Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence

The outcry against violent crime is heard daily and for the remaining part of this week it’s the resounding message worldwide as countries observe the Global Week of Action against Gun Violence. Activities are being coordinated by the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), which includes approximately eight hundred organizations in a hundred and twenty countries. Leading the charge in Belize, are UNICEF and U.N.D.P., who are encouraging citizens to speak out against gun violence, and governments to revisit the laws pertaining to illegal weapons. The local organizations are also inviting ideas from the youths on ways to mitigate the impact of gun violence. UNICEF program coordinator, Anita Zetina told us more.

Anita Zetina, Program Coordinator, UNICEF
“Different countries take different opportunities to promote awareness regarding gun violence. They also use it to encourage governments to pass better laws to address the issue of gun violence in Belize. As I said earlier, this is our first year of participating and we felt that putting out a press release to bring awareness, which is the first step for us this year and hopefully next year we can organize other activities. This year, as the press release notes, we are encouraging Belizeans to undertake activities that will bring much more awareness about gun violence, as we know in Belize that is not any stranger to us. We see it on the streets; particularly with our young people. So we saw it as an opportunity to encourage Belizeans to participate in any way that they can and also to encourage the government to ratify the protocol on illicit arms.”

Delahnie Bain
“What has been the reception to observing this week?”

Anita Zetina
“It seems that people are interested. I believe that Youth For The Future might have been involved in an activity—we’re not sure about that yet—but I think the first step is creating the awareness that this week does happen globally every year is a first step.”

Zetina says UNICEF hopes to observe the Global Week of Action against Gun Violence on an annual basis in the future.