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17132. Armed Robbery: How the poorly regulated arms trade is paralysing development
- Author:
- Deepayan BasuRay
- Publication Date:
- 06-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- The poorly regulated global trade in arms and ammunition weakens the ability and willingness of governments to sustain progress in development. It fuels and exacerbates conflicts and armed violence, diverting resources away from poverty reduction activities. Development gains are lost as communities are paralysed: schools are closed, health systems are strained to breaking point, investment is discouraged, and security is undermined. Through a strong focus on development, the Arms Trade Treaty can help prevent serious impediments to development, consolidate regional initiatives to safeguard development, and strengthen national capacity to become 'treaty-compliant'. With just weeks to go before diplomats meet at the United Nations, 'Armed Robbery' makes the case that a specific criteria on development as part of the Arms Trade Treaty, alongside other criteria on human rights and international humanitarian law, is one of the best ways to ensure that arms sales do not have a negative impact on socio-economic development.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Development, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, Poverty, and United Nations
17133. Sahel Markets Under Pressure
- Author:
- Jean Denis Crola
- Publication Date:
- 05-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Harvests in Africa's Sahel region from the 2011/12 season are down sharply compared with last year and have been later than usual, extending the previous 'hunger gap' period. A further aggravating factor for the people of the region is that local grain prices failed to drop as they generally do in the period after the harvest. In December 2011, prices reached levels that were 80% above their five-year averages and remained at high levels, compromising access to adequate food for vulnerable populations. Together with the main agencies involved in the crisis, Oxfam, ROPPA, RBM, APESS, POSCAO and WILDAF estimate that more than 18 million people are currently in a situation of food insecurity in the Sahel.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Demographics, Poverty, Food, and Famine
- Political Geography:
- Africa
17134. Stop a Bullet, Stop a War: Why ammunition must be included in the Arms Trade Treaty
- Author:
- Ben Murphy and Deepayan BasuRay
- Publication Date:
- 05-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Guns are useless without bullets. An Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) that does not control ammunition will not achieve its purposes. Ammunition is bigger business than weapons, with twelve billion bullets produced each year – nearly two bullets for every person in the world. The global trade in ammunition for small arms and light weapons is worth more than the trade in firearms and light weapons themselves: an estimated $4.3bn a year. An ATT that does not cover ammunition will fail to achieve what it has set out to do – that is, to help prevent human suffering, armed conflict, and serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights. Several countries are arguing that ammunition should be excluded from the ATT. Some of these countries say the sheer volume of trade makes it too difficult to monitor. This would be a colossal mistake. There are already several ways to track ammunition transfers. Inclusion in the ATT would significantly strengthen these mechanisms and the resolve to implement them. Failure would undermine what best practice already exists.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Globalization, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
17135. Taxation in Paraguay: Marginalization of small-scale farming
- Author:
- Déborah Itriago
- Publication Date:
- 05-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Paraguay's tax system is insufficient to provide the resource base to eradicate poverty in the country, and has done little or nothing to achieve a more equal distribution of income and wealth. Two major taxation reforms over the last decade have done little to alleviate the fiscal injustice that is generated partly by the low tax reciprocity of the soy agribusiness – Paraguay's main export crop. Meanwhile, programmes to support small- scale farming receive a level of public financing accounting for just 5 per cent of public expenditure. With one of the highest levels of unequal land ownership in the world, labour informality at very high levels and poor environmental regulation of soy producers, the livelihoods and ecosystems of Paraguay's small-scale producers are at risk. There are serious loopholes in Paraguay's tax system that must be addressed in order to deliver a fairer, progressive taxation system that will allow the country to meet its social objectives.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Environment, International Trade and Finance, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- Latin America
17136. Where There's a Will: Tackling the humanitarian crisis in Yemen
- Author:
- Abigael Baldoumas and Kelly Gilbride
- Publication Date:
- 05-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- The Yemeni people are facing a worsening humanitarian crisis with more than ten million–44 per cent of the population–facing food insecurity. With the onset of the hunger season, many families have exhausted their coping strategies and are being driven deeper into poverty. Donors remain deeply divided over their approaches to the region's poorest country, thus delaying responses and hindering funding. As the crisis builds, donors must take steps to address immediate humanitarian needs as well as making long term commitments to promote development. The Friends of Yemen ministerial meeting in Riyadh offers a critical opportunity for donors to be decisive, creative and generous if they are to break the cycle of hunger and poverty in Yemen. Yemen's future depends upon reducing people's vulnerability and building resilience for the long term, breaking the hunger cycle and empowering people to realize their potential. Failure to act now will put more lives at risk and further entrench poverty in the country.
