


In order to enhance the knowledge base available for Member States to develop effective international responses to firearms trafficking and related offences, and to facilitate their efforts to ratify and implement the Firearms Protocol, UNODC has produced a series of legal and technical tools and publications:

Advocacy and visibility

		Disrupting Firearms Trafficking Flows 2021-2024 (English)
		Countering Firearms Trafficking Project 2018 - 2023 (English)
		Global Firearms Programme Annual Report 2022 (English) (French) (Spanish)
		DEVCO Brochure (English)
		The Global Firearms Programme at a Glance (English)
		Celebrating 20th Anniversary of the Adoption of the Firearms Protocol (English)
		Brochure - 10th Anniversary of the Global Firearms Programme (English) Flyer - 10th Anniversary of the Global Firearms Programme (English)
		Issue Paper - Supporting Evidence-based Action against the Illicit Trafficking in Firearms, their Parts and Components and Ammunition and related Forms of Crime (English) This issue paper aimst at illustrating how the collection and analysis of data related to firearms, their parts and components and ammunition at national and global scales can create an evidence base for strategic decision making at policy and operational levels and promotes evidence-based action against illicit firearms trafficking and related forms of crime.

		The Firearms Protocol and the Arms Trade Treaty: Divergence or complementarity? (English, French , Spanish) This Issue Paper is primarily meant for policymakers, legislators, and practitioners involved in preventing and countering the illicit manufacture of and trafficking in firearms, their parts and components and ammunition. It reviews the various links between the Firearms Protocol and the ATT. The Paper focuses on the nature and relationship between the two global instruments, with the aim of exploring the extent to which they are related, and complement each other.
		Video on the 20th Anniversary of the Adoption of the Firearms Protocol (English)

Technical tools

		Digest of Firearms Trafficking and Related Crimes Cases
		Ratification Kit - Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, their Parts and Components and Ammunition, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (English) The Ratification Kit was designed to assist interested States wishing to consider becoming ratify or accede to the Firearms Protocol, UNODC-GFP created a Ratification Kit to explain and facilitate the process of ratification of the Protocol. The purpose of the Kit is to explain and facilitate the process of ratification of the Protocol. This document provides an explanatory note on the main requirements and notification of obligations under the Protocol as well as alternative template formats of the ratification and deposit of the instruments.
		Model Law Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, 2011 (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish) The Model Law Against Illiict Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition was developed in 2010 by UNODC in response to the request of the General Assembly to the Secretary-General to assist State Parties in strengthen their domestic legal framework in a manner consistent with the international legal regime on firearms. The Model Law represents a concrete help for policy and lawmakers to translate the treaty language of the Firearms Protocol into domestic legal provisions and help them in strengthening their legislative regimes on firearms in a manner consistent with the Firearms Protocol.
		Legislative Guide for the Implementation of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocols Thereto. (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish) The purpose of this guide is to promote and assist States in their efforts to ratify and implement the Protocol. The Guide facilitates the understanding of the provisions that are mandatory, optional or only to some degree compulsory under the Convention and its Protocols thereto, and the elements of those provisions which are particularly essential to ratification and implementation efforts, and provides detailed and specialized advice on how to interpret. A dedicated part of the Guide is deserved for the Firearms Protocol.
		Technical Guide to implement the Protocol Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition. (English)
		Comparative Analysis of Global Instruments on firearms and other Conventional Arms: Synergies for Implementation (English, French) This Paper reviews and analyses the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), approved on 2 April 2013; the Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition (Firearms Protocol); the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons (PoA), of 2001; and the International Instrument to Enable States to Identify and Trace, in a Timely and Reliable Manner, Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons (International Tracing Instrument or ITI) of 2005 to identify synergies and complementarities between them, and to assist States parties to these instruments, or those considering accession to them, in implementing the relevant provisions at the national level.
		Guiding Templates for Firearms-related Investigations (English, French, Spanish) The Guiding Templates aim at facilitating the process of generating and collecting data on seized firearms and their criminal context throughout the criminal justice chain. The collected information through these templates, moreover, helps the States to generate and record all the requested under the UN Illicit Arms Flows Questionnaire (IAFQ), which is the methodology developed by UNODC to monitor illicit firearms trafficking flows, to identify firearms trafficking trends and patterns at global level, as well as to collect data requested under SDG indicator 16.4.2.
		Video on monitoring illicit arms flows (English, French, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian)

