The Small Arms Survey 2014: Women and Guns considers the multiple roles of women in the context of armed violence, security, and the small arms agenda. The volume’s thematic section comprises one chapter on violence against women and girls—with a focus on post-conflict Liberia and Nepal—and another on the recent convergence of the small arms agenda with that of women, peace, and security. Complementing these chapters are illustrated testimonies of women with experience as soldiers, rebels, and security personnel.

The year 2018 was characterized by a decrease in lethal violence in several of the world’s hotspots, primarily due to a significant de-escalation of the armed conflicts in Iraq, Myanmar, South Sudan, and Syria. The homicide rate also decreased marginally due to population growth outpacing the nominal increase in killings between 2017 and 2018.

The Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment (HSBA) is a multi-disciplinary research project designed to expand understanding and awareness on safety and security throughout Sudan. It is coordinated by the Genevabased Small Arms Survey with financial support from the Department of Foreign Affairs Canada. Between April and May 2006, the HSBA survey team, in partnership with Pact Kenya, conducted a large-scale household survey to assess levels of real and perceived insecurity across Lakes State since the signing of the CPA.

Eastern Equatoria state (EES) is one of the most volatile and conflict-prone states in Southern Sudan. An epicentre of the civil war (1983–2005), EES saw intense fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), as well numerous armed groups supported by both sides, leaving behind a legacy of landmines and unexploded ordnance, high numbers of weapons in civilian hands, and shattered social and community relations.

Responses to Pastoral Wars: a Review of Violence Reduction Efforts in Sudan, Uganda, and Kenya reviews the causes and consequences of, as well as the responses to, conflicts in pastoralist areas in the Sudan–Uganda–Kenya region. A perspective that transcends borders is crucial: cross-border intertribal clashes frequently erupt in these areas (see Box 1), as well as among groups within each of these countries.

Broken Promises: The Arms Embargo on Darfur since 2012 provides an update on the development and impact of the Darfur arms embargo from 2012 to early 2016.

A traditional preoccupation with military threats to the state has long dominated Indian policy and activism aiming to prevent and reduce armed violence. This realist perspective has the effect—whether intended or not— of displacing consideration of other sources of danger related to armed violence.

With a population of almost 1.2 billion people and an area of 3.3 million square kilometres, India is home to approximately 17 per cent of the world’s population but constitutes just 2.4 per cent of its land area (MHA, 2011). India’s rates of violence vary greatly from state to state, and city to city, ranging from relatively high to negligible. These rates are reflected in the nation’s wellknown diversity in languages, literacy, economic status, and cultural customs.

The Small Arms Survey 2015: Weapons and the World examines the role of weapons and armed violence in humanity’s appropriation of the earth’s wildlife and mineral riches—in Africa, where the poaching of elephants and rhinos is becoming increasingly militarized, and near resource extraction sites around the world.

The civil war that began in South Sudan in December 2013 has had dire consequences for the Shilluk people of Upper Nile, with civilians killed, villages and buildings destroyed, and humanitarian aid blocked. Although exact figures are elusive, estimates suggest that as much as 50 per cent of the Shilluk population has left the country during the current civil war—a figure that rises to 80 per cent if internally displaced people are included.