Security Council resolution 2220 (2015) [on small arms]
Symbol: S/RES/2220 (2015)
Date: 2015-05-22
Status: adopted
Agenda: S/70 [193] SMALL ARMS
Subjects: SMALL ARMS|ILLICIT ARMS TRAFFICKING|ORGANIZED CRIME|TERRORISM|HUMAN RIGHTS IN ARMED CONFLICTS
Votes in favour: 9
Votes against: 0
Abstentions: 6
Voting record:
country: ANGOLA
vote: abstention
country: CHAD
vote: abstention
country: CHILE
vote: yes
country: CHINA
vote: abstention
country: FRANCE
vote: yes
country: JORDAN
vote: yes
country: LITHUANIA
vote: yes
country: MALAYSIA
vote: yes
country: NEW ZEALAND
vote: yes
country: NIGERIA
vote: abstention
country: RUSSIAN FEDERATION
vote: abstention
country: SPAIN
vote: yes
country: UNITED KINGDOM
vote: yes
country: UNITED STATES
vote: yes
country: VENEZUELA (BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF)
vote: abstention

               United Nations                                                                   S/RES/2220 (2015)
               Security Council                                               Distr.: General
                                                                              22 May 2015




               Resolution 2220 (2015)
               Adopted by the Security Council at its 7447th meeting, on
               22 May 2015

                    The Security Council,
                     Recalling its primary responsibility under the Charter of the United Nations
               for the maintenance of international peace and security, noting the significance of
               small arms and light weapons as the most frequently used weapons in the majority
               of recent armed conflicts and emphasizing that the excessive accumulation and
               destabilizing effect of small arms and light weapons have a pot ential to endanger
               civilians, including women, children, refugees, internally displaced persons and
               other vulnerable groups,
                     Recalling its resolutions 1196 (1998), 1209 (1998), 1467 (2003) and 2117
               (2013), the statements of its President of 25 April 2012 (S/PRST/2012/16),
               19 March 2010 (S/PRST/2010/6), of 14 January 2009 (S/PRST/2009/1), of 29 June
               2007 (S/PRST/2007/24), of 17 February 2005 (S/PRST/2005/7), of 19 January 2004
               (S/PRST/2004/1), of 31 October 2002 (S/PRST/2002/30), of 31 August 2001
               (S/PRST/2001/21) and of 24 September 1999 (S/PRST/1999/28), as well as other
               relevant resolutions of the Council and statements of its President, including on the
               protection of civilians in armed conflict, women and peace and security and children
               in armed conflict,
                     Emphasizing that the right of individual and collective self-defence recognized
               in Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations and the legitimate security
               demands of all countries should be fully taken into account, and recognizing that
               small arms and light weapons are traded, manufactured and retained by States for
               legitimate security, sporting and commercial considerations,
                    Noting that this resolution focuses on the illicit transfer, destabilizing
               accumulation and misuse of small arms and light weapons, including in respect of
               Council-mandated arms embargoes,
                     Gravely concerned that the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and
               misuse of small arms and light weapons in many regions of the world continue to
               pose threats to international peace and security, cause significant loss of life,
               contribute to instability and insecurity and continue to undermine the effectiveness
               of the Security Council in discharging its primary responsibility for the maintenance
               of international peace and security,


