Women Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda & Role of Women in Small Arms Light Weapons Control (SALW)

October 15, 2021

Maria Suokko, UNDP Resident Representative

Women Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda & Role of Women in Small Arms Light Weapons Control (SALW)

Thursday, 26 November 2020

13:00 – 15:15 (CET)

 

H.E.  Pia Stjernvall, Ambassador, Finnish Embassy in Kosovo

Clare Hutchinson, NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security

H.E.  Atifete Jahjaga, Former President of Kosovo, Founder of Jahjaga Foundation

Daniel de Torres. Director, Small Arms Survey

Ariana Qosaj Mustafa, Chair of Board of Directors, Kosovo Women’s Network

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me express my gratitude for your support in our journey and commitment to increasing seizure and destroying confiscated firearms thus contributing to a safer society in Kosovo, and achievement of SDGs 16 and 5.     

Promoting peaceful, just and inclusive societies is at the core of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development - the world’s most ambitious plan to eradicate poverty while reducing inequality and protecting the planet.  In fact, one of the specific goals of this plan is to significantly reduce illicit arms flows by 2030. In addition, the United Nations Secretary-General has introduced a new plan for tackling the dangers posed by weapons in the latest Disarmament Agenda.

Following these plans, we have also witnessed an impressive commitment made by South East Europe jurisdictions to address illicit trafficking, illegal possession and misuse of firearms.

On average, every 15 minutes, the use of a firearm results in a violent death around the world. The widespread availability of small arms and light weapons and their ammunition is a key enabler of armed violence and conflict. High levels of arms and ammunition in circulation contribute to insecurity, cause harm to civilians, facilitate human rights violations and impede humanitarian access. Armed violence committed with small arms tears apart communities, burdens the affordable provision of healthcare and inhibits economic investment. They are used to challenge local authority, including police activities and electoral processes. And they are a leading type of weapon implicated in acts of gender-based and sexual violence.

The South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SEESAC), which is mandated under the UNDP has produced Gender and Small Arms Fast Facts series in 2019, which shed light on the highly gendered nature of small arms and outline the specific risks that women and men in Kosovo face with respect to firearm use and misuse.

o   It was found that 99.9% of all firearms are owned by men while women own only 0.1%

o   Men account for an overwhelming majority of personnel authorised to carry firearms across the security sector

o   Men account for 92.1% for the victims of firearm-related homicide while women make up 7.9%

o   77.8% of persons killed by a family member were killed with firearms

o   The misuse of firearms in domestic violence is more lethal than in any other type of incident

o   88.9% of women and 18.9% of men killed with firearms were killed in their homes, apartments or yards

o   The correlation between gender and firearms indicates that there needs to be a gender responsive approach to address the gap.

There are significant gaps between men and women in the Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) control. Men are the overwhelming majority of those who possess firearms, who use and, often, misuse them. They account for the majority of both perpetrators and victims of firearm related incidents. Women seldom own a gun, hardly ever use it and, unlike men, they are much more often victims than perpetrators. This is particularly staggering in the context of domestic violence. Most of the gun violence against women is committed by current or former partners and the presence of a firearm dramatically increases the likelihood of the lethal outcome. Consequently, women are more likely to see the presence of firearms as a threat to their own and their families’ security.

According to the same report by SEESAC, the gender perspective is not sufficiently identified and consequently not adequately dealt with in legislative and policy frameworks regulating SALW control in South East Europe. Policies are mostly gender blind and therefore most SALW Control measures do not take into consideration the different security needs and concerns of women, men, girls and boys. This hinders the success of measures undertaken to ensure the security of all citizens.

In a similar vein, women are made almost invisible in the security sector as the security forces have traditionally been considered as men’s realm, thus being dominated by men.

UNDP has been providing support to Kosovo authorities in the last ten years to reduce illegal weapons that have resulted in improved public safety. We have supported efforts to systematically destroy seized small arms and light weapons and stand ready to support them in the future as well. From 2013 to 2017, nearly 10,000 illegal weapons have been destroyed, which means that they have been removed from the illegal and criminal market and will be never used again!

In today’s event, we will have the opportunity to exchange best practices in tackling the barriers to women’s full participation in security sector institutions and effective gender responsive SALW control.

Through our brilliant experts today, we will aim to discuss:

o   What kind of unique roles can women play in conflict prevention and resolution?

o   What systematic and structural changes can gender responsive and gender sensitive approach to SALW bring about?

o   What would be the ways in which traditional gender role can be deconstructed and the security sector paves the way for women to be fully participating at all levels?