Arms Trade Treaty Assistance Project

The international community has built and continues to maintain a comprehensive set of international treaties, guidance and reporting instruments in the fields of arms transfers and small arms and light weapons (SALW) controls. The two most important instruments in this regard are the 2001 UN Programme of Action on SALW (UN POA) and the 2013 Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Combined, these instruments detail the key systems that states should have in place in order to exercise effective control over the manufacture, storage, sale, transfer and disposal of conventional arms and SALW. In recent years, a significant number of cooperation and assistance activities have been carried out with the aim of helping states to establish or improve their arms transfer and SALW controls. The entry into force of the ATT led to the funding of a range of new efforts in these areas. Many of these activities are focused on helping states to implement either the UN POA or the ATT. Others are aimed at building capacity in arms transfer and SALW controls but make no direct reference to these instruments. The wider range of activities and the large number of implementing organisations can make it hard for those engaged in this area to coordinate their efforts and be aware of all the work that is taking place. This can lead to gaps in coverage, duplication of effort and further stress on limited financial resources SIPRI’s Mapping ATT-Relevant Cooperation and Assistance Activities database was developed in order to help address this issue. It aims to provide states, NGOs, regional and international organizations with information about arms transfer- and SALW control-related cooperation and assistance activities and related guidance documents. The aim of the database is to allow these stakeholders to carry out joint work and avoid duplication of effort when planning and implementing cooperation and assistance activities.