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                     Reiterating its deep regret that civilians continue to account for the vast
               majority of casualties in situations of armed conflict and recalling with grave
               concern that the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and misuse of small arms
               and light weapons fuel armed conflicts and have a wide range of negative huma n
               rights, humanitarian, development and socioeconomic consequences, in particular
               on the security of civilians in armed conflict, including the disproportionate impact
               on violence perpetrated against women and girls and exacerbating sexual and
               gender-based violence,
                     Gravely concerned by the detrimental effects of the illicit transfer,
               destabilizing accumulation and misuse of small arms and light weapons on children
               in armed conflict, in particular due to recruitment and use of children by parties to
               armed conflict, as well as their rerecruitment, killing and maiming, rape and other
               sexual violence, abductions, and attacks on schools and hospitals in violation of
               international law,
                     Recalling the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of
               1977, and the obligation to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian
               law in all circumstances,
                     Underlining the responsibility of States to prevent threats posed by the illicit
               transfer, destabilizing accumulation and misuse of small arms a nd light weapons to
               international peace and security, and the devastating impact on civilians in armed
               conflict, and reaffirming that parties to armed conflict bear the primary
               responsibility to take all feasible steps to ensure the protection of civilians and
               recalling that States bear the primary responsibility to respect and ensure the human
               rights of all individuals within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction, as
               provided for by relevant international law,
                     Recognizing that the misuse of small arms and light weapons has resulted in
               grave crimes, expressing its strong opposition to impunity for serious violations of
               international humanitarian law and serious violations and abuses of human rights
               and emphasizing in this context the responsibility of States to comply with their
               relevant obligations to end impunity and to thoroughly investigate and prosecute
               persons responsible for war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity or other
               serious violations of international humanitarian law is consi stent with their
               obligations under international law,
                    Reaffirming the relevant provisions of the 2005 World Summit Outcome
               Document regarding the protection of civilians in armed conflict, including
               paragraphs 138 and 139 thereof regarding the responsibility to protect populations
               from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity,
                     Recognizing that efforts by the United Nations aimed at addressing the illicit
               transfer, destabilizing accumulation and misuse of small arms and light weap ons
               should be a part of a comprehensive and integrated approach that incorporates and
               strengthens coherence between political, security, development, human rights and
               rule of law activities and addresses the root causes of conflict, strengthens
               community security and mitigates armed violence,
                     Recognizing that insecurity resulting from the illicit transfer, destabilizing
               accumulation and misuse of small arms and light weapons negatively impact
               conflict prevention, post-conflict peacebuilding, the consolidation of peace in




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           countries emerging from conflict and their post-conflict development, including
           education, health and economic opportunity,
                 Acknowledging the important contribution of Council-mandated arms
           embargoes in countering the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and misuse
           of small arms and light weapons, and noting the need to improve information
           sharing on possible arms embargo violations between groups of experts,
           peacekeeping missions within their mandates and other re levant United Nations
           entities,
                Recognizing the desirability of aligning objectives of Council-mandated arms
           embargoes with the overall objectives of other efforts in the relevant Member State
           or region by United Nations entities, intergovernmental, regional and subregiona l
           organizations, including on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration,
           improving physical security and stockpile management practices and enhancement
           of border security,
                Reiterating that United Nations peacekeeping operations and other relevant
           Council-mandated entities, located in a Member State or region with a Council -
           mandated arms embargo, may, if deemed necessary by the Council, assist with
           appropriate expertise and capacity-building for host governments in the field of
           weapons collection, disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration programmes,
           enhancing physical security and stockpile management practices, record keeping
           and tracing capacities, development of national export and import control systems,
           enhancement of border security, and strengthening judicial institutions and law
           enforcement capacity,
                 Recalling with concern the close connection between international terrorism,
           transnational organized crime, drugs trafficking, money-laundering, other illicit
           financial transactions, illicit brokering in small arms and light weapons and arms
           trafficking, and the link between the illegal exploitation of natural resources, illicit
           trade in such resources and the proliferation and trafficking of arms as a major
           factor fuelling and exacerbating many conflicts,
                 Emphasizing that the illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons can aid
           terrorism and illegal armed groups and facilitate increasing levels of transnational
           organized crime and underscoring that such illicit trafficking could harm civilians,
           including women and children, create instability and long-term governance
           challenges and complicate conflict resolution,
                 Stressing the utmost importance of women’s full and effective participation in
           all efforts related to countering the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and
           misuse of small arms and light weapons, in line with its resolution 1325 (2000),
                Expressing concern at the continuing threats posed by the illicit transfer,
           destabilizing accumulation and misuse of small arms and li ght weapons to the safety
           and security of United Nations peacekeepers and their effectiveness in
           implementing peacekeeping mandates, and to the safety and security of
           humanitarian workers and their effective provision of humanitarian assistance,
                 Recognizing the value of effective physical security and management of
           stockpiles of small arms, light weapons and ammunition as an important means to
           prevent the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and misuse of small arms and
           light weapons, in accordance with global and regional standards, including through



