MAG's global operations directly reduce the devastating effects of armed violence.
What is armed violence?
Armed violence is the use or threatened use of weapons to inflict injury, death or psychosocial harm.
Why is armed violence a problem?
Armed violence directly kills 526,000 people per year on average.
It is both a cause and a consequence of poverty and underdevelopment. Armed violence stops or reverses development progress in a wide range of mainly low- and middle income countries.
As well as this human cost, countries with higher law and order expenditure
It is a particular problem in situations of conflict, crime and fragility.
Armed violence is both a cause and a consequence of poverty and underdevelopment. It is no coincidence that the world’s poorest countries are affected by current or recent conflicts.
It is growing due to, for instance, increasing youth populations without prospects, expanding ungoverned urban spaces and transnational criminal networks.
Almost half of the world’s population is under the age of 24 and the vast majority of 10-24-year-olds live in less-developed countries. Youth are particularly at risk of being exposed to, and engaging in, armed violence and crime.
Beyond this, armed violence creates a climate of impunity, mistrust and corruption. It undermines vital public institutions. Armed violence is also closely tied to transnational crime and the misery and abuse associated with the illegal trafficking of arms, drugs and people. In addition, it has important youth and gender dimensions: the majority of perpetrators and victims are men, while women and girls are at greater risk of violence that is less visible and committed in the private sphere.
Armed violence is both a cause and a consequence of poverty and underdevelopment. It is no coincidence that the world’s poorest countries are affected by current or recent conflicts.
MAG removes the remnants of conflict that pose obstacles to reconstruction and development, as well as preventing the leakage of Small Arms and Light Weapons that could be used by new groups to destabilise the peace process.
We work with national governments to deal with the ‘instruments’ of armed violence, helping them to meet their international commitments under the UNPoA, Geneva Declaration, and Nairobi Protocol through:
• the identification of stockpiles and armouries;
• stockpile assessment and safe storage (including Physical Security and Stockpile Management – PSSM);
• the destruction of surplus or obsolete weapons and ammunition;
• marking and tracing weapons;
• training and capacity building.
Having historically addressed the legacy of armed violence in clearing Explosive Remnants of War (ERW), MAG understands the risk factors that drive armed violence and has worked to develop preventative measures and international standards in AVR practice, through our contribution to the UN Coordinating Action on Small Arms project, publications such as the Small Arms Survey, and by providing technical support to the Regional Centre for Small Arms.
Photo [Gwenn Dubourthoumieu/MAG]: RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenades are loaded onto a MAG vehicle to be transported to a demolition site in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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