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The First Meeting of a New Global Framework on Ammunition

Despite civil societies’ persistent advocacy, ammunition has for decades been overlooked in international instruments regulating conventional arms. To address this gap, UN members states met in New York in late June for the first meeting of a new global framework, the “Global Framework for Through-life Conventional Ammunition Management.”

Black and white photo of a large conference room with delegates seated at rows of desks. A sign reads WILPF in the foreground, and a panel is visible at the front with people shown on large screens.
Image credit: WILPF
  • 6 min
Emma Bjertén
9 July 2025

When we have conversations about armed violence or how firearms increases the risk of people being killed in intimate partner violence, it is obviously with the assumption that these firearms are used with ammunition. “Without ammunition the dogs don’t bark,” as Folade Mutota from Women’s Institute for Alternative Development recently said at a side event. She said this to illustrate how ammunition is inextricably linked with firearms. Small arms ammunition is the key component that makes firearms lethal. While small arms can circulate and be reused for decades, ammunition has a shorter shelf-life. To use a particular gun lawfully, the suitable ammunition must be available and accounted for, as well as safely and securely stored. Ammunition plays a key role in the discussion on how small arms impacts our societies. It might therefore appear as strange that ammunition, only until recently, had been overlooked in international instruments regulating conventional arms.  

What led us here? 

The Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (UNPoA), does not substantially address ammunition despite civil society and the majority of member states arguing for its inclusion. Since its adoption in 2001, ammunition has maybe been the most contested topic of the UNPoA. For years a small number of states blocked any recognition of ammunition in the UNPoA and during the third review conference in 2018 it was debates over ammunition that kept diplomats from going home. But the frustration with the refusal of a minority of states to allow the UNPoA process to adequately address ammunition motivated action in other fora.  

In 2021, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 76/233 to establish an Open-ended Working Group to elaborate a set of political commitments for a new global framework and address existing gaps in through-life ammunition management. Two years later, in 2023, a new international instrument containing political commitments to prevent diversion, illicit trafficking, and misuse of ammunition was adopted. The Global Framework for Through-life Conventional Ammunition Management (GFA) lists 15 objectives and 85 measures for safe, secure, and sustainable through-life conventional ammunition management. The Global Framework covers all type of conventional ammunition from small-calibre ammunition that is used in firearms to larger conventional types. It also provides a life-cycle-based approach to managing conventional ammunition from production and acquisition through storage and transfer to use and disposal. 

Last month, on 23–27 June 2025, member states, civil society—including WILPF—and practitioners convened in New York for the 2025 Preparatory Meeting of States on the Global Framework for Through-life Conventional Ammunition Management (GFA Prep Meeting). While the agenda for this first meeting focused on procedural aspects related to preparation of the 2027 Meeting of States, it also discussed international cooperation and assistance, as well as format for the voluntary national reporting on state’s implementation of the GFA (for more information, see IANSA’s report). Gender was also a major discussion item and several states, along with civil society, emphasised the need to ensure a gender perspective in the implementation of the GFA.   

Gender perspectives at the core of the GFA  

WILPF and other civil society organisations have for decade showed how flows and proliferation of weapons, parts of weapons, and their ammunition—both legal and illegal— impact societies, undermines social justice and have differential gendered impacts that requires an intersectional analysis. In the last four decades, more than 100 states in all regions have experienced unplanned explosions at munition sites. These incidents have led to the death and injuries of civilians, environmental degradation, and displacement. The GFA aims to address this global issue by preventing risks and addressing immediate and long-term consequences of unplanned explosions at munition sites through ammunition management. Similarly to small arms control measures, ammunition management can also prevent ammunition diversion and hinder ammunition to be used in committing sexual and gender-based violence, and intimate partner violence, and ultimately reduce armed violence.   

Objective 14 in the GFA recognises the importance of strengthening gender mainstreaming and ensuring the full, equal, meaningful and effective participation of women. Under objective 4, the GFA also explicitly seeks to integrate the GFA into the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. During the meeting, states addressed the importance to explore how ammunition is used in gender-based violence, emphasised the need for improved disaggregated data collection, the need for increased understanding of differentiated impacts of unplanned explosions at munition sites, and diversion of conventional ammunition.  

