Working to control the proliferation and misuse of small arms, especially in the context of political conflict that degenerates into armed conflict, is an integral part of Project Ploughshares' program.

• An international conference on small arms hosted by Project Ploughshares in August 1998 led to the formation of the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA)

• As well, an important element of Ploughshares' work is to support the implementation and improvement of the UN Programme of Action

Small arms are one of the leading threats to human security in the world today

• There are approximately 875 million small arms in circulation around the world: one for every seven people on the planet
• Studies show that more than 500,000 people are killed due to these weapons every year: or one person each minute

SALW covers a wide range of weapons: from pistols and machine guns to portable anti-tank systems and mortars

• Small arms are light and easy to carry and to hide
• Military small arms require little maintenance and little or no training
• Weapons such as the AK-47 assault rifle are so easy to operate that a child as young as eight can use one
• Light weapons are non-civilian weapons and are normally in the possession of state security and military forces. But a worrying trend is that weapons such as shoulder-fired rockets are being sought by non-state actors and terrorist groups

Small arms make a farmer, office worker or schoolchild a potential combatant

• Civilians buy more than 80 per cent of all firearms manufactured worldwide each year
• Although most of these weapons start out as legal weapons, many end up in the hands of warlords, drug cartels and terrorists
• Small arms are the weapons of choice in the majority of today's armed conflicts 
• After an armed conflict has ended, unless there are concerted disarmament efforts, these weapons remain in circulation and continue to wreak havoc

The availability of the weapons increases lethality and insecurity and this, in turn, drives the demand for and misuse of these weapons.

Any initiatives to control small arms need to take these two facets of the problem into account.

SALW Fact Sheet

photo: Siegfried Modola/IRIN