Arms-exporting governments are reneging on their promises by failing to take into account the impact that the trade has on poverty, Oxfam says in a report published on Tuesday.
Sales are diverting resources from areas such as health and education.
The report, Guns or Growth, says six developing countries — Oman, Syria, Burma, Pakistan, Eritrea and Burundi — spend more on arms than they do on health and education combined.
It says governments that sell arms can assess the impact it will have on poverty, and that they should agree an international treaty to control the trade and safeguard sustainable development and human rights.
”Government failure to stick to their own promises on arms exports means that children are denied an education, Aids sufferers are not getting treatment and thousands are dying needlessly,” the director of Oxfam Great Britain, Barbara Stocking, said.
The report says:
Seventeen countries in the survey have signed agreements committing them to assess the impact that their arms exports have on sustainable development.
But only the British and Dutch governments consult their departments for international development when making decisions on arms exports. – Guardian Unlimited Â