Email Louise Rimmer (IANSA Communications Officer) for the contact details for the organisers of these events.
Antigua and Barbuda
An editorial on gun control in last week's Antigua Sun newspaper argued in favour of better gun control. Civil Organisation Promoting Peace in Youth (COPPY) responded with a letter to the editor that was published over the weekend, welcoming the editorial and noting the timeliness of its publication during the global Week of Action.
Argentina
President Néstor Kirchner of Argentina announced the country's first national gun buyback on Friday. The program will begin on 28 June in the town of Necochea, where the shooting deaths of a teenage boy last year caused a public outcry over the proliferation of guns in Argentina. All firearms can be handed in to the program in return for cash, depending on the value of the weapon. The buyback will be accompanied by a major public awareness campaign highlighting the danger created by a gun in the home. The program was developed in consultation with victims' groups and the Argentina Disarmament Network (the national IANSA members' network). The announcement received extensive media coverage.
Brazil
Sou da Paz volunteers launched the Week of Action in Brazil by taking part in one of the world’s largest Gay Pride Parades. Members of Sou da Paz marched down Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo together with three million people from around the world. Volunteers distributed over 1,000 Control Arms bandanas and flyers and marched with a huge banner supporting the ATT.
Ilona Szabó de Carvalho of Viva Rio's Human Security Program had an opinion piece published in the O Globo newspaper last Monday. Titled 'Security for Development', the article urges Brazil's Government to follow up on two important processes. the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Brazil's new National Plan of Public Security and Citizenship.
Sou da Paz ended the WoA in Brazil spectacularly with a public display on Thursday. and phrases and images about armed violence were projected onto a huge wall of water formed by fountains in São Paulo's central park. The slide show accompanied by music was visible to passing cars, while volunteers formed a human billboard nearby. Finally, around 200 cyclists assembled at the park to ride through the city at night, wearing t-shirts printed with the reflective lettering 'I support the Arms Trade Treaty'. The evening's activities were covered in São Paulo's two major newspapers along with radio stations and internet portals. A video of the event is on the Sou da Paz website.
Canada
The Province of Quebec has announced it will strengthen its gun law. The Bill is known as 'Anastasia's Law' in memory of Anastasia De Sousa who was killed in the Dawson College shooting last year. The law will ban firearms (including replicas) in all education institutions; oblige target clubs to report 'sporting shooters' who do not actually practice the sport; and encourage health professionals to report on gun owners who seem to be mentally unstable. Canadian IANSA member the Coalition for Gun Control welcomed the move. A video of the Coalition's President Wendy Cukier discussing the bill is available here. The Coalition for Gun Control's media release can be found here.
Chile
AI Chile distributed a WoA media release that resulted in radio interviews on Radio Universidad de Chile and Radio Bio. Both stations interviewed Juan Gomez, the Control Arms Coordinator in Chile. The campaigners also distributed 1000 flyers at a metro station in Santiago de Chile, where members of the public were extremely receptive despite the heavy rain.
Colombia
Students from Medellin marched through the town on Thursday to mark the WoA. Around 500 young people took part in the march along with community police, the Citizen guides programme and young people from Plan Desarme. On completion of the march students were presented with white balloons as symbols of peace. The event was a joint effort by UNDP and local governments and was conducted as part of Plan Desarme.
Costa Rica
The UN Secretary-General, the President of Costa Rica and Ana Yancy of the Arias Foundation (an IANSA member) were keynote speakers at a high-profile conference in New York on Wednesday. The conference was called Lasting Peace in Central America and included a workshop on security and violence in the region. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon spoke about how the illicit small arms trade undermines development. Ana Yancy spoke about the proliferation of guns in Latin America and the impact of armed violence on people in the region.
