Including gender-based violence in the ATT!

From ReachingCriticalWill:

Dear WILPF Sections

We hope that all of you are doing well.

We would like to update you all on our work that we are currently doing in order to guarantee stronger language in the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in order to prevent armed gender based violence.

WILPF is currently in New York participating in the negotiations of the ATT and trying actively to lobby states to support our cause. And up until now we have been very successful and have 80 supporting countries!

We have together with International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), Control Arms, Global Action to Prevent War (GAPW) and Amnesty International, written a briefing paper that we are using while going around talking to delegations. You can find this paper attached in this mail. Together with Iceland, that has been the main champion for GBV among the UN members; we have been lobbying for stronger language on GBV in the treaty. Iceland together with a few other countries delivered a statement on Tuesday asking for stronger language on GBV and since then we have been able to get 80 countries on-board and are now  supporting stronger language on GBV

The supporting countries are: (the list is missing 4 countries; I will try to get the updated list with all 80 states and send out ASAP)

1. Belgium
2. Denmark
3. Estonia
4. Finland
5. Hungary
6. Iceland
7. Ireland
8. Latvia
9. Lithuania
10. Netherlands
11. Norway
12. Portugal
13. Sweden
14. Albania
15. Argentina
16. Antigua and Barbuda
17. Argentina
18. Australia
19. Austria
20. Bahamas
21. Barbados
22. Belize
23. Benin
24. Bulgaria
25. Burkina Faso
26. Canada
27. Cape Verde
28. Croatia
29. Cyprus
30. Czech Republic
31. Dominica
32. EL Salvador
33. France
34. Gambia
35. Ghana
36. Greece
37. Grenada
38. Guinea
39. Guinea-Bissau
40. Guyana
41. Haiti
42. Italy
43. Ivory Coast
44. Jamaica
45. Liberia
46. Liechtenstein
47. Luxemburg
48. Madagascar
49. Malawi
50. Mali
51. Montenegro
52. Montserrat
53. Niger
54. Nigeria
55. Palau
56. Papua New Guinea
57. Republic of Congo
58. Romania
59. Rwanda
60. Saint Kitts and Nevis
61. Saint Lucia
62. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
63. Samoa
64. Senegal
65. Serbia
66. Sierra Leone
67. Slovakia
68. Slovenia
69. Spain
70. Suriname
71. Switzerland
72. Togo
73. Trinidad and Tobago
74. UK
75. Uruguay
76. Vanuatu

Today a new draft treaty will be delivered and we are hoping that the criteria on GBV have been moved up to the section that makes it legally binding not to transfer weapons when there is a risk of armed GBV, as of now states only have to consider stopping the transfer. I will keep you posted if it has been moved or not as soon as we get a look at the new draft.

However meanwhile we would like to ask you if your country is not represented on this supporter list, to contact your government representatives or your ATT delegation and ask them to support. 

You can go to http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/resources/government-contacts and look up your countries contact information to both your Capital and your UN delegation in New York.

Please feel free to use the information available in the briefing paper or from http://www.wilpfinternational.org/att-2013/

Please also feel free to circulate this mail and the briefing paper to your members and networks.

Best regards,
WILPF