The lack of control of the arms trade is fuelling conflict, poverty, and human rights abuses – worldwide. Every government is responsible.

It doesn’t have to be like this. Oxfam, Amnesty International, and a group of more than 500 NGOs in the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) are calling for a global Arms Trade Treaty to bring the trade in weapons under control and for local action to protect civilians from armed violence.

Join us and demand tougher arms controls today.

Sixteen year old Camila Magalhaes Lina from Brazil, lost the use of her legs in 1998, when she was hit by a stray bullet in a shoot out between thieves and private security forces while walking home from school. In the 60 seconds it takes you to read Camila’s story, it’s likely that another two people, just like her, have been seriously injured by the use of arms. Someone else won’t have been so lucky. They’re dead.

By 2020, the number of deaths and injuries from war and violence will overtake the numbers of deaths caused by killer diseases such as malaria and measles.

Without strict control of arms exports and measures to protect people from their misuse, countless others will continue to suffer the catastrophic consequences of the arms trade. Readily available weapons will intensify and prolong wars. More people will be terrorised and forced from their homes. Families will be prevented from growing food to feed themselves or earning enough money to send their kids to school. Human rights abuses will continue. People will be trapped in poverty. This isn’t fiction. Oxfam and Amnesty International and IANSA members work with people who experience these atrocities every day.

The only way to end this cycle of poverty and suffering is to control the trade in arms. Now.