Strengthening Multilateral Capacity: Roundtable on Small Arms and Light Weapons

IPI’s Coping with Crisis program organized a roundtable meeting on small arms and light weapons (SALW) at the Millennium Hotel in New York City. It was the fourth of five such meetings of “Task Force One: Transnational Security Challenges.”

The roundtable opened with a general discussion of current policies on SALW control and possible strategies for improvement, before moving on to sessions dedicated to further analysis some of the most important dimensions of SALW.

Topics covered included SALW record keeping; the role of the UN; possible moves towards an arms treaty; and second generation measures. The two-day event also shed light on SALW in postconflict states and the current activities of the UN community in recording and reducing the world’s supply of small arms and light weapons. The roundtable culminated in the development of recommendations on how to strengthen multilateral capacity for SALW control.

Chair:
H.E. Mr. Dumisani Shadrack Kumalo, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the Republic of South Africa to the United Nations

Expert Moderator:
Professor Dr. Herbert Wulf, Adjunct Senior Researcher, Institute for Development and Peace, University of Duisburg/Essen and Associate, Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC)

IPI Moderator:
Dr. Edward Luck, Senior Vice President and Director of Studies, International Peace Institute