A/HRC/44/29 37. Switzerland has enacted legislation that denies arms export authorizations in instances in which there is a strong risk that the arms will be diverted to an unauthorized end user. It also conducts post-shipment verifications to verify whether a receiving State has transferred arms in violation of its end-user agreement.103 B. Prevention of illicit or unregulated arms transfers 38. In a prior report,104 the High Commissioner outlined the steps States have taken to regulate arms transfers through a variety of binding instruments at the international and regional levels.105 Most of the instruments prohibit arms transfers that violate international human rights and/or international humanitarian law. Article 6 of the Arms Trade Treaty also specifically prohibits arms transfers that violate Security Council arms embargoes or other international obligations. 39. Ratification and particularly observance of these instruments by eligible States is a key method for preventing unregulated or illicit arms transfers. 106 Ratification and observance of the Arms Trade Treaty 107 is particularly impactful, as the Treaty is the first international, legally binding instrument to govern specifically the transfer of conventional weapons, ammunition, parts and components, and to incorporate human rights as a standard to restrict such transfers, with the express purpose of reducing human suffering, including gender-based violence and acts of violence against women and children.108 Indeed, as part of the universal periodic review, recommendations have been made to several States to ratify or accede to the Treaty.109 40. All countries participating in arms transfers should also consider taking into account the Modular Small-arms-control Implementation Compendium, which translates into practice the codes of conduct and standard operating procedures of key global agreements aiming to prevent diversion of arms and unregulated or illicit arms transfers. 110 VI. Conclusions and recommendations 41. Diversion of arms and unregulated or illicit arms transfers fuel the commission of gender-based violence against women and girls and have an impact on their enjoyment of all human rights. Addressing this impact requires an understanding of the gendered root causes of violent behaviour. Bringing about changes in gender norms and attitudes can help prevent human rights violations and conflict more broadly. For example, gender stereotypes, which place women and girls in a subordinate role in society and fuel expressions of masculinity related to power and domination, can exacerbate the gendered impact of the diversion and transfer of arms. 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 to implement the operational paragraphs of the related Security Council resolutions and fulfil their human rights obligations, as well as to implement the recommendations contained in previous reports of the Secretary-General on women and peace and security (S/2019/800, para. 121). See the contribution of Switzerland. See A/HRC/35/8. In addition to the instruments already indicated above, mention should be made of the Council of the European Union’s Common Position 2008/944/CFSP of 8 December 2008 defining common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment. See the contributions of Ireland, Mexico and UNODC. For example, at least 18 States that transfer arms to the conflict in Yemen are parties to the Arms Trade Treaty. See the contribution of Control Arms, citing Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Arms Transfers Database, containing trend-indicator values and trade registers. The Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen has questioned the legality of many of these transfers (A/HRC/42/17, para. 92). See A/HRC/35/8 and the contributions of Brazil and Mexico. Article 7 (4) of the Arms Trade Treaty explicitly requires States parties to take into account the risk of arms being used to commit or facilitate serious acts of gender-based violence or serious acts of violence against women and children when conducting mandatory export assessments. See A/HRC/37/16, A/HRC/37/13, A/HRC/36/13, A/HRC/36/12, A/HRC/36/11, A/HRC/36/10, A/HRC/36/5, A/HRC/36/4, A/HRC/36/3, A/HRC/34/5, A/HRC/33/15, A/HRC/32/14, A/HRC/30/16, A/HRC/30/12, A/HRC/30/11, A/HRC/30/9 and A/HRC/26/3. See the contribution of UNODC. 13