Empty arms: the effect of the arms trade on mothers and children

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Abstract
Trading in arms, both legal and illegal, is highly detrimental to the health of mothers and children in the countries where armed conflict occurs. But do the powerful arms trading countries want to address the problems they are causing? Aid workers have no doubts about the impact of armed conflict on the death and suffering of mothers and children. To prove that trading in arms makes a major contribution to poor health is challenging, because it coexists in poor countries with massive debt, corrupt bureaucracies, and natural disasters. We report on the devastating effects of legal and illegal weapons exported into poor countries in conflict in Africa and Asia. #### Summary points More than 85% of the major conflicts since the second world war have been in poor countries During the 1990s the poorest countries of the world became saturated with arms, with brokers often supplying both sides of a conflict Between 1986 and 1996, a major proportion of those dying as a result of armed conflicts were civilians, particularly women and children Huge differences in the health of mothers and children exist between the poor countries undergoing conflict and the predominantly rich countries exporting arms to them Legal trading in arms should be a responsibility of a newly configured United Nations, and much more regulation of arms manufacturing companies is needed International laws and their aggressive enforcement should stop illegal arms trading, including its support systems Drawing on the work of international organisations,w1-w4 we conducted the following analyses: More than 85% …

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