Small Arms and Light Weapons
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Small Arms and Light Weapons
NGO Initiatives
British American Security Information Council (BASIC) is an independent
research organization that analyzes government policies and promotes public
awareness of defense, disarmament, military strategy and nuclear policies
in order to foster informed debate.
The Bonn International Center for Conversion, "promotes and facilitates
the processes whereby people, skills, technology, equipment, and financial
and economic resources can be shifted away from the defense sector and applied
to alternative civilian uses.
Control the Weapons Trade is part of the Canadian Ploughshares site. Comprehensive
and well-ordered documents section. They also monitor news from Viva
Rio, an organization campaigning for weapons control in Brazil.
The GCA is a network of organisations and individuals calling for the stricter
control of firearms in South Africa. Currently over 200 diverse organisations
support the Charter for Gun Control, including business, health, religious,
women and youth organisations. Includes a page of statistics.
Site of the International Action Network on Small Arms - a global network
of over 200 NGOs from different fields with a commitment to preventing the
spread and misuse of small arms. Includes a Calendar of events on SALW.
Website of International Alert. Their objective is to identify and address
the root causes of violence and contribute to the just and peaceful transformation
of violent internal conflict. This includes issues relating to light weapons
transfers and the impact of private military companies.
SmallArmsNet
SmallArmsNet is "an information portal for groups and individuals working to contain the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in Africa." SmallArmsNet is an initiative of the Arms Management Program at the Institue for Security Studies, a policy organization involved in the debate about defense and security in Africa.
Norwegian Initiative on Small Arms Transfers. Excellent site that provides
a database of small arms transfers, with information on imports, exports
and the black market in arms. Authorized arms exports by the US are especially
interesting.
Quaker
UN Office A founding member of IANSA, the American Friends
Service Committee UN Office tackles disarmament issues of: small arms control,
the UN Register of Conventional Arms, and a Code of Conduct for Arms Transfers
Demobilization.
Reaching
Critical Will is an initiative of WILPF that seeks to enhance
the access, preparation and participation of non-governmental organisations
in all disarmament fora.
Regional Centre for Strategic Studies
A Sri Lankan based NGO, the Regional Centere for Strategic Studies covers small arms issues in South Asia.
A UK based independent foreign affairs think-tank working to identify, develop
and publicise more effective approaches to tackling and preventing armed conflicts.
As a leading NGO of IANSA, has a comprehensive Arms Control Program and list
of publications.
The Small Arms Survey is a research project located in Switzerland and supported
by the Swiss government. Its database on the upcoming UN conference on small
arms includes the voting records of states on UN small arms resolutions. It
has a listing of all documents related to Small Arms here.
World Policy Institute's Arms Trade Resource Center.
Various publications in English, French and Spanish from the UN. Ordering information also. For UN Documents, see our Small Arms and Light Weapons Index.
UN Agencies Working on Small Arms
CASA
The UN Department of Disarmament Affairs Conventional Arms Branch
Agency for Co-ordinating Action on Small Arms.
UN
Department for Disarmament Affairs Documents - Conventional Arms Branch
Page which links to recent UN documents on conventional and small arms. Somewhat
difficult to navigate - simply listed in chronological order - however, a
welcome collection. We have also placed some salient and more recent documents
in the UN Documents section below. See also the UN
Department of Disarmament Affairs.
UNDP
- Safe and Efficient Small Arms Collection and Destruction Programmes
This UNDP report addresses the logistics of disarmament and small arms control,
including information gathering, weapons collection, and weapons destruction.
See also the UNDP
Small Arms Reduction Programme.
UNICEF
pages on Children in War
"In the armed conflicts of recent years, children have been not only
unintended victims but deliberate targets of violence. The number of children
who have been directly affected is enormous." Includes a link to
Graí§a Machel's report on the Impact
of Armed Conflict on Children.
United
Nations Institute for Disarmament Research
UNIDIR began work in 1980, after the GA called for a UN focal point for disarmament
research in 1978. Works on various projects, such as Peace-building and Practical
Disarmament in West Africa and Confidence-Building and Security Measures (CSBMs)
in the Middle East.
UN video presentation "Armed to the Teeth"
More Information on Small Arms and Light Weapons
More Information on Sanctions
