Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

World

Small Arms Survey 2005: Weapons at War

The fifth edition of the Small Arms Survey focuses on the direct and indirect role of small arms in contemporary violent conflicts. It describes the many ways in which small arms and light weapons threaten human life and well-being in collective violence, while also focusing how these weapons are implicated in the origins, exacerbation, and aftermath of violent conflict. The Small Arms Survey: Weapons at War explores these themes in places such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Indonesia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and the former Yugoslavia-where armed conflicts have formed the backdrop against which efforts to combat the proliferation and misuse of weapons have unfolded.

The Small Arms Survey 2005 departs from the format of previous editions by being divided into two sections:

- The first consists of chapters that (as in previous years) provide new or updated information on global small arms production, stockpiles, transfers, and international measures. This year, the Survey includes an introductory overview of small arms ammunition, an issue receiving growing international attention.

- The second section is dedicated to issues surrounding armed conflict and its aftermath, including the sourcing of weapons to violent conflicts, weapons use, small arms and conflict deaths, and post-conflict disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration. This section is rounded out with two case studies: one exploring the concept of "gun culture" in the illustrative case of Kosovo, and another focusing on the Central African Republic. Between the update and conflict sections is a survey of contemporary artistic representations of arms and armed violence.

Produced annually by a team of researchers based in Switzerland and a worldwide network of local researchers, the survey seeks to be of use to diplomats, policy-makers, governmental officials and non-governmental organisations.