Mr. President,
The Government of the Republic of Costa Rica congratulates you on your election 
as Chairman of the Review Conference of the United Nations Programme of Action to 
Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All 
its Aspects. You can count on the support of the Delegation of Costa Rica in discharging 
this difficult task in order to achieve the objectives set for this Conference. At the same 
time, I would also like to congratulate the rest of the members of the Bureau. 
Mr. President,
We are here to answer a fundamental question: how far have we come in five 
years?
 
 In 2001 our countries made important commitments through this Programme of 
Action. The Central American states agreed on the Code of Conduct Regarding the 
Transfer of Arms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Material. Costa Rica is 
pleased to support this progressive document and we have continued to reaffirm those 
commitments over the years. We are fully committed with the Declaration of Antigua, 
Guatemala, recently adopted by the Latin American and Caribbean states, that reflects the 
concern and the expectation of the Region This solid text demonstrates positive support 
and common positions by the participating members regarding the Programme of Action. 
It is important to highlight that our region counts on a cohesive and firm position to 
confront the serious arms problems we face today. In May of this year, Costa Rica participated in the writing of the draft Nairobi 
Guidelines on arms transfer control, incorporating strong language for transfer controls 
based on the United Nations Charter; existing obligations, and issues to take into account. 
Finally, this month in Switzerland, forty-two countries, including Costa Rica, 
reaffirmed their promise to “stem the proliferation, illegal trafficking and misuse of small 
arms and light weapons and ammunition.” 
The Geneva Declaration also included strong language on the need to, quote, 
“uphold full respect for human rights, promote the peaceful settlement of conflicts based 
on justice and the rule of law, and address a climate of impunity.”
Besides all this encouraging initiatives, we necessarily and unfortunately have to 
concur that the problem we faced in 2001 has not gone away. This very day one-thousand 
people will die from gun violence. The legions of child soldiers who wield weapons 
number in the tens of thousands. And in many of those situations, there is still a “climate 
of impunity” that fuels the atrocities. We definitely have a lot of work to do.
Mr. President,
As we join here for two weeks to review our progress and plot our course, Costa 
Rica would like to suggest a few steps forward that we can take together.
1- Our first step must be a greater incorporation of respect for human rights in the 
core language of this Programme of Action. We must not be doubtful to include in the 
Programme of Action what our nations were convinced to include in this organization’s 
founding document.
2- Secondly, if we are serious about our mission: this Review Conference must 
call on States to establish and reinforce regulations on the transfer of small and light 
weapons. 
Just as we cannot be vocal on governmental wrongs but silent on human rights, 
we cannot be critical of the illegal trade of weapons but unconcerned with the legal trade 
that contributes to it. Common core global principles based on existing legal obligations 
and transparency are critical for us to tackle this out of control problem arms problem and 
its impacts. Costa Rica respectfully urges Member States to agree on strong global 
principles for arms transfer controls in the outcome document of this Review Conference. 
Further, my Delegation promotes and calls for a legally binding conventional 
arms trade treaty and emphasizes the importance to continue these negotiations in the 
First Committee of the General Assembly beyond this current Programme of Action 
process.We are of the view that there is a need to strengthen regulations on civilian 
acquisition and possession of small arms and light weapons. Measures could include 
limits on the types and numbers of arms that civilians are allowed to acquire and possess, 
as well as strict requirements for licensing, authorization and registration. 
There are multiple actors which participate in the illicit trade in small arms and 
light weapons and all of them, including non-state actors must fall within the scope of our 
concern. The illicit trade of weapons is often linked to several criminal conducts; 
therefore any attempt to control such trade has to include a crime prevention component. 
Certainly, no participating actor should be excluded from our consideration. 
Mr. President,
 Ammunition fuels small arms and light weapons. It is important that we include 
ammunition on the agenda for this conference, especially considering the challenge 
presented to the security of our societies by the increasing amount of ammunition being 
produced. Marking and tracing controls need to be reinforced and strengthened. We are 
convinced that a legally binding instrument in this regard is the best way to proceed. 
 
 In order to achieve the objectives of the Conference, better international 
cooperation is an urgent necessity. By sharing technical, financial and technological 
resources, we can encourage every nation to establish and maintain a national weapons 
registry. Costa Rica supports the establishment of a permanent fund, under United 
Nations auspices and made up of voluntary contributions, to facilitate the complete 
implementation of every aspect of the Programme of Action. 
 
 Regarding the follow-up of the Conference, my Delegation strongly believes in 
the need to review the Programme of Action every five years and to consider on a 
biennial basis the national, regional and global implementation, including the challenges 
that Member States face in this regard. 
 Delegations may also wish to consider the expansion of the agenda to include all 
conventional arms, for these are just as deadly as pistols and rifles. 
 
 Finally, I am pleased to announce that, within a year, Costa Rica will convene a 
high-level international summit on the Consensus of Costa Rica. The consensus we hope 
to achieve will urge developed nations and international organizations to forgive a 
nation’s debt not only because of the economic situation of the country, but also because 
that country has chosen to shift resources from weapons and troops to education and 
healthcare. We hope it is agreed that the international financial community rewards not 
just those who use resources prudently, as has been the case until now, but those who use resources morally. The Costa Rica Consensus will be a bold incentive for peace that will 
go hand-in-hand with the Programme of Action. 
Mr. President,
 In summary, as President Oscar Arias stated in Conference on Armed 
Violence and Development held in Geneva earlier this month, quote “All of us should be 
proud of this process, proud of how far we have come, but it is time to move forward 
from principles to practice.”
 
If we are truly concerned about armed violence, we must establish common 
criteria for arms transfers that are objective, balanced, uniform, transparent, multilaterally 
agreed upon, and based on existing legal obligations and express prohibitions. Only if we 
establish these criteria, as soon as possible, will the outlook at our meeting five years 
from now be any brighter than the outlook we have today.
 Our delegation reiterates its complete willingness to participate actively 
and constructively in these meetings, working towards the common goal of overcoming 
the arms problems we currently face.
Thank you.