Ammunition management is still a male-dominated and militarised field, and several states addressed the need for increasing women in ammunition management. WILPF rejects militarism in all its forms and, in its statement delivered at GFA Prep Meeting, WILPF  problematised this overrepresentation of men and highlighted that as more civilian and diverse stakeholders are being engaged, there are increased opportunities for the participation of women in the field. While diverse participation shouldn’t have to be justified, there are studies from the field of humanitarian demining showing how diverse participation can influence decision making and policies leading to more effective and improved outcomes by ensuring a coherent response to differentiated needs and priorities —resulting in safer societies for all.  

A working paper submitted by Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, Trinidad and Tobago, the Small Arms Survey, and UNIDIR particularly addressed women’s underrepresentation in arms control, identified structural barriers, and provided recommendations for ensuring the full, equal, meaningful and effective participation of women in the work of the GFA. Among other things, the working paper encourages member states to support the Woman Managing Ammunition Network (WoMA-Network) established in 2022. Several women from the network participated in the meeting and its side events.   

Moving forward – how civil society can engage 

During The GFA Prep Meeting two reports were launched focusing on how to operationalise the GFA. Implementing the Global Framework for Through-life Conventional Ammunition Management: A Voluntary Guide, is a comprehensive 188 pages report on how to operationalise all fifteen objectives. Meanwhile,  A Practical Guide for Gender and Multi-Stakeholder Cooperation in the Global Framework for Through-Life Conventional Ammunition Management focuses specifically on the role of civil society in supporting implementation of Objective 14 on gender mainstreaming and women’s participation, as well as Objective 15, which encourages dialogue and strengthens the exchange of information and good practices with relevant stakeholders, including non-governmental organisations and civil society. The latter, prepared by the Gender Equality Network on Small Arms Control (GENSAC), lists several actions civil society can take, including: 

  • Partnering with women’s organisations, youth groups, and communities near ammunition storage or disposal sites to document lived experiences;  
  • Share testimonies of survivors affected by unplanned explosions and diversion of ammunition;  
  • Mapping risks around ammunition storage sites (communities have, for example, informed about civilians using fireworks near ammunition depots and incidents when children been playing with hazardous material);  
  • Translate and break down dense policy research into local languages or visual formats for grassroots education or workshops;  
  • Conduct advocacy that potentially can improve legislation and proper oversight, such as finding or creating opportunities to present concerns in national arms control forums or meetings with ministries of defense, interior or gender (including meetings organised by National Small Arms Commissions or dialogue between civil society and government representatives); and  
  • Organise joint discussions, webinars, or peer-learning activities with partners from other regions to share good practices and lessons learned.   

The International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA)  has also published a report with recommendation for civil society on how to engage in the GFA.  

In the end, the outcome document was adopted and accepted by all states besides from Russia, who similarly to what it did at the Review Conference of the UNPoA in 2024, disassociated itself form the outcome document. States decided that the reporting cycle should be held on biannually basis during even years, coinciding with the UNPoA reporting and with the first voluntary reports to be submitted in 2028. However, ahead of the Meeting of States in 2027, states are encouraged to “provide a voluntary initial overview” already in 2026. Just as for the national reporting under the UNPoA process, these reports on the GFA implementation will provide a tool for civil society to keep states accountable.  

When moving forward towards the implementation of the GFA, it will be important for states to ensure that civil society, women’s groups, and feminist organisations are invited to participate and contribute to future panels, briefings, and expert meetings related to the work of the GFA. This was something WILPF highlighted in its statement and that was reflected in the adopted outcome document. It will also be important to urge states to recognise diversity in terms of all genders, moving beyond a socially prescribed men-women binary. For example, intersectional analysis from the Beirut port explosion in 2020 shows how housing discrimination resulting from racism, transphobia, and homophobia limited shelter options amongst displaced marginalised groups. While the Beirut explosion was not caused due to ammunition, lessons can be drawn from this case on how binary understanding of gender leaves vulnerable groups behind. This is important for states to consider not least in relation to Objective 13 on data collection and analysis that reflects the differential impacts of ammunition.  

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Emma Bjertén

Emma Bjertén (she/her) is the Manager of Reaching Critical Will. She contributes to the organisation’s monitoring and analysis of disarmament processes and liaises with UN and civil society colleagues. Prior to this, Emma worked as a consultant on gender-responsive small arms control at the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) and the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). She also worked as a researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), where she wrote publications related to the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda, disarmament, peace processes, and militarisation. She has a background working with gender mainstreaming strategies and ethical guidelines in the Swedish Central Administration. Emma has an MA in Peace and Conflict Studies from Uppsala University.

