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http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=15&art_id=vn20030708002638701C687906&set_id=1
Small arms still a big world killer
July 08 2003 at 12:26AM
About 150 South Africans will be killed by guns during the five days (Monday to Friday) that United Nations member states meet in New York to discuss their progress in curbing the proliferation of small arms.
So says Joseph Dube of Gun Free South Africa. According to a new report, most governments had not met their obligations agreed at the UN two years ago to stop gun proliferation, Dube said yesterday.
The report, compiled by the International Action Network on Small Arms, evaluates progress in 156 countries and has been compiled by more than 100 local researchers and experts, including Gun Free South Africa.
The report said small arms caused 500 000 deaths a year - taking one life every minute. In South Africa, gun violence was the leading external cause of death, with more than 11 000 gun deaths each year.
UN meet to fight gun growth
The report found that, despite their obligations under the UN programme of action on small arms:
Only 37 states have established national committees to co-ordinate action on small arms;
Only 65 states have submitted national progress reports to the UN;
Only 19 states have begun a review of national small arms legislation, while progress has been particularly slow in countries in North Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia.
Yet the report also found that significant progress had been made in some countries and that the involvement of civil society had been essential to this progress. The most successful initiatives have been partnerships between governments and non-governmental organisations, while progress has often been slowest in countries where civil society is excluded.
The report identified priorities for governments to combat gun trafficking including:
Establishing national contact points and co-ordinating bodies for small arms control and drawing up action plans
for arms management and disarmament;
Reviewing and strengthening laws on the manufacture and sale of small arms;
Expanding weapons collection and disarmament programmes and strengthening security of state stockpiles;
Increasing the assistance available for small arms initiatives and integrating small arms control into development programmes; and
Starting negotiations on an international treaty to mark and trace small arms.
Dube said police would again destroy illegal firearms on July 16 in Johannesburg, as they have done each month since January. - Sapa
Small arms still a big world killer
July 08 2003 at 12:26AM
About 150 South Africans will be killed by guns during the five days (Monday to Friday) that United Nations member states meet in New York to discuss their progress in curbing the proliferation of small arms.
So says Joseph Dube of Gun Free South Africa. According to a new report, most governments had not met their obligations agreed at the UN two years ago to stop gun proliferation, Dube said yesterday.
The report, compiled by the International Action Network on Small Arms, evaluates progress in 156 countries and has been compiled by more than 100 local researchers and experts, including Gun Free South Africa.
The report said small arms caused 500 000 deaths a year - taking one life every minute. In South Africa, gun violence was the leading external cause of death, with more than 11 000 gun deaths each year.
UN meet to fight gun growth
The report found that, despite their obligations under the UN programme of action on small arms:
Only 37 states have established national committees to co-ordinate action on small arms;
Only 65 states have submitted national progress reports to the UN;
Only 19 states have begun a review of national small arms legislation, while progress has been particularly slow in countries in North Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia.
Yet the report also found that significant progress had been made in some countries and that the involvement of civil society had been essential to this progress. The most successful initiatives have been partnerships between governments and non-governmental organisations, while progress has often been slowest in countries where civil society is excluded.
The report identified priorities for governments to combat gun trafficking including:
Establishing national contact points and co-ordinating bodies for small arms control and drawing up action plans
for arms management and disarmament;
Reviewing and strengthening laws on the manufacture and sale of small arms;
Expanding weapons collection and disarmament programmes and strengthening security of state stockpiles;
Increasing the assistance available for small arms initiatives and integrating small arms control into development programmes; and
Starting negotiations on an international treaty to mark and trace small arms.
Dube said police would again destroy illegal firearms on July 16 in Johannesburg, as they have done each month since January. - Sapa
the UN!