From exchanging weapons for development to security sector reform in Albania: Gaps and Gray Areas in weapons collection programmes Assessed by local people.

The devastating effect of small arms and light weapons on people's livelihoods, as well as their long-term effects on the economic and social sustainability of local communities, have prompted a wide range of international responses. Increasingly, micro-disarmament efforts to reduce the presence of small arms favour weapon collection programmes as a means to break the cycle of violence fuelled by the availability of weapons. Communities and individuals are encouraged to hand over their guns, often in exchange for individual or collective incentives. UNIDIR undertook a two-year assessment of weapons collection programmes in exchange for community-based development projects. The project used Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (PM & E) techniques to harness the analysis and perceptions of affected communities directly, thus offering both innovative and more efficient lessons for designing and implementing post-conflict disarmament programmes. UNIDIR is grateful for the generous financial support offered by the Government of Japan as well as for the personal support it received from members of the Japanese Government. UNIDIR is also particularly indebted to the people of the Albanian cities of Bajza, Pishaj and Shushica, NGOs; local authorities; and the Government of Albania without whose contribution and assistance this research would not have been possible. This volume presents the results from the research carried out in Albania in November, 2003. These findings serve to underscore the necessity for deeper and wider involvement of local people in all aspects of weapon collection, as a more indirect and accurate path to understanding the root causes of violence and identifying solutions. The study suggests that the place local communities at the centre of the design and implementation of these programmes. In particular, the differing perspective of key sections of the communities - women, men, youths and children-need to be factored into decision making for conflict prevention.