Countries must show responsibility in controlling illegal weapons: Vietnamese diplomat
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./.