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Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development, 7 June, Geneva

On 7 June 2006, UNDP co-hosted a Ministerial Summit on Armed Violence and Development with the government of Switzerland, with the goal of setting a new development-oriented agenda to reduce armed violence in the world’s poorest nations. The impetus for UNDP’s role in the summit is the overwhelming evidence that armed violence is hindering the hard-won development gains made in fragile states. At the conclusion of the summit, representatives of 42 states endorsed the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development, a bold new initiative to “promote sustainable security and a culture of peace by taking action to reduce armed violence and its negative impact on socio-economic and human development.”

While the international community is recognizing that security and development are interrelated, the Geneva Declaration is the strongest political statement to date that the devastating impact of armed violence must be addressed within development contexts, rather than in the isolated domains of disarmament, peacebuilding and other processes. By adopting the Geneva Declaration, states agree that “living free from the threat of armed violence is a basic human need” and “a precondition for human development, dignity and well-being.” State endorsers commit to a range of actions, including:

• integrating armed violence and conflict prevention strategies into national, regional and multilateral development frameworks;
• committing to financial, technical and human resources to addressing armed violence; and
• stemming the supply of, and the demand for, small arms and light weapons.

The declaration is poised to make significant contributions to the global policy dialogue on armed violence prevention and reduction, and to the further integration of security and development agendas. It will be a key reference document at the UN Conference to Review Progress Made in the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects, which convenes in New York 26 June-7 July 2006. The government of Switzerland has also pledged to introduce the declaration at the Review Conference as a way of stimulating further discussion and commitments from states on the critical issue of armed violence.The Geneva Declaration calls for a follow-up meeting in two years to assess progress towards the achievement of the measures outlined in the agreement.

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