Making the Links Arms Availability and Poverty Reduction Panel

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Making the LinksArms Availability and Poverty
Reduction Panel

• David Atwood
• Quaker UN Office
• Brussels
• 18 March 2008

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Outline

• Introductory remarks
• The relationships the effects of arms and armed
  violence on development
• The relationships the effects of development
  programming on levels of armed violence what a
  demand orientation reveals
• Towards a comprehensive approach the logic and
  opportunity of the Geneva Declaration on Armed
  Violence and Development
• Advancing this agenda some dilemmas and
  questions for discussion

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Introduction

• Background to QUNO involvement
• Research is key the challenge of making it
  relevant in the policy environment
• Not an attempt to review research or present new
  research
• A orientation on the links between armed violence
  and development--and some dilemmas in pursuing it

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The relationships the effects of arms and armed
violence on development

• What we know is now extensive
• Examples of key research and overall
  orientations
• Small Arms Survey 2003 Development Denied
• Reports of the Armed Violence and Poverty
  Initiative, University of Bradford, 2005.
• Control Arms Campaign Guns or Growth, 2004
  Africas Missing Billions International Arms
  Flows and the Cost of Conflict, 2007.
• And much, much more

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Ways armed violence impacts on poverty

• Examples from the AVPI studies
• Direct casualties and poverty implications
• Displacement
• Macro-economic costs
• Reduced social expenditure and service delivery,
  and increased social needs
• Disruption of trade
• Loss and depletion of livelihoods
• Weakening social capital
• Emergence of exploitative alternative political
  economies
• Disruption of development and humanitarian aid

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The relationships the effects of development
programming on levels of armed violence

• The logic of the evidence on impacts of armed
  violence on poverty and prospects for development
  suggests policy approaches which aim to reduce
  arms availability and proliferation.
• Equally, there is a need to understand how
  development initiatives can have a positive
  impact on limiting armed violence. How has a
  demand orientation contributed to our
  understanding?

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Whats demand got to do with it?

• Investigation has drawn attention to factors
  driving community members to address their
  perceived insecurity by the acquisition or use of
  weapons.
• The conceptualization of demand for small arms
  has drawn attention to the interaction of
  motivations and means as being factors in
  shaping demand. Demand as a individual or
  collective motives and individual or collective
  means. (Muggah and Brauer)

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Whats demand got to do with it?

• Therefore, development programming offers a
  community many opportunities to lessen the demand
  for guns by influencing the motivations
  (attitudes) of potential gun owners and users and
  by adding to the availability of alternative,
  nonviolent means (resources for security.
• Theory development useful to our understanding,
  but evidence of demand-related programming in
  every region of the world, in post-war and
  peacetime situations.

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Whats demand got to do with it?

• Relevant activities include
• Post-war transition programming DDR and beyond
• Participatory community development, addressing
  opportunity disparities and youth employment and
  training
• Governance reform access, participation,
  policing, judicial reform
• Psycho-social change gender traditional
  structures
• Conflict prevention and resolution, including
  training and capacity building.

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Limits and Challenges of demand orientation

• Provides a conceptual agenda for guiding
  practical interventions and action research and
  reiterates need for multi-disciplinary
  approaches. But
• Trap of the supply/demand language
• Does it try to do too much? Should it only apply
  to actual factors affecting weapons acquisition?
• The term is a bit contaminated in multi-lateral
  setting of the Programme of Action

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Limits and Challenges of demand orientation

• An expert seminar organized by QUNO in January
  2007 took on all these issues and suggested a
  range of new agenda orientations towards a
  comprehensive approach to small arms control
  (see key findings report). Some research needs
  identified included
• How to understand more thoroughly why some do not
  choose to take up the gun?
• How to correlate research on state fragility with
  small arms demand indicators?
• In relationship to small arms demand in
  post-conflict settings, what are the minimum
  capabilities needed for state-building?

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Towards a comprehensive approach Integrating
small arms measures into development programmes

• Title of International Workshop, Oslo, 2006
• Many examples given of where such integration is
  taking place and also of the limits so far.
  Workshop noted that The critical link between
  small arms violence and development has been
  widely acknowledged, but integrated strategies on
  armed violence and poverty reduction have yet to
  be designed.
• There were many recommendations made, some of
  which seem to be taking place, if in a haphazard
  and uncoordinated way.