Matt Mahmoudi

Matt Mahmoudi (he/him) is a lecturer, researcher, and organizer. He’s been leading the “Ban the Scan” campaign, Amnesty International’s research and advocacy efforts on banning facial recognition technologies and exposing their uses against racialized communities, from New York City to the occupied Palestinian territories.

Berit Aasen

Europe Alternate Regional Representative

Berit Aasen is a sociologist by training and has worked at the OsloMet Metropolitan University on Oslo. She has 40 years of experience in research and consultancy in development studies, including women, peace, and security, and in later years in asylum and refugee studies. Berit Aasen joined WILPF Norway five years ago. She is an alternate member of the National Board of WILPF Norway, and representing WILPF Norway in the UN Association of Norway, the Norwegian 1325 network and the Norwegian Women’s Lobby. Berit Aasen has been active in the WILPF European Liaison group and is committed to strengthening WILPF sections and membership both in Europe and relations across continents.

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Melissa Torres

VICE-PRESIDENT

Prior to being elected Vice-President, Melissa Torres was the WILPF US International Board Member from 2015 to 2018. Melissa joined WILPF in 2011 when she was selected as a Delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women as part of the WILPF US’ Practicum in Advocacy Programme at the United Nations, which she later led. She holds a PhD in Social Work and is a professor and Global Health Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine and research lead at BCM Anti-Human Trafficking Program. Of Mexican descent and a native of the US/Mexico border, Melissa is mostly concerned with the protection of displaced Latinxs in the Americas. Her work includes training, research, and service provision with the American Red Cross, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Centre, and refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. Some of her goals as Vice-President are to highlight intersectionality and increase diversity by fostering inclusive spaces for mentorship and leadership. She also contributes to WILPF’s emerging work on the topic of displacement and migration.

Jamila Afghani

VICE-PRESIDENT

Jamila Afghani is the President of WILPF Afghanistan which she started in 2015. She is also an active member and founder of several organisations including the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organisation (NECDO). Elected in 2018 as South Asia Regional Representative to WILPF’s International Board, WILPF benefits from Jamila’s work experience in education, migration, gender, including gender-based violence and democratic governance in post-conflict and transitional countries.

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Sylvie Jacqueline Ndongmo

PRESIDENT

Sylvie Jacqueline NDONGMO is a human rights and peace leader with over 27 years experience including ten within WILPF. She has a multi-disciplinary background with a track record of multiple socio-economic development projects implemented to improve policies, practices and peace-oriented actions. Sylvie is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and was the Section’s president until 2022. She co-coordinated the African Working Group before her election as Africa Representative to WILPF’s International Board in 2018. A teacher by profession and an African Union Trainer in peace support operations, Sylvie has extensive experience advocating for the political and social rights of women in Africa and worldwide.

WILPF Afghanistan

In response to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and its targeted attacks on civil society members, WILPF Afghanistan issued several statements calling on the international community to stand in solidarity with Afghan people and ensure that their rights be upheld, including access to aid. The Section also published 100 Untold Stories of War and Peace, a compilation of true stories that highlight the effects of war and militarisation on the region. 

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WILPF Germany (+Young WILPF network), WILPF Spain and MENA Regional Representative

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Demilitarisation

WILPF uses feminist analysis to argue that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. The more society becomes militarised, the more violence and injustice are likely to grow locally and worldwide.

Sixteen states are believed to have supplied weapons to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2020 with the US supplying 74 % of weapons, followed by Russia. Much of this equipment was left behind by the US military and is being used to inflate Taliban’s arsenal. WILPF is calling for better oversight on arms movement, for compensating affected Afghan people and for an end to all militarised systems.

Militarised masculinity

Mobilising men and boys around feminist peace has been one way of deconstructing and redefining masculinities. WILPF shares a feminist analysis on the links between militarism, masculinities, peace and security. We explore opportunities for strengthening activists’ action to build equal partnerships among women and men for gender equality.

WILPF has been working on challenging the prevailing notion of masculinity based on men’s physical and social superiority to, and dominance of, women in Afghanistan. It recognizes that these notions are not representative of all Afghan men, contrary to the publicly prevailing notion.

Feminist peace​

In WILPF’s view, any process towards establishing peace that has not been partly designed by women remains deficient. Beyond bringing perspectives that encapsulate the views of half of the society and unlike the men only designed processes, women’s true and meaningful participation allows the situation to improve.

In Afghanistan, WILPF has been demanding that women occupy the front seats at the negotiating tables. The experience of the past 20 has shown that women’s presence produces more sustainable solutions when they are empowered and enabled to play a role.