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               the application of voluntary guidelines, such as the International Ammunition
               Technical Guidelines (IATG) developed under the UN SaferGuard programme, and
               the International Small Arms Control Standards (ISACS) in arms and ammunition
               stockpile management practices,
                     Noting that marking and tracing of small arms and light weapons by Member
               States, particularly countries in conflict and post-conflict situations, can serve to
               detect violations of applicable arms embargoes and identify weaknesses in stockpile
               management,
                    Acknowledging the entry into force of the Arms Trade Treaty on 24 December
               2014, taking note of a great number of signatories to the Treaty and the increasing
               number of State Parties, and looking forward to the important contribution it can
               make to international peace, security and stability, reducing human suffe ring and
               promoting cooperation,
                     Reaffirming the significance and central role of the United Nations Convention
               against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocols, including the Protocol
               against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and
               Components and Ammunition; the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and
               Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects; and
               the International Instrument to Enable States to Identify and Trace, in a Timely and
               Reliable Manner, Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons, as crucial instruments in
               countering the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and misuse of small arms
               and light weapons,
                     Noting with appreciation the efforts made by Member States,
               intergovernmental, regional and subregional organizations in addressing threats to
               international peace and security posed by the illicit transfer, destabilizing
               accumulation and misuse of small arms and light weapons, and noting the
               significant role of civil society in supporting such efforts,
                     Welcoming the Secretary-General’s report to the Council of 27 April 2015
               entitled “Small arms and light weapons” (S/2015/289),
                     Expressing its determination to implement existing and to take further
               practical steps to prevent the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and misuse
               of small arms and light weapons, including in support of other ongoing processes,
                     1.   Welcomes efforts made by Member States, regional and subregional
               organizations in addressing the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and
               misuse of small arms and light weapons, and encourages the establishment or
               strengthening, where appropriate, of subregional and regional cooperation,
               coordination and information sharing mechanisms, in particular, transborder
               customs cooperation and networks for information-sharing, with a view to
               preventing, combating, and eradicating illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation
               and misuse of small arms and light weapons;
                    2.    Reiterates that the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and misuse
               of small arms and light weapons fuel conflict and have devastating impact on the
               protection of civilians, reiterates its demand that all parties to armed conflict
               comply strictly with the obligations applicable to them under international
               humanitarian law, international human rights law and international refugee law, and




