Global Burden of Armed Violence - The Geneva Declaration on ...

Foreword
<strong>Armed</strong> violence affects all societies to
different degrees, whether they are at war,
in a post-conflict situation, or suffering
from everyday forms <strong>of</strong> criminal or political vio-
lence. <strong>Armed</strong> violence stunts human, social, and
economic development and erodes the social
capital <strong>of</strong> communities.
<strong>The</strong> evidence assembled in the <strong>Global</strong> <strong>Burden</strong> <strong>of</strong>
<strong>Armed</strong> <strong>Violence</strong> report, written by a team <strong>of</strong> ex-
perts coordinated by the Small Arms Survey for
the <strong>Geneva</strong> <strong>Declaration</strong> on <strong>Armed</strong> <strong>Violence</strong> and
Development, provides an overview <strong>of</strong> the inci-
dence, severity, and distribution <strong>of</strong> different types
<strong>of</strong> armed violence—in both conflict and non-conflict
situations, from both large and small-scale violence,
in criminally and politically motivated contexts.
<strong>The</strong> report is an important step towards a better
understanding <strong>of</strong>—and more effective responses
to—the negative impact <strong>of</strong> armed violence.
<strong>The</strong> human toll <strong>of</strong> armed violence across various
contexts is severe. In the recent past, at least
740,000 people have died directly or indirectly
each year from armed violence. <strong>Armed</strong> violence
also has a ripple effect throughout society, cre-
ating a climate <strong>of</strong> fear, distorting investment,
disrupting markets, and closing schools, clinics,
and roads.
This report also highlights the tremendous eco-
nomic impact <strong>of</strong> armed violence. <strong>The</strong> cost <strong>of</strong> lost
productivity from non-conflict or criminal violence
alone is about USD 95 billion and may reach as
high as USD 163 billion per year. War-related vio-
lence decreases the annual growth <strong>of</strong> an average
economy by around two per cent for many years.
<strong>The</strong>se human and economic costs make armed
violence a development issue and explain why
the development community is increasingly moti-
vated to promote its prevention and reduction.
Together with members <strong>of</strong> the core group <strong>of</strong> the
<strong>Geneva</strong> <strong>Declaration</strong> on <strong>Armed</strong> <strong>Violence</strong> and
Development, signed on 7 June 2006 in <strong>Geneva</strong>,
Switzerland recognizes that effective prevention
and reduction <strong>of</strong> armed violence requires strong
political commitment to enhance national and
local data collection, develop evidence-based
programmes, invest in personnel, and learn from
good practice.
In moving in this direction the <strong>Geneva</strong> <strong>Declaration</strong>
calls on all signatories to strengthen efforts to
integrate strategies for armed violence reduction
and conflict prevention into national, regional, and
multilateral development plans and programmes.
Such instruments commit countries to make good
on their promises and to back these commitments
with adequate resources and leadership.
Endorsed by more than 90 states, the <strong>Declaration</strong>
argues that ‘living free from the threat <strong>of</strong> armed
violence is a basic human need’ and sets out to
make ‘measurable reductions in the global bur-
den <strong>of</strong> armed violence’ by 2015. Signatories to
the <strong>Geneva</strong> <strong>Declaration</strong>—including the Swiss
Confederation—have accepted the responsibility
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