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| Global Week of Action Against Small Arms 2005 |
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Europe
Belarus | Bosnia Herzegovina | Germany | Italy | Kosovo | Macedonia | Serbia & Montenegro | Sweden | UK |
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| Belarus |
| Voluntas introduced the principles of the Global Arms Trade Treaty at a presentation given at the conference 'XXI Century - Hopes and Dangers for the World and Mankind' held by the Human Rights Centre in Minsk. Present at the conference were representatives of domestic and international NGOs, the Belarusian Judiciary, religious leaders and representatives from government organisations. It is intended that attendees of the conference will pass a resolution encouraging regional governments to join the movement for an international Arms Trade Treaty. |
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| Bosnia & Herzegovina |
| The Campaign for Conscientious Objection organised a street action programme under the theme “Food not bombs” where 100 volunteers distributed Vegan food with antimilitary messages and promotional materials in 8 cities. A round table conference comprising 15 NGOs was held aiming to establish a national, grassroots initiative for citizens’ security through pacifism in Sarjevo. Among other events were concerts by alternative demo bands in Sarajevo; artistic exhibition on peace themes; risk education workshops for high school students and media outreach activities. |
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| Germany |
| The Bonn International Centre for Conversion (BICC) held two exhibitions:
1.‘Small Arms - A global threat’ at Jena University
2. ‘Millennium Development Goals 2005 - Act globally for the fight against poverty, for development and peace’ at Bonn City Hall. |
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| Italy |
| The Italian Disarmament Network (Rete Italian per il Disarmo) organised an interesting mix of events including a Control Arms meeting at the fair trade shop Quinoa; a theatrical performance titled ‘The Women of Pola’ recounting the stories of inhabitants of the kameniak refugee camp in the Istrian city of Pola (Croatia); presentation of the book “Armi d’Italia, Protagonisti e ombre di un made in Italy di successo”; Street party in front of the Italian government building, Palazzo Chigi at Piazza Colonna with actors, mimes and a choir to mobilize support for the Million Faces petition; an open meeting in Milan on ‘Disarm the Lombardy Region’, and finally a press conference with the Rome City Council members who have presented a motion for the Control Arms Campaign. The events received media coverage in the 'Venerdi' weekly magazine of 'Repubblica' one of the leading national newspapers. IANSA members were also interviewed by Repubblica for their online news service and radio programme. |
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| Kosovo |
The Kosovo Youth Network (KYN) issued a press release calling on the government to implement the UN PoA. The press release said, “Firearms pose a major threat to public safety in Kosova. Violent crimes and gun attacks which occurred in Kosova just this year, are giving us a clear signal on risks owing to small arms possession.”
“A good starting point is the implementation of the UN Programme of Action on small arms (UN PoA). This should be followed up by the establishment of a commission.” |
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| Macedonia |
| CIVIL and JCWE organised a number of outreach events including poster and flyer campaigns, a children’s programme to exchange guns for books and parties at the Medium Café to engage customers in an informal discussion with CIVIL volunteers. Flyers were distributed in Macedonian, Albanian and English languages. 6000 posters were printed and were displayed in six cities. The events received an impressive media coverage in a number of daily newspapers, multilingual magazine, TV, Radio and was also covered by news agencies. Click here for reports and photos |
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| Serbia & Montenegro |
The Spanish-language news service EFE reported on the Week of Action press release of the Balkan Youth Union(BYU). Control Arms stands were organised at the Republic Square and at the Belgrade Sports Festival to collect photos for the Million Faces petition. Click here for a report and photos.
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| Sweden |
| Amnesty International Sweden and the Swedish Action Network on Small Arms (SANSA) issued a joint press release and simultaneously handed in its official comments on the Swedish arms export (KRUT). A proposition (bill) in parliament about new weapons export legislation is expected shortly. The Week of Action has been reported in several EU-press materials. |
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| UK |
Members of the UK Gun Control Network (GCN) were interviewed on national media commenting on a newly proposed law to increase the age limit for owning a replica gun to 18 years. The Independent, a national newspaper, published a letter written by Oxfam GB, Amnesty International - UK and the IANSA Secretariat. Click here to read the letter
The Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) organised the ‘Stop the Arms Trade Week’ from 4-12 June focusing on their “Call the Shots” campaign. A Day of Prayer was also organised with Pax Christi UK.
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