SGPIA alum Christina Arabia, a consultant at Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), is working on a set of projects that bolster the implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). The treaty, which entered into force December 2014, establishes common standards for the international trade of conventional weapons and aims to reduce the illicit arms trade. In recent years, many states have collaborated with international, regional and nongovernmental organizations to implement activities that seek to support states in meeting the ATT’s standards, but the activities often prove challenging to coordinate—there are frequently gaps in support coverage or a redundancy of activities.
Christina has addressed this issue by partnering with the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) to make the website Mapping ATT-Relevant Cooperation and Assistance, which hosts an activity database containing all international and regional documents related to the ATT. There is also a feedback portion of the site that allows organizations/countries to submit information about further activities to be included. The database currently includes activities involving partner states from Sub-Saharan Africa, and the site aims to expand into other regions soon.
Christina also co-wrote a background paper this month on data collected from the site titled “ATT-related outreach assistance in sub-Saharan Africa: identifying gaps and improving coordination.”
Christina graduated from SGPIA in May 2012 with a concentration in Conflict and Security.
