In July 2001 the United Nations General Assembly adopted by consensus an action program to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. Two months later, the 9/11 terror attacks hit the United States, shifting the focus to international terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. However, terrorism in Palestine, Kashmir and elsewhere in the world is rooted in regional conflicts and uses mostly easy-to-obtain small arms.
From July 7 to 11, the U.N. will hold its first biennial meeting to discuss progress in the implementation of the action program against small arms. Ambassador Kuniko Inoguchi, Japan's permanent representative to the Geneva disarmament conference, is expected to chair the meeting, which is expected to discuss the political means for the international community to prevent the escalation of regional conflicts from medium- and long-term viewpoints.
Since the Cold War ended, a number of civil wars have broken out in Somalia, Angola, Rwanda and elsewhere in Africa. Regional conflicts have also occurred in Central America, the former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan. Weapons used in those conflicts are small arms, including rifles, automatic rifles, and more powerful light weapons such as heavy machine guns, mortars and portable missile launchers.