On 19 January 2018, the Executive Secretary of SADC, H.E. Dr. Stergomena Lawrence Tax, met with H.E. Amb. Nobushige Takamizawa, the President of the Fourth Conference of States Parties (CSP4) to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and Permanent Representative of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament based in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting, held at SADC House in Gaborone, Botswana, was requested by Ambassador Takamizawa, who wished to brief the Executive Secretary on the status of signing and ratification of the ATT amongst the global community in general and the SADC Region in particular, promote awareness about the Treaty and to propagate its benefits to States Parties.
During the engagement, Ambassador Takamizawa and his delegation briefed the Executive Secretary (ES) that the ATT has 93 States Parties to-date, 41 States are Signatories but are yet to become States Parties, while 59 States are yet to join the ATT. The President of the CSP4 highlighted the need for the ATT Secretariat and SADC to accelerate joint work, aimed at attaining a higher state of signing and ratification of the ATT.
On her part, the Executive Secretary of SADC, H.E Dr. Stergomena Tax expressed appreciation to the President of the CSP4 and his delegation for the visit, as well as for the briefing. She underscored the SADC Secretariat's readiness to work with the ATT Secretariat in furthering the objectives of the ATT, among which include the establishment of highest standards for the trade in conventional arms as well as the prevention and eradication of the illicit trade in conventional arms. In addition, H.E Dr. Tax appreciated the importance of integrating the security ethos of the Treaty with other human development efforts, thereby maximizing the value factor arising from Member States becoming States Parties to the Treaty.
