26 November 2013 - Senior level representatives from countries in the Asian region are gathering in Manila for the Second Asia Regional Meeting to Facilitate Dialogue on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) to be held today, November 26, and tomorrow, November 27.
The meeting is jointly organized by the Philippine Government and the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific (UNRCPD). This meeting is the second in a series of meetings, the first of which was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in February 2013 in advance of the final treaty negotiations.
The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the way forward in terms of wider support and implementation of the ATT.
The landmark ATT regulating the international trade in conventional arms opened for signature at the United Nations on 3 June 2013. To date, 114 states have signed the ATT while 8 states have ratified the treaty.
The treaty will enter into force when 50 states ratify the treaty. The Philippines signed the ATT on 25 September 2013 during the UN Treaties Event of the 68th United Nations General Assembly.
The ATT is the first-ever global treaty to establish international norms aimed at addressing the diversion and illicit transfers of conventional weapons with due respect to the tenets of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. END