Research and analytical products

		Firearms and Drugs: Partners in Transnational Crime (English) The multifaceted links between illicit drug trafficking and illicit firearms present a global challenge requiring a clear understanding and integrated responses. This issue paper analyzes the linkages between firearms and drug trafficking by answering the following main research questions: • How does drug trafficking stimulate and facilitate firearms trafficking? • What are the direct and indirect linkages between the trafficking in firearms and the trafficking in drugs? • What is the impact of firearms trafficking on drug-related violence?
		Illicit Firearms Trafficking - Addressing the Criminal Side of Diversion (Issue Paper) (English) (French) Diversion occurs when firearms, their parts or ammunition cease to be produced, possessed or used consistently with the legal authorisation issued from a competent national authority and pursuant to existing domestic law. This report contains 12 case studies that examine various aspects of diversion and firearms trafficking, as well as criminal justice approaches to preventing them.
		Firearms Trafficking in the Sahel (English)
		Haiti’s criminal markets: Mapping Trends in Firearms and Drug Trafficking (English)
		UNIDIR - UNODC Issue Brief on Addressing the linkages between illicit arms, organized crime and armed conflict (English) Illicit arms and ammunition link conflict to crime as well as crime to conflict. Illicit arms can both enable and fuel an armed conflict, while different conflict phases provide opportunities for the diversion of arms and a potentially lucrative income source for organized arms trafficking networks. To date, there has been limited research examining the linkages between all three of these security challenges. In response to this knowledge gap, this issue brief – produced in collaboration with the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) – explores the multiple connections between illicit arms, organized crime, and armed conflict in relation to (1) the source of illicit arms supply, (2) the process of illicit arms acquisition, and (3) shifts in the dynamics of armed conflict and organized crime. It also provides key considerations to help inform responses to address these interrelated challenges by integrating conventional arms control measures, conflict prevention strategies, and criminal justice responses.
		UNODC Global Study of Firearms Trafficking 2020 (English) The Global Study on Firearms 2020 has been developed with the purpose of raising global knowledge on illicit trafficking in firearms, including its transnational nature and the routes and modus operandi used, by enhancing understanding of this phenomenon and its links to other serious crimes. Collected data give a unique insight into the patterns of firearms trafficking globally, regionally and nationally, providing a vital resource for law enforcement, policymakers and public bodies seeking to reduce the damage caused by the illicit circulation of firearms. Executive Summary (English, French, Russian, Ukrainian, Spanish)
		UNODC Study on firearms 2015 (English) The Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (COP-UNTOC), adopted at its 5th Session resolution 5/4 entitled "Illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, their parts and components and ammunition." In paragraph 7 of this resolution the Conference requested the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) "to conduct a study of the transnational nature of and routes used in trafficking in firearms, based on the analysis of information provided by States on confiscated weapons and ammunition." To read more about the 2015 study please visit:
		Country Fact Sheets (English) Summary data from country responses on firearms seizures and trafficking.
		Regional Analysis Report - Illicit Trafficking in Firearms, their Parts, Components and Ammunition to, from and across the European Union (English) The report aims to significantly improve the understanding of the scope, characteristics and dynamics of illicit firearms trafficking into, from and across the European Union and contributing to the evidence base required to efficiently combat this phenomenon both within the region and globally. Methodological and statistical Annex (English)
		Digest of Organized Crime Cases. A compilation of good practices and lessons learned. (English, French, Spanish, Italian) On the occasion of the Tenth Anniversary of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Organized Crime Convention), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Italian and the Colombian Governments and INTERPOL decided to launch an initiative aimed at facilitating and assisting States in the implementation of the Convention and its Protocols, by providing them with a compilation of illustrative cases of organized crime, and related "good practices" in investigative and prosecutorial techniques, as well as in international cooperation in criminal matters. The Digest presents a compilation of illustrative cases and related good practices in criminalization, investigations, prosecution and legal experiences in dealing with organized crime and its various forms and manifestations.