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Tackling Poverty by Reducing Armed Violence

Author: Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs, Department for International Development
Date: 2003
Size: 51 pages (344 KB)

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Summary

Armed violence poses a significant obstacle to poverty reduction. So why have so few development agencies dealt with the problem of small arms in their policies or programmes? This report from the Department for International Development discusses ways of integrating arms controls into development policy and programmes and suggests that more needs to be done to encourage development organisations to address this issue.

Small arms availability and use is a development issue but more needs to be done to document its impact on poverty. Although many development programmes are affected by armed violence, the links between weapons availability and poverty are not well documented. Currently many agencies are wary of addressing small arms because of mandate and resource constraints and insufficient knowledge of both the problem and possible solutions. Efforts to engage development agencies on arms issues have been limited and often the messages conveyed have seemed irrelevant to poverty reduction. Engaging policy makers on armed violence is key, particularly those responsible for developing Poverty Reduction Strategies, as these provide the overarching framework for many donors’ bilateral assistance. Although there is a clear need and many opportunities for integrating armed violence reduction into development assistance, there are also risks. To date, there has been limited information exchange or co-ordination among development agencies on armed violence issues.

• More needs to be done to engage development agencies effectively.
• Co-operation among development agencies on armed violence issues needs to be strengthened.
• Armed violence is particularly relevant to specific areas of development.
• There are risks in integrating small arms controls into development assistance.
• Governments and civil society in developing countries need to be engaged on armed violence issues.
• Small arms reduction measures need to be integrated into national development policy frameworks.

The onus lies with the small arms community to develop evidence and tools for development agencies, to demonstrate that in countries affected by the wide availability and use of arms, poverty reduction can be best achieved through a reduction in armed violence and improved human security. Furthermore:

• Research should be commissioned that makes explicit the links between armed violence reduction and poverty eradication, including achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
• Those engaged on small arms issues should develop best practice guidelines for armed violence reduction programmes that are accessible to development practitioners, and help development agencies to engage on armed violence initiatives.
• Co-operation between different parts of government and civil society should be improved, to ensure that, where armed violence is a significant obstacle to development, this is articulated in poverty reduction strategies.
• More needs to be done to engage the international financial institutions, particularly the World Bank, to ensure that armed violence issues are included in development policy dialogues.
• Armed violence should be included in conflict assessments and more should be done to document examples of urban and rural development programmes that have successfully addressed armed violence. Arms management issues should be integrated into security sector reform processes.
• Increased co-operation among development agencies is a high priority, and the OECD Development Assistance Committee could play a role in improving co-ordination of donor policies on arms issues.

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Source: Department for International Development, 2003, 'Tackling Poverty by Reducing Armed Violence: Recommendations from a Wilton Park Workshop', 14-16 April, DFID, London.
Author: Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs Department, DFID (CHAD), http://www.dfid.gov.uk/aboutdfid/organisation/conflicthumanitarianassistance.asp