UNRCPD holding workshop on gun violence from gender perspective

Kathmandu, September 16

The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, through its regional project on women, peace and security, is set to organise a ‘Workshop for South Asia on Gun Violence and Illicit Small-Arms Trafficking from a Gender Perspective’ here beginning tomorrow.

According to a press release issued by the UN Information Centre, Lalitpur, the four-day event (September 18 to 21) will gather senior-level representatives of leading national non-governmental organisations working for women’s empowerment, members of parliaments from South Asia dealing with arms-control issues, international experts and United Nations officials.

By applying a gender perspective, the workshop will address the importance of strengthening control of small arms and light weapons and promoting women’s participation in the field of arms control in the region, it said.

The workshop aims to enhance gender-sensitive decision making with respect to the impact of gun violence on women. It follows a similar training held for Southeast Asian countries in Bangkok in July.

The workshop will also seek to empower the participating non-governmental organisations to initiate advocacy, raise awareness regarding the combating of the illicit small arms trade, and promote key international arms-control instruments, such as the Arms Trade Treaty and the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects.

“It will afford the participating non-governmental organisations and parliamentarians from various South Asian countries the opportunity to exchange ideas, discuss strategies, and consider possibilities for joint initiatives to address the challenge of illicit small arms trade and its distinct impact on women. The United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council have, in numerous resolutions, called for full and meaningful participation of women in peace, disarmament and arms control efforts, which the workshop also aims to promote,” the release stated.

Besides strengthening national control of small arms, the workshop will contribute to realising the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development peaceful societies. The workshop is funded by the United Nations Trust Facility Supporting Cooperation on Arms Regulation.