Home > News and Reports > Guns or Growth? Assessing the impact of arms sales on sustainable development
Guns or Growth? Assessing the impact of arms sales on sustainable
development
Excessive or inappropriate arms purchases are a drain on social and
economic resources which developing countries cannot afford.
Article 51 of the United Nations Charter recognises that every
state has a right to individual and collective self-defence.
However, the UN Charter also requires all member states to
'promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights
and freedoms' in order to achieve 'economic and social
progress and development' (Articles 1, 55 and 56) and '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' (Article 26). A
majority of states have, in addition, ratified the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to
contribute to the progressive realisation of these rights through
international assistance and co-operation.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agreed in September 2000 by
all 189 UN member states will not be achieved if resources are
diverted from this vital task by inappropriate arms transfers.
According to James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank, there
is a 'fundamental imbalance' with the world spending
US$900bn on defence; around US$325bn on agricultural subsidies and
only US$50bn to US$60bn on aid.
The countries of Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East
hold 51 per cent of the world's heavy weapons. Both arms
importers and exporters must ensure that arms transfers do not
undermine sustainable development – a combination of economic
growth and social progress that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs. For arms exporters, various export-control regimes
already include this requirement, as does the proposed Arms Trade
Treaty. However, it is shocking how few governments make a serious
attempt to consider the impact on development of their arms
exports. Paying lip service to such a commitment means that scarce
resources are being diverted from the fight against
poverty, and millions are suffering as a result. To protect the
social and economic rights of people in developing countries, it is
imperative that exporting governments apply an effective and
systematic methodology to assess whether proposed arms transfers
will affect sustainable development.
The assessment methodology must recognise that the potential
consequences of an arms transfer are not always clear-cut, and
weigh these consequences alongside the legitimate security needs of
the country and respect for international human rights standards in
the governance of its people. In many cases, countries that import
arms may have legitimate security needs. However, the costs of
meeting these needs, and the way in which they are met, have to be
viewed in relation to the development situation of the country: are
the benefits of the transfer in meeting legitimate
security needs greater than their cost in terms of the impact on
the development of the country? Even if the legitimate security
needs of a state do take precedence, is the importing government
likely to abide by international human rights and humanitarian
law?
