|
|
| |
| Balkan Youth Union leads campaign against celebratory shooting |
 |
|
Recent SALW Survey findings suggest that the Christmas and New Year holiday period is a time when the celebratory shooting of firearms occurs within the Republic of Serbia. While no specific data is available on the exact numbers of casualties and injuries resulting from the indiscriminate firing of weapons, it is reasonable to assume that there is significant potential risk to members of the public of being injured or killed as a result of falling rounds. The results of the survey also indicate that the number of firearms and firearm owners are significantly higher in urban and semi-urban areas, such as Belgrade.
The survey's research found there is something in the order of 3,153,914 firearms in Serbia, of which an estimated 2,403,300 are in private hands and 750,614 in the hands of state authorities. However, this is almost certainly an under-estimation as it does not include numbers held in industrial stockpiles, or the holdings of some hard-to-access state authorities, such as the intelligence services.
As part of the UNDP SACISCG Project, the Balkan Youth Group has organized a small-scale stand-alone SALW Awareness Raising campaign, Celebrate Without Weapons. This campaign will be linked to other key SALW events planned for January 2005. |
|
|
Celebrate without Weapons is a campaign designed to:
- Inform the public about some of the key findings resulting from the SALW Survey of the Republic of Serbia;
- Raise public awareness regarding the large numbers of legal and illegal firearms present throughout Serbia;
- Mobilise public support to advocate for the implementation of measures to effectively reduce the number of illegal firearms through the amnesty and legalization initiatives;
- Educate Belgrade firearm owners about the potential risks to the general public, friends and family posed by celebratory shooting;
- Promote safe storage of firearms and ammunition during the festive season.
The target beneficiaries are:
- Citizens of Belgrade, specifically men aged between 25-45 years old;
- Owners of firearms;
- Government of the Republic of Serbia;
- NGO's from the Republic of Serbia engaged in SALW issues.
The campaign will include:
- The design and distribution of 520,000 leaflets to the public over a five-day period leading up to Christmas Day and New Years Eve;
- Information stands and the public signing of a petition advocating the implementation of measures to effectively reduce the number of illegal firearms through the amnesty and legalization initiatives.
- The design and display of nine billboards for a one-month period between 20 December 2004 and 20 January 2005. These are to be positioned in locations throughout Belgrade on major highways to and from the city;
- A campaign evaluation by follow-up telephone poll to gauge the reactions of the public.
|
|
|
|
|
