RECSA Develops a Policy on Gender and Small Arms

In recognition of the fact that small arms and light weapons (SALW) have different effects on men, women, boys and girls, a Ministerial Declaration during the 3rd Council of Ministers' meeting held in June 2005, directed RECSA to develop a policy to guide gender mainstreaming in small arms programmes and institutional frameworks.

With support from the Royal Government of Norway, RECSA finalized the development of a five-year gender policy in December 2009. This will be implemented in the Great Lakes Region, the Horn of Africa and Bordering States. A regional meeting brought together the 13 member states, the African Union, partners from Regional Intergovernmental Originations, civil society, experts and other partners to validate the draft. Views from participants were gathered and have been incorporated in the final policy document.

The overall goal of the policy developed in partnership with the Eastern African Sub-regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI) is to ensure gender responsiveness at all stages of design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of SALW programmes at RECSA and national level.

The RECSA gender policy recognises that the differences in the impact of SALW on women, men, boys and girls need to be taken into consideration in the project life cycle to improve the effectiveness of interventions to address the problems posed by SALW.

Gender responsiveness is in compliance with the various international, regional and national instruments that require member states and other organisations to uphold the principles of gender equality through ensuring gender mainstreaming in policy and practice.

The RECSA policy therefore seeks to mainstream gender in its three guiding pillars: Institutional Development, Promoting and Facilitating Small Arms Management, and Effective Provision of Information. It will be implemented alongside the five year RECSA strategic plan.

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