Arms Reduction Coalition The Arms Reduction Coalition ( ARC ) is a United Kingdom - based non - profit non - governmental organization which campaigns for a reduction in the resources spent on arms and the military and for those resources to be divereted to programmes that benefit humanity and the earth ; such as poverty reduction , sustainable development , protecting the vulnerable , systems for peaceful Conflict resolution and maintaining the environment . The Arms Reduction Coalition ( ARC ) is a calling for the United Nations ( UN ) to agree a legally binding instrument requiring United Nations member states to reduce the amount of resources spent on arms by between 1 and 5 percent per year for a period of 10 to 25 years . This is based on Article 26 of the United Nations Charter which states " " In order to promote the establishment and maintenance of international peace and security with the least diversion for armaments of the world ’ s human and economic resources , the UN Security Council shall be responsible for formulating … , plans to be submitted to the Members of the United Nations for the establishment of a system for the regulation of Armaments " . " History . ARC was formally launched at a meeting organised by Action for UN Renewal on 7 May 2002 at the House of Commons in London . ARC campaigns to encourage the states of the United Nations to ' Implement Article 26 of the UN Charter ' by reducing the diversion for armaments of the world ' s human and economic resources by a set percentage each year . This policy is or has been advocated by other organisations such as the International Peace Bureau , World Bank , some members of the United Nations ( such as France in 1955 , The Soviet Union in 1956 , Brazil in 1964 , by Romania in 1975 and 1977 and Senegal in 1978 ) and The General Assembly ( in 1973 as Resolution 3093 ) ; usually under the principle of Disarmanent for Development . The idea can be traced back to 1955 when the French Prime Minister Edgar Faure tabled a plan at a meeting of the UN Disarmament Commission ; proposing the " progressive reduction of military expenditures and the potential reallocation of the resources thus released to tasks of ' development ' and ' mutual assistance ' in order to improve the standard of living of the developing countries " . Membership . ARC ' s Patrons include Dennis Haliday , Bruce Kent , Peter Archer , Baron Archer of Sandwell , Alice Mahon , Federico Mayor Zaragoza , Linda Melvern . Individuals and organisations from around the world are encouraged to join ARC by endorsing the ARC Resolution or becoming a member . Organisations from all continents have endorsed the ARC resolution . Similar resolutions have been adopted by other groups such as United Nations Association UK , The Hague Agenda for Peace and Justice for the 21st Century , German Party of Democratic Socialism and Greenpeace . ARC resolution . ARC ' s campaign is driven by this United Nations style resolution . Supporters and members are requested endorse this resolution . The Arms Reduction Coalition ( ARC ) : " Concerned by the obstacles , threats and difficulties that the large amounts of arms in circulation pose to the maintenance of peace and security and to Non - Governmental Organisations and UN departments in carrying out their work ; Concerned by the disproportionately large amount of the world ’ s human and economic resources being expended on arms ; Recalling that Article 26 of the United Nations ( UN ) Charter calls for " " the least diversion for Armaments of the world ’ s human and economic resources " " ; Calls upon the United Nations General assembly , to agree , and for all signatory States of The United Nations to ratify , a legally binding instrument : ARC publications . Some publications distributed by ARC ( under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike licence ) include :