Addressing Armed Violence in East Africa.pdf - Project Ploughshares

Addressing Armed Violence in East AfricaJoint StatementJoint Statement by Project Ploughshares and World Vision Canadaon Development, Peacebuilding and Armed Violence ReductionProject Ploughshares and World Vision Canada are pleased to publish this report based on2008 field research in East Africa on armed violence reduction and World Vision peacebuildingand development activities. The research report itself attempts to faithfully document whatwas heard and seen during the three weeks that interviews were conducted in selected parts ofKenya, Uganda and Sudan. Observations are provided based on the research but conclusions andrecommendations were deliberately excluded from the report proper because of the constraintsdescribed in the Methodology section.We will not be so reserved in this joint statement. The recommendations below are intended tofocus discussion with and among donors, partner country governments, government foreign anddefence policy makers, colleagues in Northern and Southern non-governmental organisations(NGOs) and academic institutions on how the findings in this report can and should beused to formulate policy and direct programming to advance development effectiveness andreduce armed violence. Our complementary mandates shape the recommendations. ProjectPloughshares’ mandate is to identify, develop, and advance approaches that build peace andprevent war. World Vision’s mandate is to see every child experience life in all its fullness, as wework with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice.Our research partnership arose from a common cause. The project was formed on the basis ofprior commitments in both organisations to contribute to the growing body of evidence-basedresearch documenting the important link between reducing armed violence and increasedeffectiveness of peacebuilding, development and humanitarian relief programming. World VisionInternational has made a world-wide organisational commitment to addressing violent conflictin its programming because without this cross-cutting focus, its work and investments in localcommunity development risk being undermined and even squandered. Project Ploughshares’research and policy work to stop the uncontrolled proliferation of conventional arms—particularly small arms and light weapons—has increasingly been focused on the demand factorsin arms proliferation. Why do people believe that they need guns, and how do we find ways forpeople to feel safe without them? The answers generally come from development programmingrather than disarmament processes.In 2008, in an effort to assess the full scope and impact of worldwide violence, the Secretariat ofthe Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development published the Global Burden ofArmed Violence. This study affirms that the more than 100 state signatories to the 2006 GenevaDeclaration “…recognize that effective prevention and reduction of armed violence requiresstrong political commitment to enhance national and local data collection, develop evidencebasedprogrammes, invest in personnel, and learn from good practice.” 1This study offers one “brick” in what we trust will become a rising wall of field-based evidenceto advance best practices in reducing armed violence. But other commitments also needimplementing. The Geneva Declaration calls on signatories to “strengthen efforts to integratestrategies for armed violence reduction and conflict prevention into national, regional, andmultilateral development plans and programmes.” 2 Hence, our recommendations:1 http://www.genevadeclaration.org/pdfs/Global-Burden-of-Armed-Violence.pdf, p.42 Ibid., p 4.4