| Although the UN Programme of Action (PoA) contains very few references to gender, the 2005 Biennial Meeting of States (BMS), which was held at the UN Headquarters in New York from 11-15 July to gauge states’ implementation of the PoA, offered several opportunities for government delegations and civil society to explore the link between gender and small arms.
Most government statements, like the PoA, were silent on the issue of gender. Canada was the only state to submit a formal statement on gender in the context of the thematic debate on “children, women, the elderly and people with disabilities” (it can be downloaded here). The discussion around this regrettably broad theme presented the only opportunity to bring gender into the official proceedings, and the questions for discussion covered only the development, implementation, and effectiveness of programmes for these four groups of people.
However, the Chair of the Meeting, Ambassador Patokallio from Finland, made an excellent effort to include new issues in the debate, and this was the first meeting at which space was opened for a discussion on demobilisation, disarmament and reintegration (DDR) processes. In a specific reference to Security Council Resolution 1325, which requires states to make special efforts to protect the human rights of women and girls in conflict-related situations and to incorporate a gender perspective in all activities related to peace-building and maintenance, the Ambassador invited member states to comment on the different experiences and needs of women and men from DDR processes. This provided an opportunity for the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) to highlight the gendered impacts of DDR and to remind member states of the mandate given in SCR1325 to include women in all aspects of peacebuilding, including disarmament. In his concluding remarks, Ambassador Patokallio reiterated to the plenary that DDR programmes “certainly work better when women are involved as equals in decision-making and in receiving the benefits.(1)
Characteristically, it was the NGO Presentation and the side events that provided a wealth of information and diverse perspectives on a range of topics related to gender and small arms. These events demonstrate that despite its absence from the PoA, gender is a subject in which both governments and civil society are engaged. In the coming months, IANSA members have a real opportunity to influence the content of the formal proceedings of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) in January and the Review Conference (RevCon) in June, ensuring that gender issues are finally addressed. In addition to lobbying their governments on the inclusion of gender issues in the UN process on small arms, IANSA members can submit information to governments and offer to draft the text of national reports. Of the 30 IANSA members on government delegations at the 2005 BMS, only 8 were women; IANSA members can thus also start lobbying their governments to include more female members of civil society on their official delegations.
NGO Presentation, 13 July
IANSA gave a presentation on the floor of the plenary which illustrated a wide range of interests and concerns from across the network, including gender. Folade Mutota from the Women’s Institute for Alternative Development in Trinidad & Tobago spoke specifically about the link between gender and small arms. She discussed the importance of acknowledging that men are the main victims and users of guns and that women are not simply victims of gun violence and cited the following recommendations from the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue’s new publication Missing Pieces (see New resources below). States should:
· Fully meet existing international norms relating to gender and gun violence.
· Direct attention to young men as a group particularly vulnerable to gun violence.
· Train law enforcement officials to understand better the small arms issues related to the prevention of gender-based violence.
· Restrict the acquisition of guns and ammunition by those who commit intimate partner or family violence.
· Include the perspectives of men and women in the development of policies to prevent gun violence.
· DDR programmers and planners should give particular attention to Article 13 of Security Council Resolution 1325.
The full text of the NGO Presentation is available on IANSA’s website www.iansa.org.
Side events
There were three side events during the lunchtime recess that were explicitly devoted to gender, which is a record! All were exceptionally well attended, demonstrating that there is a strong interest in gender and small arms despite its absence from the PoA.
Meeting of Group of Interested States in Practical Disarmament Measures (GIS), 12 July
At this government meeting, Nicola Johnston from International Alert (IA) recommended that in order to integrate gender into the PoA effectively, states must:
· Ensure that gender analysis is an integral part of all small arms intervention planning, implementation and monitoring.
· Designate national points of contact for the UN PoA and form broad inter-ministerial commissions, incorporating representative civil society organisations.
· Identify, support and build on the disarmament and peacebuilding related activities of civil society groups, with particular attention to women’s groups.
· Improve collaboration and sharing of information between mechanisms addressing illicit trafficking of small arms, drugs and persons.
· Develop public awareness initiatives that dispel stereotyping that associates ‘manliness’ with guns and violence and recognises the active role of women in disarmament.
IA has been asked by UNDDA to draft a gender guidelines document on gender and small arms.
Control Arms – Women under Fire, 13 July
The theme of this panel discussion was “women’s involvement in gun control makes a difference.” Six women from all corners of the globe spoke of their experience of armed violence and the action they are taking to reduce it. The event was chaired by Wendy Cukier (Coalition for Gun Control, Canada) and speakers included Christiane Agboton-Johnson (MALAO, Senegal), Leymah Gbowee (Women in Peacebuilding Network, Liberia) Carmen Rosa de León (Instituto de Enseñanza para el Desarrollo Sostenible, Guatemala), Ema Tagicakibau (Pacific Concerns Resource Centre, Fiji) and Karin Wilson (Million Mom March, USA). Each speaker concluded with a recommendation for states. Some of the notable recommendations given were:
· It is vital that data on deaths and injuries from firearms is disaggregated by gender. State and civil society actors should share information and methodologies.
· Efforts must be made to ensure women are well represented on National Commissions. At least 30% (and ideally half) of members should be women.
· Governments and civil society should ensure that women are well informed of their legal rights.
· Governments should utilise the talents and skills of their women in policy formulation and implementation, at the community to national level. Women have local knowledge!
· The regulation of small arms in the hands of civilians is critical for given the safety and security consequences for both men and women.
· The link between demand for small arms and gender must be further explored; notions of masculinity are caught up with gun ownership in many cultures.
The event was organised by the Control Arms partners (Amnesty International, IANSA, and Oxfam International) with the IANSA Women’s Network and Amnesty’s Stop Violence Against Women campaign.
UNIFEM / Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue – Men, Women and Armed Violence, 14 July
This event explored the ways in which men, women, boys and girls engage in, are affected by, and respond to gun violence in different ways, emphasising that gender analysis is both a tool for greater understanding of the impacts of gun violence and creating well-informed policy. Chaired by Joanne Sandler of UNIFEM and Cate Buchanan (Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue), speakers included Michael Kimmel (Professor of Sociology at State University of New York), Jessica Galeria (Viva Rio), Vanessa Farr (UN Institute for Disarmament Research) and the Director of IANSA, Rebecca Peters. Topics discussed included men’s use and vulnerability to gun violence, the roles and reactions of women and girls in the context of armed violence in Rio de Janeiro, as well as the implications for disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration programmes (DDR), and national gun laws.
|
