The Global impact of the Arms Trade Treaty

I doubt very much that I am the only British Ambassador writing, talking and promoting the Arms Trade Treaty this week. All over the world British Embassies had been working with treaty supporters and to change the minds of sceptics for the past 7 years. So when it was agreed in the United Nations the British Embassy in Guatemala City cheered. We were so pleased that our friends the Guatemalans and Hondurans had voted alongside us and 151 other countries for this landmark agreement that, as both the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have said, “will save lives”.

You may wonder how that will happen. As the Prime Minister explained “it will reduce the number of illegal arms and make it harder for these to reach the hands of criminals and terrorists who are set on using them to destroy the lives of others”. I work in countries with high levels of violence and misery caused by organised crime. And I know that Hondurans and Guatemalans will applaud any treaty that reduces that problem

Cynics might say that the Treaty is not strong enough but we believe that for the Treaty to have real impact it needs to be agreed by current and future major exporters. The ATT will only be effective if it has the breadth of the UN membership behind it. High global standards will make more difference to real peoples’ lives than gold standards applied by a few countries with no rules for the rest of the world. The treaty needed to have both strong provisions as well as broad support.  This has been secured.