551. Disarming Views: A Developmental Response to Small Arms and Light Weapons?
- Author:
- Robert Muggah
- Publication Date:
- 07-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Social Science Research Council
- Abstract:
- The availability and misuse of small arms and light weapons is like a disease – a symptom and an outcome of human insecurity. Investments in improving security – a precondition of development – are strongly correlated with reductions in violence and poverty. But the development community has yet to fully wake-up to the wide-ranging effects of small arms. The issue is often treated as somebody else's problem, as too big and complex and therefore not amenable to a developmental response. But the effects are preventable. A concerted effort on the part of the development community to prevent and treat this veritable epidemic could yield substantial developmental dividends.
- Topic:
- Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Development