In this episode of the Small Arms Survey podcast series, senior researcher and managing editor Glenn McDonald—author of our October 2017 Briefing Paper Arms Control 2.0—Operationalizing SDG Target 16.4—discusses how the implementation of international arms control instruments supports the aim of reducing illicit arms flows in line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 16.4.

This episode (in French) features excerpts from interviews collected for the exhibition 'Line of Sight', hosted by the Museum of Design and Contemporary Applied Arts (MUDAC) in Lausanne, Switzerland from 14 March to 26 August 2018. These range from the museum's artistic approach to the exhibit, to the perspectives on firearms in Switzerland, as well as a global point of view on the international arms trade.

In this episode of the Small Arms Survey podcast series, our Director Eric Berman discusses our Making Peace Operations More Effective (MPOME) project and our October 2017 report Making a Tough Job more Difficult: Loss of Arms and Ammunition in Peace Operations.

The third installment of the Small Arms Survey podcast series on illicit arms flows discusses Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG16), target 16.4, and its associated indicator, 16.4.2. Experts featured in this episode clarify the international framework for action in addressing the problem of illicit arms flows. In their interviews, they focus on the evolution in the formulation of indicator 16.4.2, meant to measure progress made in achieving target 16.4, namely the significant reduction of...

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that form Agenda 2030 provide a universal policy framework to which states have committed, and within which they operate towards achieving inclusive development. SDG16 sets out to achieve peaceful, just, and inclusive societies, with its fourth target focusing specifically on significantly reducing illicit arms flows to achieve this goal. The second instalment of the Small Arms Survey podcast series dedicated to measuring illicit arms flows...

Measuring illicit arms flows is one of the challenges faced by states in their efforts to monitor progress in implementing Sustainable Development Goal 16, target 16.4. Fulfilling its mission as the principal international source of impartial and public information on all aspects of small arms and armed violence, the Small Arms Survey brings in a series of podcasts the voices of researchers with relevant experience concerning the issue at hand. The first installment of the series features...

In the second of this two-part interview, lead author of Monitoring UN Arms Embargoes, Emile LeBrun discusses what makes an effective expert, the importance of cooperation between expert panels and UN peacekeeping operations, the kinds of political interference that experts face in fulfilling their duties, and some of the tools and methods experts have evolved to more effectively implement their mandates.

A new report from the Small Arms Survey assesses the operational challenges facing UN panels of experts, and in particular the arms experts that sit on those panels, in their work to monitor UN arms embargoes. The report, based on interviews with sitting and former experts from panels covering embargoes in Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia, and Sudan, also describes methods and tools that panels are evolving to more effectively implement their mandate. In the first of this two-part...

More than four years after the start of the Syrian uprising, over a thousand armed groups are involved in fighting that has consumed the country. The latest podcast from the Small Arms Survey’s Security Assessment in North Africa (SANA) project investigates the moderate opposition in the Syrian conflict: what types of organizations have they developed? How do they acquire resources, including fighters and materiel? How do they govern the territories they hold? And among so many opposition...

More than 20,000 foreign fighters have fought in Syria, mostly for jihadist groups like Islamic State (IS), and North Africa has provided a large portion of these foreign fighters. The Small Arms Survey's Security Assessment in North Africa (SANA) project has investigated the motivations and pathways that take North African fighters to Syria. The Issue Brief There and Back: Trajectories of North African Foreign Fighters in Syria, based on available literature, media reports, and interviews...

On the 1st of June the Public Panel Discussion “Women and Armed Violence: Peace and Gender Equality” was hosted at the Maison de la Paix in Geneva. Part of the TERRE DES FEMMES Switzerland annual speaker series, VOIX DES FEMMES, the event was also organised by the Small Arms Survey and the Graduate Institute’s Programme on Gender and Global Change (PGGC).

Every Body Counts is the 2015 edition of the Global Burden of Armed Violence, which reveals that while violent deaths have decreased globally, armed conflict has become more lethal. The publication estimates that 508,000 people died violently each year during 2007–12. While this figure shows a decline, the proportion of conflict-related deaths has increased. In this podcast Ambassador Claude Wild of the Swiss Government's Human Security Division, UNDP Geneva Director Neil Buhne, and Small...

In the second installment of this two-episode podcast on 'Small Arms Survey 2015: Weapons and the World', Yearbook Coordinator Glenn McDonald and Researcher Claudia Seymour introduce the four case studies discussing armed actors, focusing on their procurement and use of small arms, and their stockpile management practices.

The Small Arms Survey 2015: Weapons and the World explores the theme of weapons and the environment, as well as offering case studies on a range of aspects of small arms and armed violence. In the first of this two-episode podcast, Senior Researcher Khristopher Carlson and Yearbook Coordinator Glenn McDonald discuss five of the book's chapters, covering weapons and the environment, trade in weapons, and measures to regulate and control small arms.

The second part of the two-part podcast discussing the Small Arms Survey's engagement in measuring SDG Goal 16, which focuses on peaceful and inclusive societies, access to justice, and accountable institutions. This episode examines SDG Target 16.4, which calls for a significant reduction in illicit arms flows. Beyond acknowledging the link between illicit weapons, armed violence, and insecurity, it is crucial to identify ways of measuring and understanding the illicit arms trade. Senior...

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a new proposed framework to come into effect after the Millennium Development Goals. Amongst them, Goal 16 focuses on peaceful and inclusive societies, access to justice, and accountable institutions. This goal is a significant step towards recognizing that preventing and reducing violence is essential for development. In the first part of this two-episode podcast Small Arms Survey experts explain how the Global Burden of Armed Violence (GBAV)...

In September 2014, in Istanbul, the Small Arms Survey held a weapons identification workshop for journalists reporting from conflict areas. Meeting the need for precise contextual information on the weapons used in conflict, and their origins, Small Arms Survey researchers introduced journalists to weapons identification techniques and practical considerations. By encouraging closer collaboration between journalists, researchers, and other specialists, the Survey contributes to better a...