SALW control cuts across various global agendas: e.g. peace and security, development, the combat of transnational organized crime, gender. Commitments to counter the illicit proliferation and misuse of small arms are therefore anchored in several of these different agendas and have brought about a series of international and regional agreements.  

To promote peace, security, stability and sustainable development, it is vital to address the problem of the illicit proliferation, circulation and trafficking of SALW in a comprehensive, integrated, sustainable and effective manner. It is a problem of both supply and demand, transcends borders and hence calls for cooperation at all levels: national, regional, continental and international. 

None of the agreements take place in isolation; many states are members/signatories or have ratified several agreements, as they often build on each other.