IWTC Women's GlobalNet #174

Initiatives and Activities of Women Worldwide
By Anne S. Walker, Kirsten Isgro and Felicity Hill

August 1, 2001


WOMEN, PEACE, ARMED CONFLICT AND DISARMAMENT

1. The UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light
Weapons in All Its Aspects, New York, 9-20 July, 2001.

Diplomats from more than 140 nations gathered in July 2001 to address critical humanitarian, development, and human rights issues involved in the practice of small arms trafficking. Anti-gun/peace activists, weapon makers, and a contingent of determined women were also in attendance.

After a bumpy start that included a presentation by the US representative who clearly stated the "US constitutional right of all individuals to keep and bear arms", the two-week conference went on to finally adopt a programme of action that amongst other things:
a) calls upon the UN to support the development of national systems to regulate the activities of arms brokers;
b) ensures that manufacturers mark all small arms so that their movements can be traced.

For more information about this UN Conference and issues surrounding small arms, visit the following web-sites: UN Department for Disarmament Affairs: http://www.un.org/Depts/dda/CAB/smallarms/about.htm
United Nations Publications on Small Arms: http://www.un.org/Pubs/whatsnew/smallarms
International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA): http://www.iansa.org

Disarmament Times Daily, a publication of the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Inc.:
http://www.igc.org/disarm.
Global Policy Forum:
http://www.globalpolicy.org/visitctr/lst-srv/2001/ls0709.htm.


KEY FACTS CONCERNING SMALL ARMS:

• There are over 500 million small arms and light weapons in the world, 40% of which are illegal. More are being produced each day.
  
• From 500,000 - 700,000 lives each year are claimed by small arms and light weapons. This represents more than the number who died in and as a result of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
  
• Thousands of children are being forced to kill and are being killed in wars serving the greed of the powerful.
  
• There are no global laws to control the flow of weapons to drug dealers, terrorists and areas of conflict.
  
  

KEY WOMEN’S ISSUES:

• 80% of casualties caused by small arms are women and children. More civilian women are killed than soldiers in situations of armed conflict.
  
  
• Women are subjected to rape, sexual abuse, economic and physical violence at the hands of men wielding guns. Women refugees are particularly vulnerable.
  
• Girls and young women by the tens of thousands are being kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery by gun-wielding men.
  
• The percentage of women shot and killed by their intimate partners in the USA is 80%, in Brazil it’s 46and in Canada it’s 25%.
  
• Women are key in conflict resolution and peace-building activities.
  
  

WOMEN’S CAUCUS AT THE CONFERENCE:

The IANSA Women’s Caucus met throughout the conference. The
International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) called the caucus
together with the following objectives:

1. to educate and provide outreach to women's organizations about small arms;
2. to ensure that regional concerns are heard, particularly those from conflict affected regions; and
3. to raise public awareness about the linkage between small arms proliferation and the negative impacts upon women's rights.
   
   

Friday, 13 July, was Women’s Day, beginning with a well-attended breakfast and panel discussion that addressed the ways in which the wide availability and use of small arms affects women. In the afternoon, an NGO panel continued the discussion and included readings of women’s testimonies. Many women wore black for the day in silent protest against violence against women in all regions of the world.

Key issues raised by the Women’s Caucus can be found in the caucus statement presented to the Distinguished Members of the Third Preparatory Committee at the following web-site: http://www.peacewomen.org/campaigns/outreach/international/iansawomen/about/state/sta_index.html.


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