Geneva Peace Forum 2026: Beyond Security Multisectoral Responses to Armed Violence and Weapons Proliferation

The choice to pursue sustainable peace requires moving towards preventive responses that also tackle the underlying drivers for the demand for weapons and for engagement in armed violence. Integrating small arms control within multisectoral and preventive public health approaches, armed violence reduction strategies, and community engagement initiatives can offer more sustainable pathways to peace. 

At our panel event during Geneva Peace Forum 2026, co-organized with the Center for Security Studies (CENSS), Flemish Peace Institute (FPI), UNIDIR, and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, experts from West Africa, Western Europe, Ukraine, and the Caribbean discussed practical evidence of how small arms control and violence prevention can effectively converge and help bridge policy and grassroots reality—highlighting how choosing peace is not merely a high-level commitment, but also an operational necessity.

Reflections from panelists Viktoriia Voronina (CENSS), Nils Duquet (FPI), Nicolas Florquin (Small Arms Survey), and Nakmak Douti (Senior Expert Security Sector Governance, Togo) were joined by contributions from Anselme Nahmtante Yabouri (UNREC) and remarks from Adam Bonaa (National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons, Ghana), Dagmar Schmidt Tartagli (Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland), and Katrien De Pauw (Permanent Mission of Belgium to the United Nations in Geneva). The event was moderated by Ursign Hofmann from UNIDIR.