In May this year, together with our partners Asser Instituut and C4ADS we hosted an international conference on “Improving Supply Chain Accountability for Arms Exports”. The conference forms part of our wider work in enabling Latin American civil society to address the misuse, diversion and abuse of arms exports.
Here are our 4 key takeaways:
1. States and businesses should implement human rights due diligence across the weapons supply chain to identify, prevent, address, and monitor actual and potential violations of international humanitarian law, international human rights law and diversion risks.
2. Gender-responsive policies should be mainstreamed in the regulatory frameworks of arms importing and exporting States to account for the specific impact of the arms trade on women and girls.
3. The establishment of subsidiaries abroad and the development of new technologies such as modular and 3D printed guns should not allow companies to circumvent export controls.
4. Greater transparency, reporting and information sharing is essential to prevent and mitigate the risk of weapons and ammunitions diversion.