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           stresses the need for parties to take all required measures to avoid civilian
           casualties, respect and protect the civilian population;
                3.    Reemphasizes its call on parties to armed conflict, in this regard, to
           comply with obligations under international humanitarian law to respect and protect
           humanitarian personnel, facilities and relief consignments, and to take measures to
           eradicate the negative impact of the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and
           misuse of small arms and light weapons on humanitarian actors, and to take all
           required steps to facilitate the safe, rapid and unimpeded passage of relief
           consignments, equipment and personnel;
                 4.     Expresses its intention to continue to take due regard of issues related to
           the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and misuse of small arms and light
           weapons when considering or updating mandates of United Nations peacekeeping
           operations and other Council-mandated entities, and in this regard encourages the
           Secretary-General, where appropriate, to consider identifying capacities of United
           Nations entities that could contribute to countering the illicit transfer, destabilizing
           accumulation and misuse of small arms and light weapons at the earliest possible
           stage, to consider involving these entities in strategic assessments and technical
           assessment missions and to present options for United Nations engagement in this
           regard, including through assisting host countries in weapons collection,
           disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration programmes, enhancing physical
           security and stockpile management practices, record keeping and tracing capacities,
           development of national export and import control systems, enhancement of border
           security, and strengthening judicial institutions and law enforcement capacity;
                 5.   Emphasizes that Member States, United Nations peacekeeping operations
           and other Council-mandated entities, where appropriate and mandated, and
           intergovernmental, regional and subregional organizations, may be in a position to
           assist in capacity-building of governments upon request to ensure the safe and
           effective management, storage, security, marking, record -keeping and tracing of
           stockpiles of small arms and light weapons, and collection and/or destruction of
           surplus, seized, unmarked, or illicitly held weapons and ammunition and
           encourages Member States and intergovernmental, regional and subregional
           organizations in a position to do so to render assistance upon request in
           implementing these tasks, including through examining tec hnologies that would
           improve the tracing and detection of illicit transfer in small arms and light weapons,
           as well as measures to facilitate the transfer of such technologies;
                 6.    Encourages the United Nations to gather and share best practices of
           Member States, related to safe storage, marking and destruction of weapons
           collected as part of weapons collection and disarmament, demobilization and
           reintegration programmes;
                 7.    Recognizes that the effectiveness of weapons collection and
           disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes depends inter alia on
           providing sustainable opportunities to former combatants and on the ability of State
           institutions to foster an inclusive environment in which people feel safe and secure;
                 8.    Emphasizes the importance of security sector reform in improving the
           ability of the State to extend public security and rule of law within its boundaries, to
           train professional, effective and accountable security personnel and assisting States




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               to develop proper procedures for weapon stockpile management, physical security,
               marking, record-keeping and tracing;
                     9.   Reaffirms its responsibility to monitor the implementation of Councilmandated arms embargoes and reaffirms its intention to take appropriate measures,
               when needed, to strengthen arms embargo monitoring mechanisms including inter
               alia through assigning dedicated staff, monitoring units to relevant United Nations
               Missions to effectively monitor arms embargoes;
                     10. Recognizes the need for Member States to put in place, where they do not
               exist, adequate laws, regulations and administrative procedures to exercise effective
               control over the production of small arms and light weapons within their areas of
               jurisdiction and over the export, import, transit or retransfer of such we apons, in
               order to prevent illegal manufacture of and illicit trafficking in small arms and light
               weapons, or their diversion to unauthorized recipients;
                      11. Urges      Member      States,    relevant   United    Nations     entities,
               intergovernmental, regional and subregional organizations, in a position to do so
               and where appropriate, to cooperate and share information on suspected traffickers
               and trafficking routes, suspect financial transactions and brokering activities for, or
               diversions of, small arms or light weapons, and other information relevant to the
               illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation or misuse of small arms and light
               weapons, with potentially affected States and with relevant United Nations entities,
               including experts groups assisting sanctions committees and peacekeeping
               operations;
                     12. Urges Member States that have not yet done so to take measures,
               pursuant to their national laws, to regulate brokering taking place under their
               jurisdiction for small arms and light weapons, including measures that may re quire
               brokers to register or obtain written authorization before engaging in brokering;
                     13. Reiterates that Council-mandated arms embargoes should have clearly
               established objectives and provisions for regular review of the measures with a view
               to lifting them when the objectives are met, in accordance with the terms of the
               applicable Council resolutions, acknowledges that when considering a partial or
               complete termination, suspension or adjustment of an arms embargo the Council
               should, where applicable, take into account the capacities by the Member State
               subject to an arms embargo to, inter alia, apply physical security and stockpile
               management practices, implement marking, record keeping and tracing, develop
               national export and import control systems, enhance border security, and strengthen
               judicial institutions and law enforcement capacity and welcomes the conduct of
               assessment missions to evaluate progress by Member States subject to a Council -
               mandated arms embargoes towards meeting the conditions set b y the Council for
               their termination or adjustment and to provide options and recommendations
               regarding United Nations and other technical assistance to these Member States or
               their regions;
                    14. Notes that where Sanctions Committees are mandated to determi ne if an
               exemption to the arms embargo is justified, they could benefit from information on
               the existing holdings including from the information on small arms and light
               weapons voluntarily provided to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms,
               and self defence and security needs of arms and related materiel by the government,
               quantities of arms and related materiel received on the basis of previously approved



