United Nations Radio

Global trade in small arms and light weapons continues to rise globally. According to 2009 global Small arms Survey, trade in handguns has outpaced all other small arms and light weapons. The report, published by the Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, says the demand for guns in the United States remains the key driver of trade in small arms. Patrick Maigua sent us this report from Geneva

small arms cache

The report says despite the robust growth in trade in small arms, it was not clear whether the weapons were destined for civilians, police or military use. The report however notes that the abundance of unregulated small arms and light weapons and an increased social acceptance of armed violence was fuelling post war conflict. The report says some of the regions and populations emerging from war were experiencing post conflict violence that was more intense than the war itself. The report, which is published by the Geneva Graduate Institute cites Afghanistan, Southern Lebanon and Aceh in Indonesia as some of the regions facing intense post conflict violence. Eric Berman is one of the co-authors of the Small arms Survey 2009.

"What we find is that the character and dynamics of post war violence shifts quite dramatically from the violence we see during the war. So we saw violence shifting in terms of having political manifestations new forms of state repression economic and predatory violence informal justice and property related disputes start emerging, as new threats that many post war planners do not necessarily anticipate. So we are often seeing many post war conflict countries slipping back into all out war after soon after signing peace agreements. What we are finding is that conventional approaches to maintaining peace, approaches like disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration and security sector reforms while necessary are insufficient to stay post conflict violence."

The report says the value of global trade in small arms is estimated to have risen by 28 per cent between the year 2000 and 2006 to reach 2.9 billion dollars. Top exporters of small arms include the United States, Italy, Germany and Brazil. The United States also leads the pack of importers followed by Saudi Arabia, Cyprus and Germany. Patrick Maigua, UN Radio, Geneva.

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