Women are central to prevent and reduce violence related to small arms and light weapons
More than 40 parliamentarians from Latin America and the Caribbean opened the Parliamentary Forum on Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Parlatino, in PanamaDate:
The Parliamentary Forum on Small Arms and Light Weapons was celebrated in Panama, in the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino) to implement the Sustainable Development Goal 16, the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and United Nations Program of Action on small arms and light weapons (UNPoA). The goal of this forum was to discuss the international mechanisms that guide and regulate the control of conventional arms through a bigger participation and parliamentary action in the international processes, and it culminated with the presentation of a Parliamentary Action Plan Project in the Parlatino.
Alma Viviana Perez, Regional Advisor on Peace and Security for UN Women, was invited to participate in the session II "Women in Peace and Security – the Role of Parliamentarians on the Prevention and Reduction of Violence linked to Small Arms and Light Weapons." Angelica Suarez, from the International League of Women for Peace and Freedom, and the Parliamentarians Sandra Moran and Paolo Teixeira, from Guatemala and Brazil respectively also participated. The variety at the table, which also brought together representatives from civil society, the legislative powers of the region, and from United Nations, allowed a rich exchange of about the effects that small arms and light weapons have on women and girls, and the actions that Parliamentarians of the region should develop to reduce them.
UN Women's intervention reviewed the international framework around the regulation for international trade of arms and its relation to the Women, Peace and Security agenda, the Security Council resolutions related to small arms and light weapons, and impact of violence in Latin America and the Caribbean. UN Women's Regional Advisor of Peace and Security proposed several action plans to include a gender perspective in the Parliamentarian activity related to small arms and light weapons, and broadened the debate prior to the approval of the Parliamentary Action Plan Project.