20 dec LAUNCHING NOW- CAMPAIGN #WORDS OVER BULLETS IS LIVE
Today marks the relaunch of our social media campaign #WordsOverBullets. We warmly welcome you to take part in the campaign by interacting with us on Facebook @PFSALW and Twitter @ParlforumSalw!
Every day, over 600 men, women and children are killed in the world by armed violence caused by Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), according to the Small Arms Survey.
The campaign aims to raise global awareness on the importance of parliamentary action to prevent and reduce SALW-related violence for sustainable development and peace. With the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more crucial than ever that parliamentarians take action for more peaceful and sustainably developed societies to build back better.
The campaign will include photos and messages from parliamentarians and other relevant stakeholders related to the prevention of SALW-related violence.
About the Forum
As established in the Strategic Plan 2019-2022, the Theory of Change of the Forum is to contribute to the achievement of more peaceful and sustainably developed societies by enhancing parliamentary action in the implementation and universalisation of international frameworks relevant to the prevention and reduction of SALW-related violence through capacity building, policy shaping and awareness raising.
The Forum is the only membership-based organisation gathering parliamentarians globally across party-political lines, specifically related to the reduction and prevention of SALW-related violence.
The uncontrolled proliferation and misuse of SALW have widespread human, economic and social costs; it hinders sustainable development and threatens human security. Furthermore, it threatens democracy and good governance, facilitates violations of human rights, and contributes to the persistence of armed conflicts in all parts of the world. This was acknowledged internationally by the inclusion of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 in the 2030 Agenda, target 16.4, which recognises the reduction of illicit arms flows as vital for sustainable development and peace.
Methodologically the Forum’s work rests on three main pillars: capacity building, policy shaping and awareness raising. The work is continuously connected to relevant national, regional, and international frameworks and processes. The points of departure of the work of the Forum are the three key roles of parliamentarians: the legislative, the oversight and the awareness-raising functions. The Forum pursues a multi-stakeholder approach working together with parliamentarians, governments, international organisations, and civil society organisations.
Definition of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW)*
*Based on the 1997 UN Panel of Governmental Expert (available on www.un.org) that considers portability a defining characteristic.
SALW includes civilian, private, and military weapons that fire a projectile with the condition that the unit or system may be carried by an individual, a small number of people, or transported by a pack animal or a light vehicle.
- Small arms: revolvers and self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, assault rifles, sub-machine guns and light machine guns.
- Light weapons: heavy machine guns, hand-held under-barrel and mounted grenade launchers, portable anti-aircraft guns, portable anti-tank guns, recoilless rifles, portable launchers of anti-tank missile and rocket systems; portable launchers of anti-aircraft missile systems (MANPADS) and mortars of calibres of less than 100 mm.
Campaign sources:
Parliamentary Forum, 2020, ”Policy Statement on the Role of Parliamentarians for the Achievement of the 2030 Agenda, Goal 16.4 in a Changing World affected by COVID-19,” https://bit.ly/32LVXBn
Parliamentary Forum, 2016, ”Policy Statement on Women, Peace and Security,” https://bit.ly/2H2rcfy
Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), Parliamentary Forum on Small Arms and Light Weapons (PFSALW), World Future Council (WFC), and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), 2020, ”Assuring our Common Future,” https://disarmamenthandbook.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/disarmament-handbook-2020_v07.pdf
Small Arms Survey, 2020, ”Global violent deaths in 2018” http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/W-Infographics/SAS-GVD-March-2020-update.pdf
The United Nations Development Programme South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (UNDP SEESAC), 2020, ”The hidden pandemic: Firearms and intimate partner violence killing women,” https://www.eurasia.undp.org/content/rbec/en/home/blog/2020/hidden-pandemic-firearms-killing-women.html
The United Nations, 2020, ”The Sustainable Developments Goals Report,” The-Sustainable-Development-Goals-Report-2020.pdf (un.org)
The UN Women, 2015, ”Preventing Conflict Transforming Justice Securing the Peace: A Global Study on the Implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325,” https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/UNW-GLOBAL-STUDY-1325-2015.pdf
The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), 2018, ”Securing our Common Future: An Agenda for Disarmament,”https://www.un.org/disarmament/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/sg-disarmament-agenda-pubs-page.pdf
