This is the id21 Development Research reporting service, bringing you a selection of the latest and best UK-based development research.

Latest id21 research reports on the effect of small arms and conflict on development:

Ending the gun culture: can small arms and light weapons be decommissioned?
There are over 600 million small arms and light weapons in circulation worldwide. Of 49 major conflicts in the world in the 1990s, 47 were waged with small arms as the weapons of choice. How can these weapons be taken out of circulation? What hands-on measures are required to complement the recent spate of regional and international conventions to combat weapons flows?

Awash with weaponry: can communities disarm themselves?
As a result of a combination of decades of poor governance and a fragile ecological system characterised by recurrent drought, the pastoral regions of northern Kenya are caught in a vicious cycle of violent conflicts that fuel poverty and diminish the prospects for development. This is all made worse by the easy availability of arms. What causes the proliferation of small arms? Can regional and national gun control policies be implemented in local contexts? Can grassroots campaigns find alternative ways of reducing the numbers of small arms in circulation?

The problem of child soldiers: listening to young combatants in East Asia
One in four of the world's estimated 300 000 child soldiers are currently serving in the East Asia and Pacific region. What is the family background of children involved with armed groups? How did they become child soldiers? What are their thoughts about the future? How could demobilisation, vocational training and psycho-social care programmes help them reintegrate?
http://www.id21.org/society/s10buni1g1.html

Understanding the AK-47 and M-16: small arms and development
At least half a million people are killed every year by small arms. What is the link between the rapid increase in these illicit weapons and prospects of meeting development targets? Does the development community understand the complex interrelationships between armed conflict and social violence and between small arms and development?

Creating a virtuous circle: reform in post-conflict Africa
Do economists know enough about the mechanics of institution-building in post-conflict states in Africa? Do they take an over-optimistic view of institutional change? In the aftermath of war, is it best to start all over again and import ready-to-go legal systems? Is enough being done to restore protection of property and contract rights?

Women facing war: how does armed conflict affect women?
In today's wars, the line between perpetrator and victim, combatant and civilian, is becoming more and more blurred. In particular the roles played by women are increasingly diverse. Reality does not support the perception that women are always vulnerable. In Rwanda, for instance, women participated in horrific acts in the genocide, while in other conflicts women may act as spies or as combatants.

Civil society pulls northern Ghana back from the abyss
Can NGOs offer added value to official reconciliation initiatives in the aftermath of conflict? How should donors support local peace-brokering, peace-facilitation training and conflict early warning mechanisms?

Humanitarianism under threat - the impact of small arms and light weapons
Of the more than 150 major conflicts since the Second World War, 130 have been fought in developing countries. Today's mainly intra-state, low intensity, violent political conflicts are on the increase. Small arms and light weapons are the principal weapons used in conflict situations. But what is their humanitarian cost? And what affect does this have on sustainable development?

Money makes the war go round - finance, war and peace
Does the humanitarian community understand the relationship between finance, war and peace? How does the financial sector reinforce poverty and inequality and fuel conflict?

No women, no peace: gender perspectives on positive peace initiatives
Many UN and European Commission resolutions have recognized that marginalisation and neglect of women have stymied peace initiatives. Why, then, is gender analysis still conspicuously absent from peacebuilding programmes?

Small arms in the wrong hands. Development, conflict and Britain's arms trade
Development and poverty relief cannot be expected to make steady advances unless people are spared the devastating consequences of armed conflicts, spurred on by prolific and largely unregulated transfers of small arms. New Oxfam research asks, How deep does Britain's involvement in this trade go? Over 100 countries received small arms from the UK between 1995 and 1997 despite official resolutions to limit such trade. The research report points out key obstacles to effective regulatory controls and Oxfam offers constructive suggestions on how to overcome them.

More development research reports from id21