The final outcome document: a tentative step

by Eloise Watson, Reaching Critical Will of WILPF

Today’s global strategic environment is characterized by complexity, in which the problems posed by the illicit trade of small arms and light weapon (SALW) are amplified. It was therefore of cardinal importance that the 2012 UNPoA Review Conference conclude with positive results. The conference did achieve its goal of adopting by consensus a final outcome document emphasizing the renewed commitment of the international community to combating the illegal trade in SALW. Such success, as Ambassador U. Joy Ogwu, President of the Conference, explained, will help create the “much needed and timely momentum for positive movement in the overall multilateral disarmament process.”
 

WOMEN COUNT: Women and the RevCon on UNPoA

by Jasmin Nario-Galace, IANSA Women's Network

A total of 141 States sent representatives to the United Nations Conference to Review Progress Made in the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects in New York on 27 August–7  September 2012. 

Gender references continue as discussions on draft document begin

by Melina Lito, Global Action to Prevent War and Jasmin Nario-Galace, IANSA Women’s Network 

 

On Wednesday, member states began discussing the draft outcome documents circulated by Ambassador Joy Ogwu, President of the Second Review Conference on the UNPoA. The draft UNPoA Implementation Plan for 2012–2018 specifically calls for women’s involvement in the UNPoA implementation process at the national level. Paragraph 8 reads: “To increase the participation and representation of women in small arms policymaking, taking into account the link between the Programme of Action and Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) and GA resolution 65/69 and to explore means to eliminate the negative impact of the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons on women.”

  

Cause and effect

by Ray Acheson, Reaching Critical Will of WILPF

During the general statements segment of the UN Programme of Action (UNPoA) Review Conference (RevCon), several member states have drawn attention to pressing issues related to cause and effect relationships related to small arms and light weapons (SALW). Comments have focused primarily on the relationship between supply and demand of SALW as well as between SALW proliferation and armed violence, instability, and development. This RevCon should ensure that the plans of action for further UNPoA implementation incorporate mechanisms for measuring and analyzing the supply and demand of SALW, the effects of proliferation of SALW, and the impact of the UNPoA on the above.

  

Attention to gender continues at the UNPoA Review Conference

by Melina Lito, Global Action to Prevent War

 

As the UN Programme of Action (UNPoA) on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) proceeds to its second day, gender has been one of the recurring themes addressed during the General Exchange of Views. The Netherlands, Norway, Niger, Mexico, South Africa, Tanzania, Sweden, Argentina, CARICOM, MERCOSUR, the European Union, Kenya, Lithuania, Trinidad and Tobago, Luxemburg, Portugal, Kazakhstan, and the United States, have all referenced gender in their statements.

 

Delegations call for gender mainstreaming for the effective implementation of the UNPoA

by Jasmin Nario-Galace, IANSA Women's Network

 

The first day of the Review Conference on the UN Programme of Action (UNPoA) on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) saw many states articulating the impact on women of the illicit trade in SALW. Thirty-five percent (35%) of 34 delegations who took the floor on the first day of the conference called either for gender mainstreaming for the effective implementation  of the UN PoA or voiced concerns in regard to violence committed against women with SALW as weapons of choice.

Aiming for a meaningful outcome document

by Katherine Prizeman, Global Action to Prevent War

As the Second Review Conference (RevCon) for the UN Programme of Action on small arms (UNPoA) opened on Monday morning, the President of the Conference, Ambassador Ogwu of Nigeria, rightly called upon member states to clearly focus their general debate statements on the “desired outcome” for the conference.

Going beyond DDR in PoA’s work on post-conflict situations

by Melina Lito, Global Action to Prevent War and Hector Guerra, IANSA

 

The reference to disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) within the United Nations Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons (PoA) (Sections II.21, II.22, II.30, II.34, II.35, and III.16) is relevant and shows the possibilities this instrument has in dealing with post-conflict situations in relation to small arms and light weapons (SALW).

 

Being part of the process: women, gender, and the PoA

by Sarah Masters, International Action Network on Small Arms

Despite the fact that small arms affect men and women differently, the UN Program of Action on small arms (PoA) contains only one reference to gender, in paragraph 6 of the Preamble in which states express grave concern about the devastating consequences of the illicit trade in small arms for children, “as well as the negative impact on women and the elderly” (UN 2001). Men are not mentioned at all. However, significant progress has been made in changing this incorrect impression at UN small arms meetings. A growing number of states have highlighted the importance of gender considerations, both in addressing armed violence and in creating effective disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration (DDR) programmes.

