After preliminary investigation into the impact of small arms on civilians and societies around the world, the United Nations convened a Conference on the Illicit Trade of Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects in July 2001. The purpose of the conference was to decide on steps nations should take to prevent the illicit trade in small arms.

The result of the 2001 conference was a Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects.

The Programme of Action (PoA) requires member nations, among other steps, to:

• Make illicit gun production/possession a criminal offence;
• Establish a national coordination agency on small arms;
• Identify and destroy stocks of surplus weapons;
• Manage stock-piles more effectively;
• Issue end-user certificates for exports/transit;
• Notify the original supplier nation of re-export;
• Support Disarmament, Demobilization & Re-integration (DDR)   of ex-combatants, including collection and destruction of their   weapons;
• Support regional agreements and encourage import   moratoria;
• Mark guns at point of manufacture for identification and   tracing;
• Maintain records of gun manufacture;
• Engage in more information exchange;
• Ensure better enforcement of arms embargoes;
• Include civil society organizations in efforts to prevent small
  arms proliferation.

The PoA remains a watershed document that provides a framework and a follow-up process for national, regional and global action to control small arms. Small arms have remained on the international agenda in no small part because of the PoA process. Consequently, it is imperative that best use be made of the period up to and including the PoA review conference in July 2006.

Documents (Project Ploughshares documents)