July 30, 2012 | Wellington / New York
Dear Colleagues
As most of you will be aware by now, the ATT Conference concluded last Friday without agreement on a final text for the Treaty. We are naturally disappointed. At this time, however, it is important to remember the old saying:"The greater the struggle, the more glorious the triumph”. We will succeed.
What is abundantly clear is that now is a time for leadership, in particular as many attribute the inability to achieve consensus on an ATT last Friday to a lack of leadership in certain countries.
We in PGA, together with our many ATT-friendly governments and civil society partners, can play a vital role in filling this leadership 'gap'. We must fight the good fight.
One of the defining and enduring characteristics of PGA and its members is that, time and again, we have demonstrated to our governments, to our colleagues in parliament, to our partners in civil society, and also to ourselves, that we persevere until our goals are met.
On the final day of the ATT Conference, a group of over 90 Member States of the UN gave a joint statement, read out by Mexico, saying they "are determined to secure an Arms Trade Treaty as soon as possible. One that will bring about a safer world for the sake of all humanity."
Ambassador Roberto Garcia Moritan, the conference chairman, said treaty supporters knew "this was going to be difficult to achieve".Despite the failure to reach agreement, Moritan predicted that "we certainly are going to have a treaty in 2012."
The many countries that strongly support an ATT are now actively exploring other options to put the ATT back on the table within the next 4-6 months.
A referral of the draft to the General Assembly for further discussion when it convenes again in October and possible adoption by two thirds majority needed after that is one scenario.
So it is extremely important - and I ask all of you most kindly to follow through on this - that all of us now:
- Approach our relevant government Ministers to inquire what steps they are taking, noting what I have observed above
- Encourage our governments to preserve the momentum and act quickly to put the ATT back on the UN formal agenda before the end of 2012
- Convene parliamentary committee meetings in our respective parliaments to discuss these points
- Ask formal questions in parliament on what our governments are doing to progress the ATT, in the aftermath of the inconlusive outcome of the Conference
- Show and share with colleagues in parliament and government the Global Parliamentary Declaration on the ATT, signed by over 2,000 Legislators in 113 countries worldwide
- Mobilize other parliamentarians in support of the ATT who have not been as/so involved to date.
I look forward to hearing from you, individually, in the next 8-12 weeks on the concrete steps you have been taking.
It has been observed that during the course of the four-week ATT Conference, over 50,000 people worldwide lost their lives to armed violence.
We must act quickly and decisively to overcome this slight delay and make this Treaty a reality.
With every good wish.
Ross Robertson, Assistant Speaker
President, Parliamentarians for Global Action
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