Gender advocacy in the field of SALW control has grown tremendously over the past ten years. A wide range of practical information has been generated since 2001 to help policymakers include gender considerations in the PoA. For example, as far back as 2003 a Gender Mainstreaming Action Plan launched by UNODA has underscored the commitment and importance it attaches to addressing the impact of all categories of weapons, including small arms and light weapons, on both men and women.

Since 2001 the women’s movement, through the IANSA Women’s Network, has contributed to expanding knowledge and expertise on small arms control, and the specific impacts of armed violence on women and girls. However a combination of lack of political will to institutionalise and implement gender sensitive policies continue to frustrate women’s efforts. Greater State commitment of resources for promoting gender equality within the UN small arms process is needed.

In recognition of this, and in view of the 4th BMS, 15th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action (1995) and the 10th anniversary of UN Security Council resolution 1325 (October 2010) The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs Regional Disarmament Branch (UNODA/RDB) and IANSA revised the “Guidelines for gender mainstreaming for the effective implementation of the UN PoA” in order to refocus efforts based on new developments, progress made and lessons learnt in the implementation of the PoA, as well as in the area of gender mainstreaming in peace and security.

The IANSA Women’s Network has released a statement urging States to take a systematic gender-inclusive approach in the implementation of the PoA. An enhanced understanding of gender-specific perceptions of peace and human security are crucial to ensure the full and effective implementation of the PoA. Women and men have an equal right to participate and to be considered in these processes. Gender roles must be encompassed in terms of the diverse impacts of SALW on men, women, boys and girls, and the different points of engagement for positive action.

Gender and the PoA: including all voices

by Shauna Kelly, International Action Network on Small Arms

Ms. Agnés Marcaillou, the Chief of the Regional Disarmament Branch of the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs chaired the NGO presentation, Gender and the PoA: including all voices. The event was jointly coordinated by the Regional Disarmament Branch, Office of Disarmament Affairs, The Permanent Mission of Norway to the UN, and the International Action Network on Small Arms’ Women's Network. Ms. Marcaillou introduced the event by clarifying that our discussion of gender emphasizes women simply because there is a lack of deliberation in this area. However, violence between men was incorporated in the dialogue about gender as it relates to gun violence. Ms. Marcaillou reiterated that careful consideration of women is now being given attention precisely because it has previously been neglected. She defined gender mainstreaming as prescribed by the Report of the Economic and Social Council for 1997,

Mainstreaming a gender perspective is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women's as well as men's concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality.

The panel was comprised of three women sharing their experiences and expertise from Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean. As Ms. Marcaillou summarized, the presentations clearly illustrated a variety of aspects of how small arms affect women. Ms. Rebecca Gerome of the Advocacy Project, showed her documentary ‘Colombia: Living in fear: The impact of small arms on girls’ and presented on Colombian women afflicted by armed conflict, displacement and the direct relationship between machismo and gun ownership, including armed domestic violence. Ms. Glynis Alonzo-Beaton of the YWCA in Guyana, approached the issue of armed violence as a hindrance on development. Ms. Bibiane Aningina Tshefu of Women as Partners for Peace in Africa, presented the stark reality of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is infinitely devastated by small arms as women are being raped at gunpoint at a shockingly high rate.

Among the numerous comments and questions following the panelists was an NGO representative from Jamaica, who shared with the group that his organization, the Kingston and St Andrews Action Forum, had begun a new project which encourages men to support feminism and openly acknowledge gender issues. Another NGO representative from Jamaica asked women (because they are at the forefront of advocating women’s security and equality) about how to create dialogue and literature to sensitize men to gender issues. An NGO representative from the Gambia expressed the importance of introducing a culture of non-violence for those who were raised in a home where violence was used to resolve everyday issues.

“It (gender mainstreaming the PoA) is not a matter of feminism, it is a matter of business and efficiency,” stated Ms. Marcaillou. Gender and the PoA: including all voices was the official launch of The guidelines for gender mainstreaming for the effective implementation of the UN programme of action to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects, which is meant to be a user friendly resource for practitioners. Ms. Marcaillou welcomed people’s comments and contributions in order to refine the document for the next Biennial Meeting of States in 2012.