Small Arms & Light Weapons: A challenge to the churches



Geneva Action Network on Small Arms
Representatives of 15 Geneva-based Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) met 11 May 2000 for the first briefing of the newly-formed Geneva Action Network on Small Arms (GANSA).

The briefing, hosted by the WCC, focused on possible measures of governmental and non-governmental response to the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.

Peter Batchelor, director of the Small Arms Survey Project at the Graduate Institute of International Studies of the University of Geneva, spoke on dimensions of the small arms problem.

International Action Network on Small Arms
Graduate Institute of International Studies
Quaker UN Office, Geneva
International Peace Bureau
Women’s Inter'l League for Peace and Freedom
NGO Committee for Disarmament
Batchelor noted that while a large percentage of small arms and light weapons are initially "legal" weapons, that is in the hands of state actors such as the army and police or in government-controlled trade and use, there is a perceived increased in the number of illegal weapons in the hands of "non-state" actors and individuals.

He drew attention to the thin line between legal and illegal weapons that is easily crossed when these "legal" weapons become illegal through theft from government storage, ‘leakage’ from the legal market to the gray and the black markets, among others.

Batchelor pointed to four factors bringing the issue to the international agenda:

  1. Perceived increase in communal or inter-state conflicts since the end of the cold war, along with the increasing reluctance within the international community to get involved in such conflicts in which small arms and light weapons are the weapons of choice.
  2. Desire on part of NGOs and some governments to capture momentum from the success of the Ottawa Process and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.
  3. Increasing awareness by NGOs on the huge humanitarian toll inflicted in communities all over the world that go through either conflict or armed urban violence and the devastation caused by small arms and light weapons.
  4. Broadened definition of security since the end of the cold war beyond "national security" to "human security".
Part of the difficulty, he noted, is describing the extent to which new arms are becoming available. Thus the Small Arms Survey Project is developing methods to build more accurate figures to contribute to the overall debate. The target date for the first issue of the survey is March 2001.
David Atwood, from the Quaker UN Office in Geneva, introduced the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) and noted that part of the goal of GANSA, as a sub-section of this international network, "is to strengthen and broaden work in Geneva on this area".

Atwood noted that the issue of small arms and light weapons is much more complex than landmines "because there is no single answer to the problem". The issue is multi-faceted and controversial. This is why IANSA "is not a campaign but deliberately called a network out of which may develop specific campaigns". Part of IANSA’s strategy is to identify centres, or "nodes", of activity on the issue. Geneva was identified as one such centre due to the presence of the United Nations, various governmental missions, the International Committee of the Red Cross and numerous NGOs.

Representing two of GANSA's founding organisations at the briefing were David Atwood (left) of the Quaker UN Office, GANSA coordinator Cate Buchanan (middle) and Michaela R. Told (right) of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

He noted the following opportunities for GANSA:
  1. To work with like-minded governments whose missions are located in Geneva.
  2. To work with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and humanitarian organizations to broaden the context in which small arms and light weapons are debated.
  3. To provide infrastructure for NGO participation should the 2001 UN Conference on the "Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects".be held in Geneva.
  4. To work with specific regions and governments who are not yet involved in the issue.
The WCC is a founding member of both the International Action Network on Small Arms and the Geneva based group. While moderating the 11 May breifing, Salpy Eskidjian, WCC staff person responsible for the WCC Peacebuilding and Disarmament programme, indicated that the WCC focuses its work in areas where there is energy and "Geneva and this issue is one of them". She noted the connection between IANSA, GANSA and the WCC’s "Decade to Overcome Violence: Churches Seeking Reconciliation and Peace".

At the briefing, WCC acting general secretary, Georges Lemopoulos stated, "The international community has become increasingly concerned about the devastating effects of small arms and light weapons. The WCC believes something can be done about this problem. It encourages individual Christians and churches to help end the proliferation of small arms as an important contribution to building a culture of peace."

GANSA is a sub-group of the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) and a working group of the NGO Committee for Disarmament. GANSA’s initiating organisations include the World Council of Churches, International Peace Bureau, Quaker UN Office, and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

GANSA will continue to be active by:

  • implementing the IANSA program of action by capitalising on events and processes occurring in Geneva.
  • facilitating information exchange on small arms issues among NGOs, UN agencies and diplomatic missions.
  • working wherever possible to raise greater awareness on the issues of small arms.
Visit the IANSA web site for more information about the International Action Network on Small Arms.


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© 2001 world council of churches | remarks to webeditor