Project description and objectives:

The “Regional Awareness and Advocacy for Conventional Arms Control in the Arab Region” project is an initiative implemented by the Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights, with funding from the United Nations Trust Fund for Arms Control (UNSCAR).
 This project comes in response to the noticeable decline in regional awareness of the importance of conventional arms treaties (such as the Arms Trade Treaty), and the need for Arab states to join them.
The project aims to address the misconceptions prevalent in the Arab region that adherence to these treaties is a threat to national security, in addition to bridging the gap in technical capabilities and the lack of support from civil society organizations in this field.
The project pays special attention to countries experiencing armed conflicts and the spread of illicit weapons, such as Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Libya, targeting youth, media professionals, civil society organizations, and members of the Arab Parliament.

General objective

The project aims to improve understanding of conventional arms treaties and their role in reducing the proliferation of weapons in the Arab region, and to seek to change misconceptions about the restrictions that treaties may impose on the national security of states. It also seeks to raise awareness among stakeholders, while emphasizing the importance of urging Arab states to ratify treaties to reduce the irresponsible proliferation of weapons in the Arab region.

Interim goals

  • Working to change the misconceptions held by official and unofficial bodies in the region regarding conventional arms treaties.
  • Enhancing the capabilities of 100 Arab researchers in think tanks, universities and research institutions to work on conventional weapons files.
  • Obtaining support from 22 Arab civil society organizations as a first step to mobilize governments to ratify disarmament treaties.
  • Identifying the challenges that prevent countries from joining treaties (such as political, administrative, legal, budgetary and technical issues).