The fight against illicit firearms proliferation and misuse in the EU and its neighbors is a multifaceted challenge. This challenge encompasses the diversion of arms from national stocks and actors; trafficking from inside and outside the region; the illicit manufacture or transfer of parts, components, accessories, and ammunition; and the conversion of alarm, signal, acoustic, and air guns.

Situation Update: Afghanistan

Since the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have sought to tighten their control over arms possession among their provincial commanders, the men under them, as well as civilians, and to rein in smuggling activity. Despite these efforts, however, smuggling continues, influenced by local dynamics in the provinces and long-standing clandestine arms trafficking networks. 

'UN arms embargoes on conventional arms and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) are among the most frequently imposed injunctions to compel states and non-governmental actors to act in the interests of international peace and security. However, implementing and enforcing arms embargoes is a complicated business that involves multilevel coordination across government, industry, and society. Moreover, the international community's growing reliance on (ever more complex) sanctions makes it increasingly difficult for UN member states to meet their obligations...'

The Small Arms Survey’s Arms Embargo Self-Assessment Tool is designed to assist UN member states in examining their approaches and practices in implementing conventional arms embargoes mandated by United Nations Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs) in general, and in particular those relating to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The purpose of the North Korean Small Arms and Light Weapons: Recognition Guide is to increase the capacity of UN investigators and government officials to detect and interdict illicit transfers of small arms and light weapons by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and its affiliates by enabling key stakeholders to:

The Caribbean region suffers from some of the world’s highest rates of violent deaths, at almost three times the global average, as well as one of the world’s highest rates of violent deaths among women. Firearms are used in more than half of all homicides, with this proportion reaching 90 per cent in some countries. While much emphasis has been placed on firearms control at both the political and operational levels, illicit firearms, and the dynamics of illicit arms markets in this region have received little research attention.

The Sahel is home to a number of marginalized borderlands—such as Libya’s southern border region—characterized by the movement and activities of various armed groups, the absence of strong state institutions, and the prevalence of disparaged communities. Potentially, the combination of these factors makes the subregion more exposed to risk and individuals raised in such borderlands can be especially vulnerable to recruitment by violent extremist groups.

The roles of women in arms trafficking have been addressed in broader studies focusing on issues like violent extremism prevention, women offenders, political activism, and transnational crime in relation to drug trafficking and human trafficking. However, there has been little research on this subject from a specific small arms control perspective.

'Despite an unprecedented global campaign to curtail the illicit proliferation of man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS), armed groups continue to acquire and use these weapons at an alarming rate. The Small Arms Survey has identified reports of illicit MANPADS in 32 countries and territories on five continents since 2011. These reports include imagery of dozens of advanced (third and fourth generation) systems acquired by non-state actors ranging from pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine to ethnic armed groups in Myanmar.