IANSA Update 12 June 2009

Global Week of Action begins on Monday
Libya: Concerns over arm sales
Angola: Over 55,000 guns destroyed
Peru: Children recruited by armed group
Argentina: Conference on Citizen Security
Other news: Checklist on Women, Peace and Security; Article on human rights and ATT; Caribbean workshop on armed violence; AFIA-FEV website; Jobs at Amnesty International and Swisspeace.

Global Week of Action begins on Monday
From 15-21 June activists in more than 80 countries will use the Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence to raise awareness, campaign for better gun laws and push for stronger regulation of the global arms trade. The Disarming Domestic Violence campaign will be launched in 18 countries, with members of the IANSA Women's Network demanding policies to keep women safe from gun violence. Another theme will be the mobilisation of civil society calling for their governments to support a strong Arms Trade Treaty in the discussions at the United Nations in July. Read more here.

Libya: Concerns over arm sales
The Walloon Region (Belgium) has approved a licence worth 11 million Euros to export weapons to Libya. The research institute GRIP has expressed concern over arms being sent to Libya because of government repression against illegal immigrants and opposition figures, and suspicions about weapons being diverted to conflict regions. Italy is currently investigating an illegal arms deal which may involve high ranking Libyan military officers. Read more here.

Angola: Over 55,000 guns destroyed
Over 55,000 guns were collected in Angola last year as a result of a programme by the National Disarmament Commission. The government has also announced that the firearms legislation will soon be updated. IANSA member Cirilo Mbonge from Angola 2000 said: "It is urgent to change the outdated 1967 legislation. We hope the government will include civil society in the discussions about the new law as it has done previously in other peace building processes." Read more here.

Peru: Children recruited by armed group
Peruvian children from the Vrae Amazonian region are being recruited as soldiers or slave labourers by the armed group Sendero Luminoso. The National Humans Right Coordination and Save the Children Peru are asking the government and the international community to protect the children in this region which was heavily affected by armed conflict in the 80s and 90s. Read more here.

Argentina: Conference on Citizen Security
Parliamentarians and civil society groups from Africa, Europe and Latin America attended the Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Citizen Security held last month in Buenos Aires (Argentina). Manuel de Araujo, MP from Mozambique and Vice President of the Parliamentary Forum, said parliamentarians are increasingly aware of the need to regulate private security.Read more here.

Other news

• The Global Monitoring Checklist on Women, Peace and Security was launched last week in London. The Checklist provides updated information on women, peace and security issues in Afghanistan, DR Congo, Nepal, Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka. It also monitors the progress and gaps in the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in these five countries. Read more here.
• IANSA member Clare da Silva has published an article in the latest Disarmament Forum, a UNIDIR magazine, about the need to include a human rights standard in the Arms Trade Treaty. Read more here.
• From 3-5 June, IANSA members from the Caribbean region attended a workshop in Barbados organised by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. The workshop's aim was to promote the Firearms Protocol of the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime. NGO representatives made presentations on crime, violence and development in the region.
• IANSA Women's Network member AFIA-FEV has launched its website. This association of women nurses works with children and women in Bukavu (Read more here.DR Congo) affected by sexual violence or HIV/AIDS.
  
• Amnesty International is seeking a Campaign Coordinator for its Military Security Police section, and Swisspeace is recruiting a Research Associate on the role of the private sector in peace processes. IANSA Job Board.

Please send your stories on developments in small arms from around the world to adriana.medina@iansa.org

Join the IANSA Women's Network: email women@iansa.org

Join the Million Faces petition in support of a global Arms Trade Treaty