Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism – Amidst a multitude of global crises and escalating of armed conflicts, small arms and light weapons remain a silent killer, having claimed over 260,000 lives during 2021, amounting to 45 per cent of all violent deaths.
That’s according to Izumi Nakamitsu, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, who briefed the Security Council on Friday, quoting the latest figures available.
“This is more than 700 people a day, or one person dying from small arms every two minutes”, she said.
She added that “small arms and light weapons are the weapons of choice in initiating, sustaining and exacerbating conflict, armed violence, terrorism and other forms of organized crime”.
At the same time, whole-of-government approaches integrating small arms and light weapons control into development, prevention and peacebuilding initiatives are crucial, she added.
