“The war may still be raging, but at some point it will end. At that point, the survivors will have to start picking up the traumatized pieces of their lives.” Lauren Wolfe, Women Under Siege Violence in Syria regularly makes international headlines. But for all the attention which is (rightly) paid to the pitched battles, […]

  Yesterday, December 10, was Human Rights Day. Proclaimed in 1950 by the UN General Assembly, it celebrates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Since then, the world has seen great advancement towards the international protection of human rights. But today we must remember that much remains to be done. […]

Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) conducts field-based programming in support of its mission to reduce the incidence and impact of armed violence globally. Utilizing experience and knowledge gained from its research, policy-work, and fieldwork, AOAV conducts evidence-based programming in five countries in West, Central, and North Africa – Burundi, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Western […]

Alexandra Hernandez is a lawyer, specialised in Administrative Law and Peace Counsellor at the Santiago de Cali Municipality. AOAV: Can you please explain your work? Alexandra Hernandez: The ‘Asesoría de Paz’ of the Cali municipality has three basic functions: One is of social nature, through which we manage the DPS (Department for Social Prosperity) against extreme poverty. […]

Audrey Mugisha is a 23 year-old student who grew up in Cibitoke, an unstable province in north-western Burundi. At 8 years old, caught in the middle of a brutal civil war, Audrey was seriously injured by grenade shrapnel during an unprovoked attack on her house. Her injuries resulted in her left arm being amputated. Her mother […]

Générose, 36, is an ex-combatant. She was forced to join fighting to escape her abusive home. After the end of decades of armed violence in Burundi, Générose, like many other combatants, was demobilised and integrated into the regular armed forces and the police. Women survivors and women with disabilities in Burundi face serious challenges in […]

In partnership with Article 36, Oxford Research Group and IKV-Pax Christi, AOAV has developed an advocacy sheet calling on states to recognise the urgent need to strengthen casualty recording and ensure the rights of the victims of armed violence.

This report looks at national capacities to address the issue of armed violence of 12 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This paper reviews key areas of policy and service provision relevant to the rights of victims and survivors of armed violence. It makes broad recommendations to strengthen international responses to the impact of armed violence.