Click here to launch the interactive piece on Small Arms.

Users must have the Flash Player to view the interactive piece, and RealPlayer to view the videos.

There are over 600 million small arms and light weapons (SALW) in circulation worldwide. Of 49 major conflicts in the 1990s, 47 were waged with small arms as the weapons of choice. Small arms are responsible for over half a million deaths per year, including 300,000 in armed conflict and 200,000 more from homicides and suicides.

This video will give you an overview of the humanitarian challenge presented by the global deluge of surplus small arms, especially the impact on children. The video also suggests ways in which the international community can address the small arms problem, featuring the Tools for Arms Project in Mozambique.

Project Ploughshares is involved in several small arms initiatives which you will find described on this website. Our programming addresses national and international policy formation, and also facilitates and supports locally and regionally based initiatives on small arms in conflict regions, such as in the Horn of Africa.

The root causes of conflict around the world are, of course, complex and varied, with contributing factors such as historical grievances, economic deprivation, tyrannical leadership and an absence of democratic process. And although small arms and light weapons are not themselves the cause of conflict, their ready accessibility and low cost can prolong combat, encourage a violent rather than a peaceful resolution of disputes, and generate greater insecurity throughout society, which in turn leads to a increased demand for, and use of, such weapons.