- Topic:
- Humanitarian Aid, Poverty, Food, and Famine
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Yemen, and Arabia
17137. Be Outraged: There are alternatives
- Author:
- Richard Jolly, Frances Stewart, Giovanni Andrea Cornia, Stephany Griffith-Jones, Rolph van der Hoeven, Diane Elson, Carlos Fortin, Gerry Helleiner, Raphie Kaplinsky, Richard Morgan, Isabel Ortiz, and Ruth Pearson
- Publication Date:
- 05-2012
- Content Type:
- Book
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Pushed to extremes, austerity is bad economics, bad arithmetic, and ignores the lessons of history. We, an international group of economists and social scientists, are outraged at the narrow range of austerity policies which are bringing so many people around the world to their knees, especially in Europe. Austerity and cutbacks are reducing growth and worsening poverty. In our professional opinions, there are alternatives – for Britain, Europe and all countries that currently imagine that government cutbacks are the only way out of debt. The low-growth, no-growth trap means that the share of debt in GNP falls ever more slowly, if at all. It may even rise – as it has in some countries.
- Topic:
- Debt, Development, Economics, Foreign Aid, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Britain and Europe
17138. The Devil is in the Detail: The importance of comprehensive and legally binding criteria for arms transfers
- Author:
- Deepayan BasuRay
- Publication Date:
- 05-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- The absence of comprehensive, international legal obligations to prevent irresponsible transfers of arms has resulted in at least $2.2bn worth of arms and ammunition being imported by countries under arms embargoes between 2000 and 2010; • To have real impact, a prospective Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) must include legally binding criteria that prevent arms transfers to abusers of human rights or into situations where there is a substantial risk that they will undermine development or exacerbate armed violence; • The ATT can build on existing regional and sub-regional initiatives: as of 2012, 100 countries are already party to various regional agreements that include legally binding obligations to control the trade of arms and ammunition
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Development, International Law, and Treaties and Agreements
17139. Piecing It All Together: Why the Arms Trade Treaty must regulate parts and components for weapons and military equipment
- Author:
- Deepayan BasuRay and Martin Butcher
- Publication Date:
- 06-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Modern weapons and military equipment cannot be made or maintained without parts and components that are sourced and traded around the world. Without regulating this trade alongside the trade in complete weapons, it will be impossible to reduce the impact of irresponsible arms transfers on human rights, security, and development. Between 2008 and 2011, the global trade in parts and components was worth at least $9.7bn. This vast stockpile of weapons parts ranged from high-end components for aircraft to parts for small arms and light weapons. Weapons are assembled from components sourced from all corners of the world–frequently from countries without any effective arms transfer controls. Without global regulation of the trade in parts and components, it will be impossible to effectively regulate any part of the arms trade, as companies will be able to circumvent the rules by shipping weapons in pieces from multiple countries around the globe. The Arms Trade Treaty represents a unique opportunity to regulate the specialised parts and components used in the arms trade and, indeed, will be fatally flawed if it does not do so.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, Treaties and Agreements, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
17140. Stay on Target: Will the UK fight the battle for tough arms controls?
- Author:
- Edmund Cairns
- Publication Date:
- 04-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- A robust global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is desperately needed to stop the irresponsible transfer of arms that fuels: Atrocities – like those in Syria, where more than 8,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since the crackdown on protests began in early 2011;Armed violence and conflicts – which is estimated to cost Africa alone $18bn a year; Corruption in the. defence industry – which costs $20bn a year, and which undermines the competitiveness of UK exporters.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, International Trade and Finance, Non-Governmental Organization, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- Africa, United Kingdom, Europe, and Syria