The GVD database collates data on homicides and direct conflict deaths into a single ‘violent death’ indicator (not including suicides), dating back to 2004.

'Though difficult to fathom as war rages in Ukraine, the years preceding the Russian invasion actually saw a reduction in global lethal violence. According to the latest update of the Small Arms Survey's Global Violent Deaths (GVD) database, loss of life resulting from interpersonal violence decreased substantially between 2016 and 2020. This decline suggests that the world has been making progress towards Target 16.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), under which states committed to 'significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere' by 2030.

On 6 July 2022, the Small Arms Survey’s Security Assessment in North Africa (SANA) project hosted a public discussion on Libya, with two of its seasoned experts, Jérôme Tubiana and Jalel Harchaoui, who discussed the issue of migrants in Libya—the need for care, rehabilitation, and legal pathways out.

The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is the first legally binding agreement linking international conventional arms transfers to gender-based violence (GBV), but there has been limited practical application of these specific provisions to date.

This report documents the findings of the first ever national assessment of small arms prevalence and impacts in Nigeria. The National Small Arms and Light Weapons Survey (NSALWS), implemented in 2016 by Nigeria’s Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons (PRESCOM), was conducted to better understand the prevalence, proliferation, perception, use and impacts of small arms in Nigeria. The Small Arms Survey supported PRESCOM on survey methodology and analysis, and with the provision of training on survey methods specific to small arms.

636 incidents of Unplanned Explosions at Munitions Sites (UEMS) took place between 1979 and December 2021, resulting in 30,883 casualties (deaths and injuries), reveals the newest update of the Small Arms Survey UEMS database. The database tracks the frequency and destructive impact of UEMS incidents—defined as the accidental explosion of abandoned, damaged, improperly stored, or properly stored stockpiles of ammunition and explosives at munitions sites.

This blog post was published as part of the Global Partnership on Small Arms project, which was managed by the Small Arms Survey and funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.

The Global Partnership on Small Arms was a platform where stakeholders engaged in reducing or preventing illicit arms trafficking were able to interact; exchange information, experience, and knowledge; and give feedback to further their shared goals.

The Security Assessment in North Africa (SANA) Expert Briefings are a 5-part webinar series that is taking place (almost) every Tuesday from 11 May until 15 June 2021 at 2pm Geneva time. Each live webinar briefing features one of our SANA experts addressing contemporary security issues in North Africa and Sahel-Sahara region, and reflecting on the questions received from the audience.

Two years have passed since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) ended the second North–South Sudanese civil war, yet no quantitative assessment of safety and security has been undertaken in South Sudan. Understanding of the role played by small arms and light weapons in insecurity is similarly limited. Measuring changes in the security of communities in South Sudan is essential to evaluating the impacts and consequences of the CPA. The Lakes State Homestead Survey on Safety and Security is the largest known household survey ever conducted in South Sudan.

Although almost three years have passed since the Comprehensive Peace Agree-ment (CPA) ended the second North–South Sudanese civil war (1983–2005), security has not improved demonstrably in many areas of the South. On the assumption that small arms and light weapons are one source of ongoing inse-curity, the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) and the Sudan People’s Lib-eration Army (SPLA) have administered or allowed a series of coercive and voluntary civilian disarmament efforts.