It is hoped that at the forthcoming CHOGM meeting being held in Malta, the Prime Minister will take this opportunity to campaign to reduce the sale of arms on a global scale. According to SIPRA Teambook 2001, the UK, Canada and Australia are among the top 15 global arms suppliers and India, Pakistan and Singapore are in the top 15 global arms buyers.

Arms sales to Third World countries are increasing and far outweigh sales to developed nations. A person is killed by a bullet every minute. Arms kill more than half a million men, women and children on average every year. The world spends US$ 2 billion every day on the military. The uncontrolled proliferation of arms fuels human rights violations, escalates conflicts and intensifies poverty.

Quoting the UN Millennium Report September 2000, it costs as much to arm and train one soldier as it does to educate 80 children. It costs as much to build one modern bomber as it did to wipe out smallpox over a 10-year period. It costs as much to build the latest nuclear submarine as it does to build 450,000 homes.

Every minute 50 children are lost to hunger and curable diseases while $1.7 million is spent on the military.

Arms are out of control. The time for world leaders to act is now.

Louise Camilleri

NAXXAR