Reducing Armed Violence the Asian Way
ASIA--PACIFIC, 4 Apr 2011
Fred Lubang and Robert Muggah – TRANSCEND Media Service
There is no doubt that armed violence – in countries affected by war or otherwise – is a global problem. More than 740,000 men, women and children die each year as a result of armed violence, the vast majority of them young males in fast-urbanizing centres of lower- and middle-income countries. Hundreds of thousands more are intentionally injured, displaced and deprived of their rights due to spiralling crime and conflict.
Whilst armed violence affects every country, some societies are more affected than others. In South and Southeast Asia, countries such as Afghanistan, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand are affected by on-going armed conflicts within and across their borders. Others such as Cambodia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka are emerging from war. Meanwhile, Bangladesh and Indonesia, along with virtually every other state across both regions, are confronting simmering urban violence due to growing organized crime and gang activity.
There are ominous signs that the incidence of armed violence across South and Southeast Asia could soon worsen. For one, South and Southeast Asia are among the most youthful populations in the world. With between 40 and 60 per cent of their populations under the age of 30, these regions are routinely described as “time bombs”. In virtually every country from Afghanistan to Vietnam, politicians have been quick to seize control over young unemployed youth and mobilize them for personal and political gain. The corrosive effects of patronage politics and institutional corruption are making a bad situation worse.
The risks of escalating armed violence for stability and development in South and Southeast Asia are manifold. According to the Small Arms Survey and the UN Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) a considerable proportion of the world’s estimated 850 million small arms and light weapons in circulation are located in these regions. This is hardly surprising since in many societies the possession of firearms is fundamental to local notions of manhood and social status. Moreover, in countries torn apart by armed violence, automatic weapons are also all that is left to ensure defence of home and property and guarantee basic services.
More positively, there is growing evidence of diverse and effective approaches to preventing and reducing armed violence across South and Southeast Asia. A number of countries are starting to tackle the problem head on working to tighten-up the accountability and effectiveness of public security providers or harnessing local authority structures. Some countries have taken a leading role at the international level, calling for the tightening of arms control through the United Nations (UN). The most innovative activities to reduce armed violence, however, are taking place at the grassroots in affected cities, towns and rural areas.
For example, in Nepal a handful of senior police officers made impressive efforts to crack down on violent crime serving as role models to police across the region. Likewise, since 2007 the government has promoted positive discrimination for women in parliament and the public service, including the army and police. In order to seriously tackle gender and sexual violence, the country also opened up women’s cells within police stations. Across the country, community groups have set up micro-credit and income generation schemes for young widows, including those affected by the civil war from 1996 to 2006.
Nepal is not alone in taking-up the fight against armed violence. In spite of protracted conflicts between soldiers, insurgents and clans, development workers in Afghanistan and Pakistan have harnessed local community structures such as loya jirga – or grand councils – to promote peace and co-existence. Public safety information campaigns undertaken through culturally sensitive radio programmes are also popular in both countries. Meanwhile, in the Philippines, military commanders brokered peace deals with opposing clans have worked to reverse the social marginalization of the populations hosting militia groups. Likewise, in Bangladesh, rapid reaction battalions are deterring crime in cities and towns across the country while local development groups are promoting literacy and capacity building for at-risk groups in the capital city’s slums. In virtually all SAARC and ASEAN countries, local organizations are mobilizing media and education campaigns to raise awareness about the risks of armed violence.
The costs, causes and responses to armed violence in South and Southeast Asia were recently debated at a seminar in Nepal (16-18 March). The event was organized by the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific and the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development – a multilateral initiative launched in 2006 that commits states to measurable reductions in armed violence by 2015. Supported by the Swiss government, the event brought together governments, international organizations, civil society, policy-makers, activists and scholars from across the SAARC and ASEAN regions. Their goal was to call attention to the massive human toll of armed violence and to explore effective options for prevention and reduction.
The Nepal seminar demonstrated that while local action to prevent armed violence across South and Southeast Asia is heating-up, high-level political action is glacial. Only 8 of 18 countries throughout the region – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Nepal and Thailand – have signed the Geneva Declaration. But if promising practices across South and Southeast Asia are going to be scaled-up, more countries need to get on-board with a higher level of political commitment.
More positively, the Nepal meeting represents an important step toward consolidating political commitment to preventing and reducing armed violence amongst countries in South and Southeast Asia. An upcoming Ministerial Review Conference in Geneva in October this year will be another. But as important as these international processes might be, the fact is that populations affected by armed violence in Asia urgently require action from the governments. If the countries in the region are to live up their genuine developmental promise and potential, it is imperative that emerging local activities are matched with real government backing.
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Fred Lubang is Secretary General of South-South Network (SSN) for Non-State Armed Group Engagement based in Davao City.
Robert Muggah is the Research Director of the Small Arms Survey in Geneva.
They are both writing in their personal capacities.
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 4 Apr 2011.
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