DYB2011-Part-II-web

United Nations Disarmament Yearbook 2011: Part II
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taken at the international, regional and national levels to address all aspects of
the problem.
The year 2011 marked the tenth anniversary of the Programme of Action.
During these 10 years, significant progress was made in its implementation.
The International Tracing Instrument5 was agreed upon, and a United Nations
expert group report on small arms brokering6 was welcomed by States as a
basis for their efforts regarding the regulation of such brokering. A number
of States established and revised national legislative frameworks, integrated
small arms action plans into national development strategies, worked on
weapons collection and destruction programmes, improved on their stockpile
management, and entered into international cooperation and assistance. States
further improved the security of stockpiles and destroyed surplus weapons,
often with assistance provided by the United Nations, including its three
regional centres for peace and disarmament, in partnership with donors,
regional organizations and civil society. A growing number of States increased
transparency by reporting their small arms transfers to the United Nations
Register of Conventional Arms.
National reporting under the Programme of Action, however, remained
low in some regions. For instance in the three years from 2009 to 2011, only
35 per cent of States from the Asian Group and 45 per cent from the Latin
American and Caribbean Group submitted their national reports.
Furthermore, national reports were often unclear on what the challenges
were in national implementation, and on how they could be overcome.
Moreover, effective operational information exchange between States’
investigative and law enforcement authorities—and with the International
Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL)—could still improve.
Periodic reviews of the implementation of the Programme of Action were
held, including the Review Conference in 2006 and a series of four biennial
meetings of States in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2010. From 2008 onwards, these
meetings produced substantive outcome documents. 7
In 2011, the first Open-ended Meeting of Governmental Experts was
convened in New York from 9 to 13 May, in response to the request by States
in resolution 63/72 of 2 December 2008, to connect the normative work at the
global level with how experts deal with the topic in practice.
5 A/60/88 and Corr.2, annex, para. 38, as adopted by General Assembly decision 60/519 of
8 December 2005.
6 A/62/163.
7 A/CONF.192/BMS/2008/3 and A/CONF.192/BMS/2010/3.