While efforts are underway, Ukraine does not currently have a comprehensive and robust small arms regulation framework. There is also a severe lack of reliable data on violent crime, as well as its relationship to firearms ownership and use. This is particularly true when it comes to gendered dimensions of crime and small arms use in Ukraine. Moreover, there is little informed and sustained public national debate on the issue of firearms control and its gendered impacts.

'In 2023, one in five femicides in Argentina were committed with a firearm; the vast majority by current or former intimate partners, as well as other family members.

At the Fourth Review Conference 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, as well as several states that have both experienced and documented the gender-differentiated impacts of small arms and light weapons and their broader impacts on human rights.

At the Fourth Review Conference 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, as well as several states that have both experienced and documented the gender-differentiated impacts of small arms and light weapons and their broader impacts on human rights.

Situation Update: Ukraine

The Ukrainian population’s perception towards firearms is evolving. While civilian possession remains limited, the ongoing war since the Russian invasion increases the risk of illicit proliferation, potential misuse, and broader safety concerns. As of July 2024, 5% of surveyed households report possessing firearms—down from pre-invasion levels and the lowest since monitoring began. Of these firearm-owning households, 63% reported having (some of) their weapons recorded in the Unified Register of Weapons (URW), up from 46% in December 2023.

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have become a key tool in asymmetric warfare, employed in the pursuit of many objectives, including destabilization of the state and governing authorities, exertion of control and influence, and creation of fear in a population. More than 80 per cent of civilian IED casualties occur in civilian spaces, and civilians are deliberately targeted, including vulnerable groups such as children.

In this video, first screened at a Small Arms Survey-organized event on 17 October 2024 during Geneva Peace Week, Carina Solmirano (ATT Monitor Project Lead at Control Arms, and future Head of the ATT Secretariat) gives an overview of the Arms Trade Treaty's history, the challenges it faces, and its future outlook.

First screened at a Small Arms Survey-organized event on 17 October 2024 during Geneva Peace Week, this video showcases experts making recommendations on how to enhance the effectiveness of arms control and promoting global peace.

Selon les données existantes, la République de Guinée ne compte pas parmi les États ouest-africains les plus touchés par la prolifération des armes légères et de petit calibre, y compris les armes à feu artisanales. Mais les autorités nationales savent que ce phénomène en constante évolution pose des problèmes sécuritaires et sociétaux considérables qu’elles s’efforcent de cerner et de régler depuis quelques années.

In this episode of the Small Arms Survey podcast, the EU-LAS project implementing partners—INTERPOL, the WCO, and the Small Arms Survey—as well as the League of Arab States, reflect on the challenges related to small arms in the Arab region. They review the progress made in phase two of the project to address these challenges and discuss the work that still lies ahead as preparations for the third phase begin.