The panel focused on the Human Dimensions of Small Arms Control: Reducing Demand. Perspectives on lessening gun violence from the Horn of Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Brazil and the Caribbean. This event focused on the findings from workshops and programs that QUNO and the American Friends Service Committee have hosted in the last four years. The workshops were held in Durban, South Africa (1999), Nairobi, Kenya (2000), Phnom Penh, Cambodia (2001) and Port au Prince, Haiti (2003). Jessica Galeria, Mercosur Regional Coordinator, IANSA, Rio de Janeiro, Kiflemariam Gebrewold, Consultant and former director of the SALIGAD programme in the Horn of Africa, David Jackman, Consultant and formerly with Quaker UN Office and American Friends Service Committee in Amman, Jordan, Folade Mutota, Project Management and Public Affairs Coordinator, Women’s Institute for Alternative Development, Trinidad & Tobago and Serge Bordenava Program Coordinator, American Friends Service Committee, Haiti.

Folade Mutota talked of her experiences working in the Caribbean. She talked about the problem of illicit SALW in the region and its link with the illegal drug trade, gang warfare and organized crime. She attributed the conflict in the region to the various issues such as systemic problems that marginalize certain groups of people along class and race lines, historical and development factors that have led to human insecurity, problem of male on male youth violence and kidnappings, masculinity and how men have been socialized to prove their masculinity, their roles and responsibility among other factors. It was noted that women were affected physically, emotionally and financially as they (women) are partners or parents of small arms violence victims. She recognized the vital role women play in keeping society together as a cohesive bloc. Women in the Caribbean have organized themselves in an organization known as Women’s Institute for Alternative Development to address the issue of how government funds are diverted from pressing issues to other less deserving areas. The group arranges meetings with government officials with the aim of addressing their concerns and getting government responses to them.

Serge Bordenava talked on the issue of illicit SALW in Haiti. He acknowledged that the issue was complex tracing its roots to historical antecedents. Dictatorial regimes in Haiti aggravated the problem. The country’s leaders as in the case of former president Duvalier armed militia loyalists. Similar gestures have been made by other regimes. While this has been gone on over the years, no attempts have been made to disarm such groups.
Haiti location and existence of several ports on the highland have made it an ideal point of transit for seafarers some of who participate in illicit SALW and drug trade. The demand for SALW has also been fueled by the socioeconomic conditions in the country which faces high unemployment rates coupled with low wages.

Jessica Galeria focused her presentation on her experiences at Viva Rio, a Brazilian NGO known for its public mobilization and the media to low-income communities to overcome violence and social exclusion throughout Rio de Janeiro. Jessica’s take on the issue was that “supply is global whereas the demand is local”. She noted that demand for SALW varied from region of the world to another and even within a region like Rio. Viva Rio focuses its efforts towards demystifying issue of SALW by trying to undo the myths that have been propagated by the media and the gun industry that glorify guns. Their campaigns focus on how people can think about guns and what they can do about them.
Brazil is the largest producer of guns in South America. Guns account for over 40,000 deaths annually in Brazil and most of the gun violence is concentrated in cities. Viva Rio was formed in 1993 after violent acts that involved the violent murder of eight children in front of the church and police raids in a shanty area that left twenty one people dead.
Viva Rio has recently taken a new approach, of public health and SALW .Violence is a disease that is spread by the a vector the gun, therefore there is an urgent need to address this public health problem. Reducing guns in society is a way of reducing violence in society and Viva Rio has taken a multifaceted approach to this issue. Some of the approaches are:
· Women’s campaign for disarmament; women are active agents of social change and this factor coupled with the fact the soap operas are an appealing channel to approach the public in Brazil. This channel provides a perfect opportunity to reach out to men in the community.
· Another facet of the campaign is working with the police who are an integral part of the security apparatus in the community but whom private citizens’ consider them corrupt and inefficient. By working with the police to foster proper relations with the public as well as providing appropriate training and support helps to change the attitude of the public towards and eventually improve their image.
· Projects to develop community policing helps to change the public’s perception about the about them. By prevention of violence in communities and having a 24 hour presence rather than having occasional police sting raids in certain Rio communities which helps improve the relationship between the police and inhabitants of the communities that they serve.
· Public gun distraction activities that are coordinated with the government authorities

Viva Rio cooperates with relevant government agencies on all the above issues.
Kiflemariam Gebrewold’s presentation focused on his work in the Horn of Africa in his capacity as director of SALIGAD which stands for small arms and light weapons in the IGAD (Inter-Governmental Authority for Development) countries of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda.
Kiflemariam gave some grim statistics of the situation in the Horn of Africa. There are over 300,000 illicit guns owned by civilians in Somalia. Every second household in North Eastern Kenya owns a gun. Sixty percent of the patients in field hospitals in North Eastern Kenya have gun shot wounds. It is against this background that SALIGAD has developed a joint project to aimed at addressing this issue of proliferation of small arms in the Horn of Africa. SALIGAD focuses it activities on:
· Applied field research and data collection. This research helps to in understanding the situation better through conflicts maps that show how conflicts are arising, who is supplying weapons, establishing trends etc.
· Use case study approach in their work
· Facilitate dialogue among government, NGOs and grassroots initiatives.
· Raise awareness amongst practitioners and policymakers on how to reduce small arms availability
· Develop conflict maps
· Encourage mainstreaming of SALW in development cooperation

SALIGAD has approached the issue at two levels micro and macro. At the macro level some of the issues that are looked at include:
· Border controls (lack of ) existence of porous borders
· Human security- definition of human security may vary especially when dealing with a pastoralist communities like those found in the Horn of Africa.
· Stockpiles-ensure that proper records are kept and well maintained
· Poverty/disparity in the affected communities
· Youth and violence
· Politics of exclusion whereby marginalized groups take up arms to fight for their rights
· Human rights violations by government officials

At the Micro level some of the issues that they look at include:
· Cattle rustling- this was initially done on reciprocal basis, taking from those have and giving to those who do not (wealth redistribution)
· Vendetta/warrior culture
· Bride price-ethnic groups raid their neighbors to steal cattle that they use to pay as bride price. Small arms have become a weapon of choice during such raids.
· Gun leasing- corrupt police officers leasing their arms to civilians
· Selective arming of groups
· Movement of refugees

Lessons Learned
· The transition of arms from licit to illicit: most arms were delivered legally to IGAD countries but have subsequently landed in the arms individuals loyal to despots
· Arms in circulation versus fresh supply: movement of arms from one conflict region to another
· Civilian possession: groups that have been armed for centuries are reluctant to give up their arms
· Ammunition: Supply and control of ammunition can very effective
· Human security: What is perceived versus reality
· Exclusion of women and children from the peace process

David Jackman spoke of his experiences working in the Middle East where he noted that the governments in the region have not been very cooperative on this issue of small arms. The Middle East is a region that presents a unique set of challenges such as cultural practices that fuel the demand for small arms for example honor killings, family identity issues, etc.
In traditional societies where guns are a symbol and tool of male identity, how can the possession and use of guns be controlled effectively so as to minimize accidents, injuries, fatalities and the feuds that result from gun use. Only a few states allow a high level of activity by NGOs generally. There is little public initiative to take up small arms issues and few independent sources of public information or research due to the low level of public information on the issue, it is hard to know how much is happening.