|
STATEMENT
BY
Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Ladies & Gentlemen,
It is with great pleasure, that my delegation extends its appreciation to you, for convening a public meeting of the Security Council, on the Agenda Item entitled, “Small Arms”. My delegation welcomes the report of the Secretary-General 2/2002/1053 on this item, particularly its contribution to dealing with the question of illicit small arms and light weapons. The report points out that the spread of illicit small arms and light weapons is a global threat to human security and human rights. The report also underscores that preventing, combating and eliminating the uncontrolled spread of these weapons constitutes one of the key tasks of the Security Council in discharging its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
Mr. President,
The world has gone a long way, from apparent apathy to that of deliberate and conscious effort to address the problems of small arms at global level. These efforts seek to mitigate the enormous and ugly consequences that have continued to deny mankind the benefit of living free from threat and fear. I am therefore, convinced that the diversity of experience at this Security Council public meeting will enrich our focus on problems posed by illicit small arms.
Mr. President,
Since the “United Nations Conference on Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects” held in July 2001, Kenya as a country most ravaged by the effects of illicit small arms, has been in the forefront in the war against the proliferation of illicit weapons. As noted by the Secretary-General in his report, there is no doubt that the UN Programme of Action adopted in July 2001 provides an adequate basis for further work at the national, regional and global levels while recognizing that the primary responsibility for addressing the problem lies with the states themselves.
Please allow me to share with the Members of the Security Council on the experience of our Sub-Region on this issue. As you may recall, Mr. President, the ten countries of the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa signed the Nairobi Declaration in March 2001, and mandated the Kenya Government to co-ordinate the regional activities in combating the circulation of illicit small arms and to convene a Ministerial Review Conference on the Implementation of Nairobi Declaration.
On August 7th and 8th, 2002, States Parties to the Nairobi Declaration held the First Ministerial Review Conference on the Implementation of the Nairobi Declaration. The Conference brought together Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, the United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda.
Mr. President,
The Conference reviewed progress made in the implementation of the Nairobi Declaration and came up with recommendations on how best the existing international and regional initiatives could be harnessed for realization of the objectives set out in the Declaration. With regard to priority actions and guidelines on regional and national implementation plans, the Ministers agreed to establish and operationalize National Focal Points by the end of 2002, and develop National Action Plans to combat the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.
The Conference also re-affirmed the political will of Governments in the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa to tackle the proliferation of small arms.
Mr. President,
At national level, Kenya will continue to work together with a group of the Friends of Nairobi Declaration comprising of development partners, NGO’s and representatives of UN system in Nairobi, to harmonize strategies and actions of assistance to address the scourge of illicit small arms.
Mr. President,
The problem of illicit circulation of small arms is multifaceted. To address it effectively, we need to find out how, by whom and for whom, are these weapons manufactured, traded and used? How do we deal with the driving force behind the demand for small arms? The unresolved question of state and non-state actors in proliferation of small arms is whether an appropriate time has come to comprehensively address this problem.
Mr. President,
My delegation would like to extend appreciation to the Secretary-General for his timely decision in sending a Fact Finding Mission to Kenya in August 2001, to study and evaluate the scope and magnitude of the problem of proliferation of small arms and light weapons. We appeal to the Secretary-General to look into the recommendations of the Fact Finding Mission with a view to implementing them. We are encouraged by the recent initiatives taken by the Security Council in identifying areas where further action is required by the Council in addressing this global scourge. We support the recommendations made by the Secretary-General to the Security Council particularly, to support efforts aimed at international instrument to enable states to identify and trace, in a timely and reliable manner, illicit small arms and light weapons.
Mr. President,
Kenya welcomes the growing optimism of the progress made in negotiations to settle long-standing conflicts in Southern Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and Burundi. Kenya will continue to spearhead efforts to resolve the conflicts in our sub-region and I am happy to inform that a Peace Conference on Somalia will be held in Eldoret, Kenya later this month. Furthermore, the Southern Sudan Peace Process is scheduled to resume in Machakos, Kenya on October 15, 2002. Kenya’s determination in support of these efforts is predicated on clear understanding that the resolution of these conflicts will immensely contribute to the reduction of the flow of illicit small arms in our Sub-Region.
In conclusion, Mr. President, I wish to commend the Secretary-General once more for his report which contains innovative measures to comprehensively deal with this problem. I further wish to appeal to all Members of the Security Council and the international community to extend political, financial and technical support to regional initiatives in the spirit of true partnership, bearing in mind that we have a duty and responsibility to prevent, combat and eradicate stockpiling and illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons.
We should be a beacon of hope with which future generations will feel proud to identity with. For the sake of posterity, let us collectively work hard to tame the ferocity of this menace.
I thank you, Mr. President.
Friday, October 11, 2002 - 11:05a.m.
Kenya Mission to the United Nations © 2002 by CODIA |