War and violent conflict have a disproportionate and unique impact on women and girls, recognised by UN Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. This resolution also acknowledges the vital role women play in building more peaceful and stable communities, through participation in peace processes, post-conflict reconstruction and security efforts.
However, in areas such as weapons and ammunition management, women are heavily underrepresented – according to research by UNIDIR, men constituted 86% of all participants in WAM training. Gender stereotypes, lack of access to training and poor infrastructure often impede women from entering the sector.
HALO is committed to ensuring women's full participation in the arms control sector. Thanks to the support of The Government of Canada we have developed a three-year programme to provide technical weapons and ammunition training to increase the participation of women in WAM and build a new generation of female experts and leaders in the field.
The project aims to provide high-quality technical training, including in: weapons and explosive ordnance destruction, stockpile and ammunition management, weapons marking and armourer qualifications.
Since 2022 21 women have participated in a total of 35 trainings developing skills in areas such as weapons marking and registration and explosive ordnance disposal.
"Empowering women to engage in tackling issues like weapons proliferation brings new perspectives to a largely male-dominated space. Providing technical training and skills development enables women to engage in WAM-related roles and become technical experts."
