Overview
Pursuant to the General Assembly's resolution 75/241, the Seventh Biennial Meeting of States was convened from 26 to 30 July 2021 in a hybrid format with physical meetings occurring at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Biennial Meetings of States have the mandate to consider the national, regional and global implementation of the Programme of Action (PoA) to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects and its International Tracing Instrument (ITI).
BACKGROUND
In 2001, countries adopted the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA). In it, governments agreed to improve national small arms regulations, to strengthen stockpile management, to ensure that weapons are properly and reliably marked, to improve cooperation in weapons tracing, and to engage in regional and international cooperation and assistance.
Marking, record-keeping, and tracing
In 2005, the General Assembly adopted the International Tracing Instrument (ITI), which specifically provides a framework for cooperation in weapons tracing – thus fulfilling one of the commitments governments made in the PoA.
International Tracing Instrument [A] [C] [E] [F] [R] [S]
Improving weapons tracing is also part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Meetings and national reports on PoA and ITI are always combined.
PoA/ITI reporting database: https://smallarms.un-arm.org/
Periodic review of implementation
A conference to review the progress made in the implementation of the PoA is convened every six years. Between review conferences, Biennial Meetings of States (BMS) are held. Additionally, States have held Meetings of Governmental Experts (MGE) to benefit from the knowledge of technical specialists on matters pertaining to small arms and light weapons control.
Timeline of PoA process and meetings
| 2001 | 2003 | 2005 | 2006 | 2005 | 2008 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2018 | 2021 | 2022 | 2024 |
| Adoption PoA | BMS1 | Adoption ITI | RevCon1 | BMS2 | BMS3 | BMS4 | MGE1 | RevCon2 | BMS5 | MGE2 | BMS6 | RevCon3 | BMS7 | BMS8 | RevCon4 |
Chair
The Chair of BMS7 was Ambassador Martin Kimani of Kenya.
H.E. Mr. Martin Kimani, PhD, EBS, was Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York, with the rank of Ambassador/Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.
He also serves as the President’s Special Envoy for Countering Violent Extremism and is the out-going Director of Kenya’s National Counter Terrorism Centre.
Amb. Kimani has previously served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United Nations, Nairobi, and as Permanent Representative to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN- Habitat).
In the past 20 years, he has worked to a senior level in the global currency and bond markets, political risk advisory for underwriters and other corporates, and peace and security in the Horn of Africa and East Africa.
Amb. Kimani is a fellow of the African Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Gordon Institute of Business at the University of Pretoria and was a distinguished African Fellow at the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) in 2013. He holds a PhD in War Studies from King’s College London, University of London.
