GCSP Statement to ATT CSP10
GCSP Statement to ATT CSP10
Mr President,
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy is delighted to join others in congratulating the whole ATT community, States Parties, civil society, and industry, on the tenth anniversary of the ATT’s entry into force.
The GCSP was the first to create a training course on the ATT, recognising the need to disseminate the key concepts of the treaty to States Parties and potential States Parties and to contribute to the implementation of the treaty.
Our ‘Building Capacity for the Effective Implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty’ course has trained over 700 participants, from a wide range of countries. We often receive feedback with examples of how participants have used what they have learned on the course in their professional work.
We have also run the training course in other languages. We have delivered the course in French in Dakar, Senegal. We have also delivered the course online in Spanish.
Looking to the future, we are designing a new e-learning module on the ATT. The module will introduce participants to the object, purpose, and key concepts of the treaty. The idea is that participants will complete this course, before diving more deeply into the issues in the full training course. This e-learning module will be free of charge. We are grateful to the government of Canada for helping us get this project started.
The GCSP is also contributing to discussions about the implementation of the treaty through publishing policy advice and commentaries. GCSP publications on the ATT have included ones on how States Parties implement Articles 6 and 7, synergies between the ATT and the Wassenaar Agreement, and the new geopolitics of the treaty.
More recently we have written commentaries on industry engagement with the ATT and the role of new technology. As we look to the next ten years, new technology has the potential to improve risk assessments, record keeping, and help in the fight against diversion. It is also a potential new means for industry and government to collaborate on ATT implementation.
Mr President,
The GCSP is pleased to have played its part in promoting the effective implementation of the treaty over the last ten years. We look forward to continuing to do this over the next ten years.
Simon Cleobury is Head of Arms Control and Disarmament. He is a former British Deputy Disarmament Ambassador (2017 – 2023), where he represented the UK at the Conference on Disarmament and other disarmament fora in Geneva. Prior to that he worked in the Security Council Team and then the Peacebuilding Team at the UK Mission to the UN in New York (2012 – 2016). Prior to his diplomatic career, he was a corporate lawyer with global law firm Baker McKenzie. Simon obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Modern History at University College London and a Master’s Degree in Historical Research from Oxford University. He studied law at BPP Law School, London.
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