without requiring legislative procedures, for example, establishing national points of contact and designating national coordinating agencies for the implementation of the Programme of Action, and starting record keeping on SALW. Department for Disarmament Affairs, UN, is also empowered to collect and circulate such data and information provided by states. It was also noted that some measures were more relevant than others to particular regions, for example, the concerns of South East Asia about transnational organized crime, and that this would determine implementation priorities.

During the discussion there was a very encouraging exchange of information giving an early indication of the initiatives which were being undertaken - both regionally and nationally - in order to implement and move forward the Programme of Action. Participants agreed that there were a large number of such initiatives underway particularly in Latin America and Africa and that this was a positive aid to speedy implementation of national measures.

In Session 3, under the theme of "Exports to Non-State Actors", H.E. Mr. Carlos dos Santos, Mr. C. Edward Peartree of the United States Department of State, and Ms. Peggy Mason of Canada made key-note presentations, which were followed by an interesting and informative discussion of the issue. This was a topic on which the positions of participating states at the UN Conference were sharply divided.

Although these divisions remained, the discussion was constructive and several potential avenues for future work to bridge the divides were suggested. For example, H.E. Mr. Carlos dos Santos highlighted the fact that effective implementation of the Programme of Action, particularly of its Section II Paragraph 11, would make it much more difficult for non-state actors to obtain SALW. Some participants suggested that this issue might be resolved through the efforts for a clearer formulation of the export criteria of the Programme of Action in the follow-up process, while others thought that its recognition as a matter of principle might still be needed. Mr. Peartree agreed with other participants that disagreements on this issue should not be allowed to interfere with the implementation of the Programme of Action, which was the key priority, but stated U.S. concerns about the failure to consider exceptional circumstances under which arms supplies to non-state actors would be necessary. He also noted that the U.S. favored an alternative conceptualization, differentiating between responsible and irresponsible end users. Ms. Peggy Mason suggested that a fruitful route for resolving this issue would be to look at International Law and how this can be used to support a constructive interpretation of Section II, paragraph 11. The establishment of a group of governmental experts for this purpose might dialogue and it was agreed that the dialogue should be continued at future similar meetings.

In Session 4, under the them of "International Assistance and Cooperation", Mr. Yoshihumi Okamura, Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Division, Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (who also chaired the session), Dr. Owen Greene of the University of Bradford, H.E. Mr. Samuel Hinga Norman, Deputy Minister of Defense of Sierra Leone, Mr. El Ghassim Wane Acting Deputy Head of the OAU Conflict Management Centre, Mr. Takuto Kubo of UNMIK and Mr. Sukehiro Hasegawa Director of the UNDP Tokyo Office made key-note presentations, which were followed by a general exchange of views.

The conference acknowledged the path-breaking initiative by the Government of Japan to implement an "action-oriented disarmament initiative". In the general discussion it was pointed out that some of the most affected and least developed countries lacked not only the capacity to implement, but even enough knowledge about the Programme of Action. There was discussion of the problems of SALW in countries such as Cambodia in South East Asia, Sierra Leone in Africa, and Albania and Macedonia in Europe. There was agreement as to the key role of development in providing incentives for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration and recognition that the order in which these activities are undertaken may vary in order to meet local needs and conditions, for example, in Afghanistan. A key requirement is to make weapons less relevant to the local community and this may require: providing security on the ground, security sector reform and providing people with a livelihood.

The session also included specific consideration of the needs of Afghanistan in the aftermath of the conflict there and the potential problem of the SALW left in the region. The relationship between development and DDR is relevant to the process beginning to get underway in Afghanistan, where priorities include: Assisting the Interim Authority/Government in assessing the SALW problem; developing a strategy, policy and a realistic action plan for small arms reduction in Afghanistan; Creating opportunities for legal and sustainable livelihoods to reduce demand for arms; collection and disposal of SALW made redundant by peace building and security sector reform processes; Developing community approaches and awareness of SALW collection processes; Building capacity to control illicit flows of SALW through strengthening border controls and regional co-operation; Carrying out public awareness campaigns through visible destruction of initially collected SALW to build public confidence; Empowering civil society organizations to address SALW and violence at the community level; Strengthening border controls and regional co-operation in curtailing illicit SALW flows. The UNDP expressed its readiness to work closely with the countries concerned on these priorities. In the discussion, concerns were expressed that the resources being channeled to Afghanistan might mean less money available elsewhere. However, as one participant noted, it is not always money that is required; shared expertise can be of equal value and this is a resource that even poor countries can share. South-South co-operation, particularly in terms of human resources, is very valuable.

In Session 5, under the theme of "Cooperation Between Governmental and Non-Governmental Sectors", Mr. Nobuhiko Suto of Interband, Mr. Paul Eavis of Saferworld, Ms. Eugenea Piza-Lopes of international Alert, Mr. Kentaro Genma a Project Advisor, Japanese Government Research on Small Arms Issues in Cambodia, and Ms. Virginia Gamba of Safer Africa made key-note presentations, which were followed by a general exchange of views. The session produced very rich accounts of activities being undertaken between civil society, governments and regional organizations in a number of regions and states. Important ideas such as a "safety net" approach to dealing with ex-combatants and their families in carrying out DDR projects were introduced. It was suggested that civil society could effectively assist governments in promoting solutions to SALW issues in a number of ways: policy formulation, action-oriented research, implementation and monitoring. Concerns were expressed that in some countries and regions skepticism remained on the part of governments about the role of NGOs and civil society. It was also noted, that in some cases, there needed to be greater co-ordination between NGO groups and increased accountability and transparency of both NGOs and governments.