Effective civil society engagement to inform and influence gender mainstreaming in small arms trafficking and misuse: the experience of IANSA (January 2024)

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the experience of the IANSA Secretariat and its network members in the delivery of the three-year project entitled “Civil society engagement in support of gender mainstreamed policies, programmes, and actions in the fight against small arms trafficking and misuse, in line with the Women, Peace and Security agenda”. The project ran from 1 July 2019 to 30 September 2022.

The overarching goal of this project was to “Contribute to international peace, security, gender equality and sustainable development by enhancing the effectiveness of small arms control measures through the strengthened civil society engagement on gender-mainstreaming small arms control.”

This paper highlights the key activities undertaken towards meeting this overall goal. The report hopes to bring to life the unique role of IANSA and its members in engaging in a complex and interconnected subject matter. The paper draws on the project’s Logical Framework (logframe) which set out the project’s goal, activities and anticipated results. Key Informant Interviews (KII) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were also held with IANSA members and IANSA Secretariat staff about the activities to gain an understanding of the project’s impacts. Recommendations for continued and future work in this area are also included.