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Minister Attends Gun Talks In Mexico

EXTERNAL affairs Minister Alva Baptiste, headed Saint Lucia’s delegation to the First Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in Cancún, Mexico last week.

The conference established the necessary mechanisms to ensure the successful implementation of the Treaty.

Saint Lucia, like the rest of the CARICOM member states have played an active role throughout the negotiations and preparatory process of the ATT. Participation in this inaugural conference has ensured that Saint Lucia continues to actively contribute in the implementation of the treaty.

The minister during his address at the CSP, emphasized that the Arms Trade Treaty, serves as a testimony of the political will of states like Saint Lucia to address the unregulated access to guns and ammunition.

The minister urged states present, to judge the treaty “according to its success in preventing arms transfers that risk contributing to or facilitating human suffering.”

He said: “Let our work here this week ensure that when we plead our just cause before the bar of history that our decisions impact positively on those most affected.”

The effective implementation of the ATT will benefit the citizens of Saint Lucia by assisting the relevant authorities to establish and manage controls to regulate trade in conventional arms and ammunition. This will contribute to the reduction in the transfer of illegal small arms, light weapons and homicides with firearms.

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