Statement [made on behalf of the Security Council, at the 4896th meeting, 19 Jan. 2004, in connection with the Council's consideration of the item entitled "Small arms"]

Welcomes all efforts already undertaken by Member States and calls upon them to fully implement at the national, regional and international levels the recommendations contained in the Programme of Action adopted by the July 2001 UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its aspects; reiterates its call on all Member States to effectively implement arms embargoes and other sanction measures imposed by the Council in its relevant resolutions, and urges Member States in a position to do so to provide assistance to interested States in strengthening their capacity to fulfil their obligations in this regard; encourages Members to undertake vigorous actions aimed at restricting the supply of small arms, light weapons and ammunitions to areas of instability; further encourages Member States to provide the Sanctions Committees with available information on alleged violations of arms embargoes and also calls on Member States to give due consideration to the recommendations of the related reports; reiterates the importance of carrying out Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Programmes, an increasingly essential component of peacekeeping mandates, as comprehensively and effectively as possible in post-conflict situations under its consideration.

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