From 26-30 September 2011, the African Union met in Togo to discuss small arms control through the African Union Strategy on the Control of Illicit Proliferation, Circulation and Trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons and to develop an African Common Position on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). IANSA women formed part of the IANSA team of 13 members from Burkina Faso, Chad, DR Congo, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Togo, Uganda and Zambia. They advocated for the inclusion of gender perspectives and the connection to gender based violence against women with measures on small arms control.
Advocacy and Campaigns
Members of the IANSA Women’s Network work are actively engaged in disarmament initiatives; ending gun violence in the home; awareness-raising about the problems of small arms availability and misuse; monitoring and evaluation of weapons disposal programmes, and in formulating long-term strategies to combat the global gun crisis.
In October 2011, the IANSA Women’s Network provided input into and endorsed the WILPF-US White Paper on the development of a US National Action Plan (NAP) on UN Security Council Resolution (SCR) 1325.
We are pleased to share the final report from the seminar “Why Controlling Small Arms Matters to Women” held on 25 October 2011 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York during the First Committee of the UN General Assembly: Disarmament and International Security.
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence 2011 was a great success.
From 21-24 November 2011, the IANSA Women’s Network conducted a Women Only Training Institute on women, gender and Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (PNG).
Papua New Guinea: Participants at the Women Only Training Institute, 2011
From 27-30 September 2011, the IANSA Women's Network and SweFOR, in collaboration with the UN Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), held a regional Women only Training Institute on women, gender and small arms in Lima, Peru.
From 9-11 June 2011, IANSA women met with other feminist activists, academics and experts from around the world at the Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) at Rutgers University to discuss the nexus between militarism and violence against women.
From 31 July to 3 August 2011, women campaigners from all over the world gathered at the International Congress of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). With support from WILPF Sweden Sarah Masters accepted the invitation to speak on behalf of the IANSA Women’s Network to highlight the issue of small arms control and violence against women, and the link with UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.
On 18 July 2011, the IANSA Women’s Network joined with other organisations to submit a written statement to the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on the occasion of the General Discussion on Women in Conflict and Post-conflict Situations held at the UN in New York.
The activism and persistence of IANSA Women in the Arms Trade Treaty process has achieved some concrete results. IANSA Women were active lobbyists and tirelessly pursued delegates at the 3rd Arms Trade Treaty Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) held between 11-15 July 2011 at the UN.