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           exemptions, conditions of their storage, as well as quantities of arms and related
           materiel destroyed through disarmament, demobilization and reintegration
           programme, if applicable, and encourages Member States, Expert Groups and the
           Secretary-General to provide such information, if available and upon request by the
           relevant Sanctions Committee;
                15. Encourages Sanctions Committees to maintain dialogue on
           implementation of arms embargoes with Member States, in particular those in the
           region, as well as international, regional and subregional organizations and other
           stakeholders including by inviting them to meet with the Committee and holding by
           the Chair of open briefings for all interested Member States;
                 16. Encourages Member States to better understand the impact of the illicit
           transfer, destabilizing accumulation and misuse of small arms and l ight weapons on
           women and children, through, inter alia, strengthening the collection of data
           disaggregated by sex and age and developing appropriate and effective nat ional risk
           assessment criteria;
                 17. Calls upon Member States, United Nations entities, intergovernmental,
           regional and subregional organizations to take into consideration the specific impact
           of conflict and post-conflict environments on women’s security, mobility, economic
           activity and opportunities, to mitigate the risk of women from becomi ng active
           players in the illicit transfer of small arms and light weapons;
                 18. Urges Member States, United Nations entities, intergovernmental,
           regional and subregional organizations, to take further measures to facilitate
           women’s full and meaningful participation in all policymaking, planning and
           implementation processes to combat and eradicate the illicit transfer, destabilizing
           accumulation and misuse of small arms and light weapons in all its aspects, and in
           that regard, encourages empowering women, including through capacity building
           efforts, as appropriate, to participate in the design and implementation of efforts
           related to the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and misuse of small arms
           and light weapons, and calls upon all those involved in the planning for
           disarmament, demobilization and reintegration and justice and security sector
           reform efforts to take into account the particular needs of women and children
           associated with armed forces and armed groups, with the participation of women,
           and to provide for their full access to these programmes inter alia, through
           consultation with civil society, including women’s organizations, as appropriate;
                19. Reaffirms its decision that States shall eliminate the supply of weapons,
           including small arms and light weapons, to terrorists, as well as its calls for States to
           find ways of intensifying and accelerating the exchange of operational information
           regarding trafficking in arms, and to enhance coordination of efforts on national,
           subregional, regional and international levels;
                 20. Recognizes the importance of preventing the illicit transfers and sales of
           weapons and ammunition, including small arms and light weapons, to armed groups
           and criminal networks that target civilians and civilian objects and underlines that
           such transfers could exacerbate conflict or facilitate the commitment of serious
           violations of international humanitarian law and serious violations and abuses of
           human rights;
                21. Urges States to consider ratifying or acceding to the Arms Trade Treaty
           as soon as possible and encourages States, intergovernmental, regional and


