Impact of Arms Transfers on Human Rights

A/HRC/RES/47/17View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2021.

What other versions does this mandate have?

5 versions · 2016–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/59/13

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/HRC/RES/59/13	Impact of arms transfers on human rights	1,770	69%Compare
2023	A/HRC/RES/53/15	Impact of arms transfers on human rights	1,586	50%Compare
2021	A/HRC/RES/47/17	Impact of arms transfers on human rights	1,053	65%Compare
2019	A/HRC/RES/41/20	Impact of arms transfers on human rights	891	45%Compare
2016	A/HRC/RES/32/12	Impact of arms transfers on human rights	646	–

What subjects does this mandate have?

6 subjects

Arms Transfers Children Human Rights International Law Women's Rights Youth

What’s in this document?

7 operative paragraphs

Expresses its deep concern at the fact that the diversion of arms and unregulated or illicit arms transfers continue to seriously undermine the human rights of individuals, especially women, children, youth, the elderly, persons with disabilities and persons in vulnerable and in conflict situations;

Notes with alarm that such diversion of arms and unregulated or illicit arms transfers can have a severely negative impact on women’s and girls’ full enjoyment of all human rights, increasing the risk of sexual and gender-based violence, and of violence against women, children and youth, as they may be disproportionately affected by the widespread availability of such arms;

Urges all States to refrain from transferring arms when they assess, in accordance with applicable domestic laws, regulations and procedures and international obligations and commitments, that there is a clear risk that such arms might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations or abuses of international human rights law or serious violations of international humanitarian law;

Calls upon States to implement, as appropriate, the recommendations contained in the above-mentioned report³ to address the impact of the diversion of arms and unregulated or illicit arms transfers on women and girls, and to establish a comprehensive approach for safeguarding human rights from the negative impact of the uncontrolled proliferation of arms;

³Ibid.

Requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare, in consultation with States, United Nations agencies and other relevant stakeholders, an analytical report on good practices, lessons learned and challenges faced by States in preventing, mitigating and addressing the diversion of arms and unregulated or illicit arms transfers that have a particular impact on the enjoyment of human rights by children and youth, and the role of national control systems as effective mechanisms in that regard, and to present the report to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-first session;

Invites all relevant special procedures, commissions of inquiry and other relevant mechanisms of the Human Rights Council and human rights treaty bodies to bear the present resolution in mind within the framework of their respective mandates;

Decides to remain seized of this issue.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

Table of contents