 Preventative diplomacy, Post-conflict recovery and Disarmament have been the main focal points of PGA's Peace & Democracy Program in the first decade of its operations from 1978-1988, with particular priority given to the central importance of nuclear and chemical weapons. Following almost 15 years (1991-2004) in which the Organization's Peace and Democracy programme utilized parliamentary diplomacy to promote dialogue and stability in conflict and post-conflict situations and to prevent the escalation of crises into conflict[1], PGA has now gravitated once again to the disarmament/arms' control field, focusing on the weaponry that is fuelling the conduct of hostilities in many contemporary armed conflicts and delaying swift emergence into stable post-conflict societies, namely, conventional arms, including small arms and light weapons. |
In 2006, and as a result of PGA's intensive work on Security Sector reform (2003-05), PGA initiated a pilot project in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) facilitating a series of UN-related activities and high-level Regional Seminars and Workshops to address the proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons and the initiative towards an Arms Trade Treaty in the regions of West Africa, the CIS/Caucuses/Eastern Balkans, and South East & South Asia. Three regional parliamentary seminars took place in Dakar, Senegal and Tbilisi, Georgia and Manila, The Philippines in 2006 and 2007.
The objectives of PGA's Peace & Democracy Programme are twofold: on the one hand, PGA aims to foster greater political leadership and improved legislative tools for Lawmakers to give effect to already existing commitments to curb and control Small Arms and Light Weapons; on the other, the membership of the Organization has now formally decided to engage in new initiatives to promote a global instrument that may effectively regulate and control arms transfers worldwide. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in December 2006 opening the way for the United Nations Secretariat to explore with UN Member States the feasibility of a global Arms Trade Treaty and opened up a consultation process in this connection. Depending on the outcome of this consultation process during 2007, a subsequent decision by UN Member States on the convening of a Preparatory Committee to negotiate the content of such a treaty may be taken in the coming 2-4 years. PGA is therefore launching a series of initiatives aimed at bringing about universal support and harnessing greater awareness of the need for a comprehensive and effective ATT. Africa and its sub-regions are the ideal venue for most of these proposed activities to be carried out under this programme between 2007 and 2009, especially in light of the tragic reality that most of today's armed conflicts are being fought in the poorest continent. Ending these conflicts or mitigating as much as possible their effects is important on a number of different levels, not least because it can contribute to the attainment of several UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including poverty eradication, sustainable development and gender equality of treatment.
[1]Between 1991 and 2004, PGA dispatched teams of its members out on peace-making missions to resolve parliament-based conflicts, especially in countries with emerging democracies. These missions, organized by PGA's Task Force on Peace and Democracy, operated in Burundi, Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Haiti, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia and Zimbabwe, in response to requests for assistance from the parliaments themselves or from Special Representatives of the United Nations Secretary-General. The results of these respective Missions have been presented to the UN Security Council and in national parliaments. |