El Salvador
The women’s group Cemujer launched the Week of Action in El Salvador with a press conference followed by a public event where 2500 leaflets were distributed highlighting the problem of gun violence against women. 80% of women killed in El Salvador are shot by their partners. Cemujer is collecting signatures on a petition asking the congress to stop domestic violence offenders from owning firearms. IANSA's Public Health Network held a conference for students and doctors at the Evangelical University in San Salvador. Dr Andrew Pinto from Physicians for Global Survival (Canada) joined local doctor Emperatriz Crespin at the conference which focused on gun violence from a public health perspective. An interview with the organisers was broadcast on three national tv channels. The interviewees explained the impact of armed violence on public health and invited Salvadorans to get involved with the Week of Action activities. IANSA/IPPNW also collaborated with two local radio stations to organise a soccer game as an awareness raising activity. The game was played at Gambeta Stadium in San Salvador .Meanwhile the women's group Cemujer continues to collect signatories for its petition to the Congress asking for a law to prevent domestic violence offenders from owning guns. More than 3500 signatures have been collected during the WoA.
Prensa Latina article on WoA activities in El Salvador
Guatemala
IEPADES started the WoA with a media conference that received coverage on television, radio and in print. On Tuesday the national network Red por la Vida ran a workshop on armed violence for youth, inviting students to learn about the impact of small arms and gun violence prevention. IEPADES joined with government officials for a presentation on the impact of guns in Guatemala on Wednesday. The Deputy Minister for Community Support and Carmen Rosa de Leon from IEPADES were the main presenters. Thursday saw further radio coverage of the WoA and on Friday, Red por la Vida organised the screening of a documentary on gun proliferation in Guatemala. The high-profile event was attended by the Deputy Minister of Justice, the Secretary of Peace, the Human Rights Public Prosecutor as well as representatives of the Peace Agreements Commission, the National Commission for the Eradication of Illegal Arms and the Department of Arms and Ammunitions Control. Throughout the week IEPADES visited schools to talk to students about the proliferation of small arms and gun violence prevention.
Haiti
The Control Arms coalition organised several radio broadcasts, an article in the women's magazine ANAIZ and a meeting with seven women's organisations from around the country.
The Campaign for Violence Reduction in Haiti organised a series of activities during the Week of Action, including a peace march on Friday.
Mexico
Oxfam organised the broadcast of a video on the impact of guns on the lives of Mexicans; the video was aired on two Mexican television channels.
Paraguay
Amnesty International Paraguay has published WoA news on the civil society newsgroup SC Noticias. A group of Senators joined Amnesty International Paraguay this week in campaigning for an Arms Trade Treaty. Ana María Mendoza, president of the Senate Commission on Human Rights, along with Emilio Camacho from the Senate's Constitutional Affairs Commission, briefed the press about the human cost of the unregulated arms trade and the need for strong global controls. See the article on the Paraguay Senate website.
The Latin American news site Tiempos del Mundo ran two stories for the Week of Action. One is an interview with AI Paraguay's president Julio Torales, representing IANSA's Latin American network CLAVE, the other is a feature story about gun violence in Latin America.
St Kitts and Nevis
An opinion piece by Lindsay Grant, Political Leader of The People’s Action Movement, was published in the St Kitts & Nevis Democrat newspaper on 18 June. The article calls for urgent research on the source of guns in St Kitts and Nevis and immediate efforts by the Government to stop gun violence in the country.
United States of America
Hundreds of people marched silently in Chicago on Tuesday night to protest against gun violence. Over a hundred children carried 31 caskets symbolising the 31 Chicago students killed by guns this year. Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Church organised the rally. WWBM 780 covered the rally. Also on Tuesday, the University of California at Davis launched a study on gun sales in that state. The study found there are fewer illegal sales of guns privately and at gun shows in California than in neighbouring states. Authors of the study attribute the lower rate of illegal sales to California's strong gun laws that prohibit undocumented private gun sales.
The research was covered by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Venezuela
40 university students gathered in Caracas for a People's Consultation on an ATT. Amnesty International Venezuela ran the workshop and plans to conduct more consultations in high schools. In Barquisimeto, 300 km west of Caracas, an AI medical students' group gave a presentation on the global campaign for an ATT. Finally, AI sent a letter to the country's recently appointed Director of Multilateral Affairs encouraging the Government to support the move towards an ATT. The letter explained the People's Consultation and the WoA, requested a copy of Venezuela's submission to the UN, and asked for a meeting with the Director to discuss Venezuela's position. The Director has already responded positively to the letter.
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