The Parliamentary Forum on Small Arms and Light Weapons is the only international organisation for members of parliaments specifically related to the issue of reduction and prevention of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) related violence. In the late 1990’s the foundation of the Forum was laid in an initiative taken by parliamentarians from Central America, Sweden and Spain. With the support from the Swedish Fellowship of Reconciliation, the aim was to strengthen parliamentarians in their work related to armed violence prevention and reduction. Since the formal inauguration of the Forum in Madrid in 2002, the organisation has provided a much-needed platform for parliamentarians to meet, exchange knowledge and best practices, build parliamentary capacity, propose policies and create common ground to tackle the uncontrolled proliferation of SALW.
The Forum gathers more than 230 members across party-political lines from parliaments in over 80 countries globally. During the years, the Forum has supported parliamentarians from different political backgrounds and facing challenging realities, with policy tools and the political relevance of a network that supports efforts to tackle illicit SALW flows. The overall objective of the Forum is to contribute to the achievement of more peaceful and developed societies by parliamentary action against armed violence to increase human security.
The work of the Forum rests on a threefold and mutually reinforcing methodology of policy shaping, capacity building and awareness raising. The methodology is the point of departure in the Forum’s work to support parliamentarians in their three key roles; the legislative, over-sight and awareness raising functions.
