The urgency and timeliness of the resolution adopted today (resolution 2117 (...

The urgency and timeliness of the resolution adopted today (resolution 2117 (2013)) is reflected in the recent terrorist attack in Kenya, ongoing violence in the Central African Republic, the devastation caused by recent fighting Mali and the daily toll of suffering caused by armed criminals, illegal militias, drug cartels, pirates and others with illegitimate access to such weapons. The resolution highlights the special risks that illicit weapons pose to vulnerable groups, including refugees, the internally displaced, women and children and members of civil society, including those who deliver humanitarian assistance to families in desperate need. We are also reminded on a daily basis that the availability of illicit arms is both a cause and the result of violence, as rival groups arm themselves in response to the growing arsenals of the other. Our task, and it is a fully appropriate one for the Security Council, is to encourage States to act together to reverse those cycles of destruction and to invest our energy and resources on behalf of the rule of law.