23 jan Statement – closure of operations of the Parliamentary Forum on Small Arms & Light Weapons (PFSALW)
January 23, 2025
On behalf of the Board and the Secretariat of the Parliamentary Forum on Small Arms and Light Weapons (PFSALW), we regret to announce that the organisation will close down operations within short due to lack of funding.
During 22 years, since its foundation in the Spanish Congress in 2002, the PFSALW has pursued determined work as the only membership-based organisation gathering parliamentarians globally across party-political lines, specifically related to the reduction and prevention of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW)-related violence. Based on the overall vision to contribute to the achievement of more peaceful and sustainably developed societies, we note with pride that the organisation has reached solid results on strengthening parliamentary capacity and actions by the threefold mutually reinforcing methodology of capacity-development, policy-shaping and awareness-raising.
The PFSALW received vital financial support in recent years from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Sweden, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Canada and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) Trust Facility Supporting Cooperation on Arms Regulation (UNSCAR), and others. However, due to changing priorities and reduced international funding on the topic, the financial preconditions for continued operations are lacking. Hence, the Board of the PFSALW recently made the decision to close down operations.
We would like to convey sincere gratitude to the members, co-founders and staff of the organisation for important efforts during the years, as well as to partners globally and donors for much-appreciated collaboration. Given the global context characterised by conflict and democracy back-lash; determined parliamentary action is more relevant than ever to reduce the uncontrolled flows of SALW for sustainable development and peace. We trust both members and other stakeholders will stay committed, and we welcome integrating PFSALW’s accumulated knowledge and results in continued work, including consultation and usage of the vast array of digital resources and publications, which are still available for a brief period at PFSALW’s web-page: https://parliamentaryforum.org/
Read the full statement from the Board and the Secretariat here:
→ In English
→ In French
→ In Spanish