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Towards a comprehensive approach Integrating
small arms measures into development programmes

• The Oslo workshop challenge
• A common strategy states and civil society on
  armed violence and poverty reduction should be
  devised and widely mainstreamed, notably by
  national development agencies and international
  financial institutions.

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Towards a Comprehensive Approach the logic and
opportunity of the Geneva Declaration on Armed
Violence and Development

• Background
• Limited attention to human security and
  development orientations in the actions around
  the Programme of Action
• Attention to development in historic GA
  Resolution 60/68 (2005)
• Wish to influence development of a more holistic
  action plan emerging from 2006 Review Conference
• Failure of RC has fostered creativity for this
  more holistic action. Geneva Declaration an
  important tool.

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Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and
Development
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The need
The link between armed violence
prevention/reduction and development is not yet
recognized as a global priority. For instance,
the Millennium Development Goals do not contain
any security for development goals.We need to
raise awareness through campaigns and projects.
The Geneva Declaration on Armed violence and
Development is a first step in this direction.
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What is the Geneva Declaration?

• A global initiative launched by Switzerland and
  UNDP
• At a diplomatic / political level
• It started with a Ministerial Summit on armed
  violence and development which took place in
  Geneva on 7 June 2006

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Outcome of the Summit

• The Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and
  Development", endorsed by 70 States from all over
  the world.
• - The first challenge remains to bring many
  States to adopt the Geneva Declaration
• - The second and main challenge is now to ensure
  the implementation of the commitments laid down
  in the Geneva Declaration.

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Follow-up of the Geneva Declaration

• Creation of a core group of States willing to
  become the main political/diplomatic driving
  force fostering the implementation of the Geneva
  Declaration.
• The following 13 States are members of the Core
  group Brasil, Canada, Finland, Guatemala,
  Indonesia, Kenya, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway,
  Spain, Switzerland, Thailand and United Kingdom

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Implementation of the Geneva Declaration

• The core group has designed a "Framework for
  implementation" around three main lines of
  action
• Advocacy and dissemination of the Geneva
  Declaration, including in the UN
• Mapping and measurability of armed violence
• Encourage States and institutions to mainstream
  armed violence reduction into their development
  frameworks and support operational activities in
  this respect.

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Overarching goals in the Geneva Declaration

• Achieve, by 2015, measurable reductions in the
  global burden of armed violence and tangible
  improvements in human security worldwide.
• Promote conflict prevention, resolution and
  reconciliation, and support post-conflict
  peace-building and reconstruction.

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Towards security goals for development?

• Those goals and the process launched with the
  Geneva Declaration could be a starting point for
  developing Security for Development goals.

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The Role of Civil Society

• If civil society organizations are to play a full
  role in the pursuit of the Geneva Declaration
  goals, there are some steps which can be
  foreseen
• The identification of relevant civil society
  organizations and networks of organizationsdevelo
  pment, health, conflict management, disarmament,
  youth organizing, etc.and their engagement.
• The promotion of the understanding of the links
  between armed violence and development by civil
  society organizations themselves
• The development of effective communication and
  advocacy strategies for assisting those states
  committing themselves to the goals of the Geneva
  Declaration (and the regional Declarations) in
  the implementation of their commitments and
  broadening the number of states adopting the
  Geneva Declaration and regional declaration.

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Next Steps in Geneva Declaration Process

• Asia/Pacific Regional Meeting in Bangkok, 8 - 9
  May 2008 (following Latin America/Caribbean
  Meeting in Guatemala, April 2007 Africa Regional
  Meeting in Nairobi, October 2007). Possible
  Middle East Meeting end of June 2008
• Summit of signatory states in Geneva, September
  2008.
• Spotlight countries for implementing programmes
  and measuring progress Burundi Guatemala and
  others
• Global Burden of Armed Violence Report (Small
  Arms Survey)
• Towards a possible General Assembly Resolution,
  autumn 2008.
• E-newsletter first issue this month (if you
  want to receive, sign sheet)
• Further information See www.genevadeclaration.or
  g

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Challenges to action on armed violence and
development linkage advocacy and programming

• Although the logic is compelling and there is
  donorengagement (e.g. OECD DAC UNDP DfID),
  there is resistance by development ministries and
  organizations to small arms/development
  programming. Where does this come from? How can
  it be overcome? What approaches are appropriate

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• Thank You
• David Atwood
• datwood_at_quno.ch