Pakistan's Ambassador to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi has urged the Security Council to address the causes and not just the instruments of conflict. "This means going beyond managing conflicts or its manifestation and investing more in preventing and resolving conflicts," she said.
Participating in the Security Council debate here on Wednesday on "The human cost of illicit transfer and misuse of small arms and light weapons," Pakistan's envoy pointed to what she called a "grim reality," that weapons, which propel and sustain conflicts across the world come from areas or regions that themselves enjoy peace. She said only four countries account for two thirds of global arms exports, while major importers are developing countries. She argued that the entire chain of development, production, trade, transfer and impact of these arms should be made part of a new global debate.
Ambassador Lodhi said that arms acquisition by States, motivated by security needs, cannot be delinked from their production and sale, which is driven by profit and politics. She urged the 15-member Council to deal with unresolved disputes, the root causes of conflicts, breeding grounds of terrorism and the factors behind the rise in organised crime.
She said that the regulation of arms, including through enhanced controls and improved standards for their transfer, were essential and that the enforcement of arms embargoes imposed by the Security Council was vital. She argued that effective marking and increased cooperation in the tracing of weapons was necessary. "These mechanisms however primarily focus on regulating the "supply" side of these arms. There is urgent need to evolve mechanisms and mobilize the political will to address the "demand" side," Ambassador Lodhi emphasised.
Making the case for developing countries, she said the role of international assistance and cooperation was critical. She said it is the principal enabler of global, regional and national efforts to regulate and prevent the use of these arms. She called for a stronger commitment from the international community to mobilize resources to this end.