UN officials have called for urgent global cooperation to curb the illicit flow of weapons that are fuelling conflict, organized crime, and displacement in regions such as Haiti and the Sahel. Despite growing international efforts to tighten arms control frameworks, over one billion firearms remain in circulation worldwide, sustaining terrorism and violence across multiple regions. Deputy disarmament chief Adedeji Ebo warned that weapons diverted from national stockpiles or throughout the supply chain often end up in the hands of non-State armed groups, intensifying instability and civilian suffering.
Ebo also raised alarm over the spread of 3D-printed “ghost guns” — untraceable firearms with no serial numbers — increasingly found in illicit markets across Western Europe and Latin America. He revealed that in 2024, small arms were responsible for nearly 30 percent of the 48,000 civilian deaths recorded in conflicts. Stressing that these tragedies are preventable, he urged stronger stockpile controls, better tracing mechanisms, and stricter compliance with arms embargoes to prevent further misuse.
Roraima Ana Andriani, UN Special Representative to INTERPOL, described illicit firearms trafficking as a “borderless threat” intertwined with organized crime, where armed networks use weapons to control territory and illicit economies. INTERPOL’s iARMS database, containing over two million records of lost and stolen weapons, has helped dismantle transnational criminal networks. However, Andriani cautioned that policing alone cannot solve the issue, calling for INTERPOL’s explicit inclusion in UN sanctions and arms embargo mandates to strengthen enforcement.
On the African continent, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the African Union High Representative for Silencing the Guns, referred to small arms proliferation as a “cancer” destabilizing entire regions. He highlighted the use of these weapons in ongoing violence in Sudan’s Darfur region and emphasized that controlling their spread is essential for sustainable peace. While AU-led initiatives like Africa Amnesty Month have destroyed thousands of weapons, Chambas warned that the overall scale of the problem remains immense.
In Haiti, Arnoux Descardes of the civil society group VDH detailed how illegal firearms have enabled armed gangs to dominate major urban centers and critical transport routes. With up to half a million firearms circulating—only a fraction of them legally registered—the widespread availability of weapons has crippled social and economic life. Descardes called for stronger border management and disarmament programs to restore stability.
Concluding the discussion, Ebo warned that weapons produced and traded today will perpetuate the conflicts of tomorrow unless decisive, coordinated global action is taken. He urged the Security Council to integrate small arms control into peacekeeping operations, sanctions monitoring, and post-conflict recovery efforts, stressing that preventing arms diversion is crucial to ensuring lasting peace and security.
