Why Women? Effective engagement for small arms control

On Tuesday 25 October 2011, IANSA together with the Parliamentary Forum on Small Arms and Light Weapons, and the Regional Disarmament Branch, UN Office for Disarmament Affairs participated in the seminar, “Why controlling small arms matters to women.”

The panel of speakers included: Mr Peter Weiderud, the Secretary-General of The Parliamentary Forum on Small Arms and Light Weapons; The Honourable Ms Daisy Tourné, Member of Parliament in Uruguay and former Minister of the Interior (2007-2010); and Ms Agnès Marcaillou, Chief of the Regional Disarmament Branch, UN Office for Disarmament Affairs. The event was chaired by Sarah Masters, IANSA Women's Network Coordinator.

The speakers shared their expertise in different aspects of the small arms issue and experience of promoting women's rights in very different contexts. This ranged from the role of parliaments in supporting and engaging women leaders; the potential for the Arms Trade Treaty to help prevent violence against women; and highlighting the gender dimension in the small arms issue, to strengthen women's participation in policy making, and to promote policies that will meet the needs and concerns of women.

We are also delighted to announce that we launched our latest publication at the event which includes a preface by Ms Agnès Marcaillou of UNODA.

Given the ongoing questions and challenges to women's participation in peace and security, this publication aims to show why it is important to include women in small arms control and disarmament initiatives by consolidating information and opinions from experts on gender and security issues.


It is based on interviews with 17 practitioners from around the world as well as a review of relevant materials and documents. The publication includes sections on: Recognising existing engagement and leadership; Taking into account the various roles promoting gun violence/undermining peace and security; Better understanding the problem; Making programmes more effective; Democratising peace and security; Challenges; and Areas for action.

Read the report here.