A meeting of the UNSC. (Photo: VNA) New York (VNA) - Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations (UN), has emphasised that countries must be held accountable for ensuring the management and control of weapons and fighting crime and illegal weapons.
Addressing the UN Security Council (UNSC)'s open debate on “the impact of the diversion and trafficking of arms on peace and security” on November 22, Quy stressed the need for countries to respect and comply with international law, the UN Charter, including humanitarian law and international treaties, and relevant resolutions of the UNSC.
It was necessary to pay attention to specific characteristics in each region and country, support capacity building to handle post-conflict security and order issues, and have holistic and effective approaches, the Vietnamese diplomat said, adding that countries need to ensure their legitimate rights to purchase, produce, transfer and own weapons for defence and security purposes.
Robin Geiss, Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) and Maria Pia Devoto, a representative of the Forum on Arms Control, presented reports at the meeting.
Delegates stressed that the prolonged illegal use of weapons has aggravated armed conflicts, causing civilian casualties, especially women and children, and impacting security, stability, socio-economic development in conflict and post-conflict areas.
They underlined the necessity to address this issue at the national, regional and international levels, and harmoniously implement existing tools, including the UN General Assembly's Programme of Action to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons (PoA) in 2001, the International Tracing Instrument (ITU) and other regional initiatives.
UN peacekeeping missions should continue to assist the host countries in arms recovery, disarmament, demobilisation, re-integration of fighters, security reform, and post-conflict reconstruction, they said./.
