Top > Foreign Policy > Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation > Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation > Conventional Weapons > Small Arms Light Weapons > Japan's Role in Disarmament and Development > The Threat of Small Arms

The Threat of Small Arms

Extracts from the UN Secretary-General's Reports: (A/52/298) and (A/54/258)


A soldier in the UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) and a woman hit by a stray bullet, 1994.

Soldiers
Soldiers with small arms, 1992.

True "weapons of mass destruction"

Small arms and light weapons have been or are the primary or sole tools of violence in several of the armed conflicts dealt with by the United Nations. The vast majority of the casualties have been civilians, mostly women and children. It was estimated that, by 1996, over 35 million people in 23 countries throughout the would were at risk of facing civil strife either owing to ongoing humanitarian crises or as a result of a slow recovery from past ones.

An obstacle to economic and political recovery

There is a concern that the availability of these weapons is a major factor in exacerbating crime and armed violence, thereby threatening the consolidation of democracy and security which is needed for sustainable development.

Affected children

Hundreds of thousands of children have been among the victims of small arms and light weapons. By 1999, more than 300,000 children under 16 years of age were estimated to have been exploited as participants in armed conflict using these arms.


A Young soldier, 1997.
A girl who lost both arms to a rocket gun, 1995.


A weapon market, Africa 1994.

Types of small arms and light weapons

Broadly speaking, small arms are those weapons designed for personal use, and light weapons are those designed for use by several persons working together as a crew. The category of small arms includes pistols, rifles, submachine guns, and assault rifles. Light weapons include heavy machine-guns, portable launchers of anti-aircraft guns, and portable launchers of anti-tank missile. Ammunition and explosives form an integral part of small arms and light weapons used in conflicts.

The Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, is being negotiated by the UN Ad Hoc Committee in Vienna. It will serve as a key element in international efforts to combat illicit firearms manufacturing and trafficking.

Back to Index