United Nations
General Assembly
A/RES/59/74
Distr.: General
10 December 2004
Fifty-ninth session
Agenda item 65 (y)
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 3 December 2004
[on the report of the First Committee (A/59/459)]
59/74. Assistance to States for curbing the illicit traffic in small
arms and collecting them
The General Assembly,
Recalling its resolution 58/58 of 8 December 2003 on assistance to States for
curbing the illicit traffic in small arms and collecting them,
Considering that the illicit proliferation and circulation of and traffic in small
arms impede development, constitute a threat to populations and to national and
regional security and are a factor contributing to the destabilization of States,
Deeply disturbed by the magnitude of the illicit proliferation and circulation of
and traffic in small arms in the States of the Sahelo-Saharan subregion,
Noting with satisfaction the conclusions of the United Nations advisory missions
dispatched by the Secretary-General to the affected countries of the subregion to study the
most appropriate way of halting the illicit circulation of small arms and collecting them,
Welcoming the designation of the Department for Disarmament Affairs of the
Secretariat as a centre for the coordination of all activities of United Nations bodies
concerned with small arms,
Congratulating the Secretary-General for his report on the causes of conflict
and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa, 1 and
bearing in mind the statement on small arms made by the President of the Security
Council on 24 September 1999, 2
Welcoming the recommendations resulting from the meetings of the States of
the subregion held at Banjul, Algiers, Bamako, Yamoussoukro and Niamey to
establish close regional cooperation with a view to strengthening security,
Welcoming also the decision taken by the Economic Community of West
African States to renew the Declaration of a Moratorium on the Importation,
Exportation and Manufacture of Small Arms and Light Weapons in West Africa,
_______________
1
2
04-48070
A/52/871-S/1998/318.
S/PRST/1999/28; see Resolutions and Decisions of the Security Council, 1999.