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How-to guide: Developing Gender-responsive National Action Plans on Small Arms

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THE AIM OF THIS GUIDE

At the Fourth Review Conference (RevCon4) of the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons in 2024, member states expressed concern that the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons impedes the achievement of gender equality. This has long been understood by women’s civil society organizations (CSOs), as well as several states that have both experienced and documented the genderdifferentiated impacts of small arms and light weapons and their broader impacts on human rights.
The RevCon4 outcome document calls on states to mainstream a gender perspective in the design and implementation of gender-responsive policies (UNGA, 2024). Since 2017 the Small Arms Survey has supported several countries and territories in the development or evaluation of national action plans (NAPs) on small arms control.1 Based on the good practices and lessons it has identified in its work, the Survey has developed this guide as a tool that can be used to make national small arms policies and practices, specifically small arms NAPs, more inclusive and gender responsive. This means considering the specific needs of men, women, boys, girls, and under-represented groups in light of the differentiated impact of weapons on these populations. The guide also aims to strengthen diverse, meaningful participation in local and national small arms control processes; to better understand the root causes of violence; and to address small arms control from a development perspective.
The Modular Small-arms-control Implementation Compendium (MOSAIC) 06.10 on Women, Men, and the Gendered Nature of Small Arms and Light Weapons highlights the importance of ‘ensuring that gender is adequately integrated into all stages of a small arms control initiative’ to ensure ‘its overall quality’ (UNODA, 2017b, s. 7.1).