Parker, Sarah and Katherine Green. 2012 ‘Introduction.’ The Programme of Action Implementation Monitor (Phase 1): Assessing Reported Progress; Occasional Paper No. 30, p. 1. Geneva: Small Arms Survey, the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. 1 August

Relevant contents

Introduction

The UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA) celebrated its tenth anniversary in July 2011. UN Member States will hold a second two-week conference in August–September 2012 to review progress made in implementation of the PoA and the International Tracing Instrument (ITI).(1) More than a decade after the PoA's adoption, many stakeholders are now asking: (1) has the PoA been implemented; (2) has such implementation had an impact on the illicit small arms trade, or what difference has it made? Many states called for an assessment of PoA implementation in their 2010 national reports and statements to the Fourth Biennial Meeting of States to Consider Implementation of the PoA (BMS4). Indeed the BMS4 outcome document records that '[S]tates also recognized the need for a comprehensive assessment of progress in the implementation of the Programme of Action, 10 years following its adoption, as an input for the 2012 Review Conference' (UNGA, 2010).

The Small Arms Survey launched the PoA Implementation Project in March 2011 in response to that call. This is a multi-year project designed to assess the implementation and impact of the PoA and the ITI through several phases:

1. Phase 1: an assessment of the extent to which states have implemented the PoA and the ITI using national reports (relying exclusively on the information states provide on their PoA/ITI implementation);

2. Phase 2: an assessment of whether states have implemented the PoA and the ITI based on an objective evaluation and verification of implementation efforts (through an analysis of national legislation, independent country studies, and other sources); and

3. Phase 3: an assessment of whether implementation efforts (assessed in Phases 1 and 2) have had an impact on the illicit trade in small arms, specifically with reference to the PoA objectives.

Sources:

1) Under paragraph 38 of the International Instrument to Enable States to Identify and Trace, in a Timely and Reliable Manner, Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons (International Tracing Instrument or ITI), states have agreed to 'review the implementation and future development of this instrument within the framework of conferences that review the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects'.

UNGA (United Nations General Assembly). 2010. Report of the Fourth Biennial Meeting of States to Consider 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. A/CONF.192/BMS/2010/3 of 30 June (sec. V).

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