DYB2011-Part-II-web

United Nations Disarmament Yearbook 2011: Part II
174
On 11 February, the Security Council held an open debate on the
interdependence of security and development and in a presidential statement
issued after that debate, the Council noted “that successful implementation of
the many tasks that peacekeeping operations could be mandated to undertake
in the areas of security sector reform; disarmament, demobilization, and
reintegration; rule of law; and human rights requires an understanding of
… the close interlinkage between security and development”. 57 On 19 April
2011, the Council considered the Secretary-General’s report on small arms, 58
which drew attention to the interconnection between armed violence and
development.
In May, the Open-ended Meeting of Governmental Experts on the
Implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate
the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects was held
in New York. In that meeting, the relationship between disarmament and
development was discussed particularly during the debate on the subject of
international assistance and capacity-building. Notably, special emphasis was
placed on the need to improve the implementation capacity of States to enable
them to effectively trace illegal arms back to their point of diversion, thus
contributing to safer and more secure communities.
The United Nations also improved its ability to deliver effective policy,
programming and advice—to its own agencies, to funds and programmes
working in the field, and to Member States—on curbing the uncontrolled
proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons. Efforts to develop
a set of International Small Arms Control Standards and international
ammunition technical guidelines were under way (the latter in response to
paragraph 7 of General Assembly resolution 63/61 of 2 December 2008). Both
will complement the existing Integrated Disarmament, Demobilization and
Reintegration Standards and the International Mine Action Standards.
Within the framework of the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence
and Development, 59 the United Nations also organized two events in 2011
as part of an ongoing series of regional seminars: in Nairobi from 23 to
25 February and in Kathmandu from 16 to 18 March. These seminars fostered
discussions and experience-sharing at the regional level, assessed the progress
of implementation of armed violence reduction programmes, and identified
promising and innovative practices. They were part of the preparations for the
second Ministerial Review Conference on the Geneva Declaration that was
held in Geneva from 31 October to 1 November. The Review Conference,
which was hosted by the Government of Switzerland and the United
57 S/PRST/2011/4.
58 S/2011/255.
59 Available from http://www.genevadeclaration.org/fileadmin/docs/GD-Declaration-091020-
EN.pdf (accessed 17 May 2012).