§ Mr. GardinerTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent steps have been taken to encourage developing countries to destroy surplus stocks of(a) illegally and (b) legally held armaments. [131137]
§ Mr. MacShaneThe UK believes the weapons of greatest concern in developing countries are landmines and small arms and light weapons (SALW). It is on those weapons that we focus our efforts.
390WThe UK is at the forefront of international efforts to curb the problem of small arms proliferation and the damage they cause. The UK fully supports the UN Programme of Action on SALW and the OSCE document on SALW which commit states to dispose, preferably by destruction, of small arms stocks that are surplus to national requirements.
The UK strategy on small arms and light weapons is supported by the £20 million (2001–04) SALW Global Conflict Prevention Pool jointly funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth. Office, the Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence. The UK has given the United Nations Development Programme £7.5 million over three years to help fund a global programme of weapons collection, stockpile management, capacity building and destruction. In addition, the FCO has also directly funded SALW destruction projects in five developing countries including part funding for an EU SALW project in Cambodia.
The Government spends approximately £15 million per year on humanitarian mine programmes. The Department for International Development is currently funding mine action in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Cambodia, Angola and Georgia. We also actively work towards the destruction of anti-personnel landmines by encouraging states which have not become party to the Ottawa Convention to ratify or accede at the earliest opportunity. Once party to the Convention, states are legally obliged to destroy stockpiled anti-personnel landmines and to clear mine-affected areas within a given timeframe.