June 25, 2022.
Globally, in 2018, 610 victims were killed every day (223,000/year) because of violence committed with firearms in conflict and non-conflict contexts.
It is estimated that 85% of the one billion firearms in global circulation as of 2017 are in civilian hands (857 million) a significant increase compared to 2006, when civilian holdings were estimated at 650 million. This way, decreasing firearms and ammunition civilian holdings are an important step to reduce the aforementioned context. Civil Disarmament Initiatives (CDI) are one of the strategies to accomplish this goal. State-led efforts, mainly by the military sector, usually dominate CDI. However, there are several good experiences in which the involvement of civil society has supported CDI design and execution, improving effectiveness, increasing sustainability, and attaching legitimacy and transparency to them.
This briefing paper highlights the involvement of civil society in CDI, offering recommendations for its involvement in partnership with governments in firearms collection and destruction in non-conflict scenarios. The examples were drawn from five of the largest CDI worldwide (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom). The first section presents the definition of civil disarmament within its initiatives categories. The second explains CDI’s main characteristics, and the third offers recommendations for conducting CDI. The fourth section exemplifies, in practical terms, the gains and how civil society can support CDI achievements. Finally, the last section provides further resources on the subject.