Resources / Publications

Violence as women’s lived reality occurs as a continuum in private and public spaces. As UNODC noted, in 2017, women were the victims in 82 percent of homicides perpetrated by intimate partners. Women also bear the heaviest burden of lethal victimization from gender stereotypes and inequality. In the Caribbean, the proliferation and misuse of illicit small […]

Nathan Lefievre, IANSA Youth Network There are more young people in the world than ever before. According to the United Nations, there are approximately 1.8 billion people ages 10–24, and more than 50 percent of the world’s population is under the age of 30. These young people will be at the world’s helm in the […]

Governments have established important frameworks through the United Nations that attempt to curb the flow of illicit arms in order to reduce the tremendous impact that armed violence has on communities—whether in the form of conflict or crime. One of these vital frameworks is the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the […]

This document was updated in May 2021, the updated version can be found here.

This paper examines how arms control and disarmament efforts can contribute to solving the multifaceted challenges of the African Union (AU) project called “Silencing the Guns”. This project was initiated in 2013 on the 50th anniversary of the AU with the aim of ending all wars in Africa by 2020. The project forms a part […]

In May 2018, the United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, called for renewed global efforts on disarmament and the non-proliferation of weapons to enhance global peace and security. He set out his reasons in a new 87-page disarmament agenda called “Securing Our Common Future: An Agenda for Disarmament.” The Secretary General’s Agenda is rooted in […]

The first clause of the United Nations Programme of Action (UNPoA) on small arms and light weapons (SALW) calls for the establishment of “effective laws, regulations, and administrative procedures to exercise control over the production of small arms and light weapons” at a national scale. In an effort to bolster this and the implementation of […]

This edition of Civil Society and Disarmament explores work by IANSA to counter the misuse, diversion, and illicit proliferation of small arms, light weapons, and their ammunition. The volume places particular emphasis on statements and briefing papers issued by IANSA member organizations in the context of the Third Review Conference of the United Nations Programme […]

The exclusion of ammunition is an obvious anomaly in the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA). It undermines common action by UN Member States to achieve the objectives of the PoA. This can be corrected at the forthcoming Third […]

This Civil Society Advocacy Guide on SALW and the PoA is designed to assist non-governmental and community organisations working at the grassroots to help make our world a safer and more prosperous place for all. It introduces the main elements of concern regarding the proliferation and misuse of SALW, and the multi-dimensional solutions being developed […]