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               subregional organizations that are in a position to do so to render assistance in
               capacity-building to enable States Parties to fulfil and implement the Treaty’s
               obligations;
                     22. Recognizes that improving national implementation of Council-mandated
               arms embargoes and mandating United Nations peacekeeping operations and other
               relevant Council-mandated entities to assist in building national and regional
               capacities by States, in particular related to transfer control systems, physical
               security and stockpile management, record-keeping and preventing diversion of
               small arms and light weapons and related materiel to illicit markets, may contribute
               to a more effective implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty by the States Parties;
                     23. Notes that implementation of national reporting provisions of the Arms
               Trade Treaty by the States Parties can contribute to increased transparency of small
               arms and light weapons transfers and could inform the United Nations activities
               related to countering the illicit transfer and destabilizing accumulation of small
               arms and light weapons;
                    24. Encourages all Member States that have not yet done so to consider
               acceding to and to implement the United Nations Convention against Transnational
               Organized Crime and its Protocols, including the Protocol against the Illicit
               Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and
               Ammunitions;
                     25. Stresses the need for full and effective implementation by States at the
               national, regional and international levels, of the United Nations Programme of
               Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light
               Weapons in All Its Aspects and the International Instru ment to Enable States to
               Identify and Trace, in a Timely Manner, Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons, in
               particular, paying special attention to applying measures contained therein on the
               prevention of the diversion of small arms and light weapons, in ord er to make real
               progress in preventing, combating and eradicating the illicit trade i n small arms and
               light weapons;
                    26. Requests the Secretary-General to include in his reports and briefings to
               the Council on country-specific situations, more comprehensive and detailed
               information and recommendations relating to the impact of the illicit transfer,
               destabilizing accumulation and misuse of small arms and light weapons on the
               protection of civilians in armed conflict, including information specific to such
               impact on refugees, internally displaced persons, women, childr en and other
               vulnerable groups;
                     27. Requests the Secretary-General to include information and
               recommendations regarding the impact of the illicit transfer, destabilizing
               accumulation and misuse of small arms and light weapons on the protection of
               civilians in armed conflict as a sub-item in his next reports on the protection of
               civilians in armed conflict;
                     28. Reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to direct any relevant
               United Nations agencies operating in a State or region in relation to which the
               Council maintains an arms embargo provide the utmost assistance to the work of
               relevant sanctions committees, experts groups and other relevant United Nations
               entities in the implementation and compliance monitoring of that arms embargo, and
               requests the Secretary-General to examine and present, in his next report on small


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           arms and light weapons, best practices and arrangements that could be used by the
           United Nations peacekeeping operations and other relevant Council-mandated
           entities to guide the implementation of their mandated tasks on the implementation
           and compliance monitoring of arms embargoes and the provision of assistance and
           expertise to host States, sanctions committees and expert s groups.
                 29. Requests the Secretary-General to include in his annual reports on
           children and armed conflict as well as in his country-specific reports on children
           and armed conflict relevant information and recommendations regarding the impact
           of the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and misuse of small arms and light
           weapons on children, to the extent consistent within the existing mandates;
                 30. Encourages the Committee established pursuant to resolutions 1267
           (1999) and 1989 (2011) and the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team,
           within their existing mandates and in close cooperation with all relevant United
           Nations counter-terrorism bodies, to focus on the threats posed by accessibility of
           weapons used by individuals and entities associated with al-Qaida and the supply
           and trafficking of weapons to them and requests the Analytical Support and
           Sanctions Monitoring Team to include in its next regular report to the Committee
           established pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011) information on
           such threats and to provide recommendations for actions to enhanc e the response to
           such threats;
                 31. Encourages the Counter-Terrorism Committee and Counter-Terrorism
           Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), within their existing mandates and in
           close cooperation with all relevant United Nations counter-terrorism bodies, to
           focus on Member States’ capacities and needs to address the threats posed by
           accessibility of weapons used by terrorists as well as to counter the supply and
           trafficking of weapons to terrorists and requests the CTED to report within the
           existing reporting framework to the Counter-Terrorism Committee on gaps in such
           capacities, and to provide concrete plans to facilitate technical assistance for
           strengthening Member States’ capacities and to provide recommendations for
           actions to enhance response to such threats;
                32. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to submit to the Council on a
           biennial basis a report on small arms and light weapons, including on the
           implementation of this resolution, and affirms its intention to consider the report in
           a timely manner;
                33.   Decides to remain seized of the matter.




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