Violence and Injury Prevention

Armed violence

UN Photo/P Sudhakaran

Globally, armed violence has a substantial impact on the health of populations and hampers social and economic development. As a result, there is growing international momentum to place armed violence prevention into development agendas.

Publications and campaign materials

WHO's armed violence prevention objectives are to:

  • raise awareness of the immediate and long-term health consequences of armed violence
  • highlight its preventability
  • prioritize armed violence prevention in international and national health and development agendas
  • reduce armed violence by supporting countries to increase capacity and establish direct and indirect prevention policies and programmes
  • expand the global evidence base to cover more low- and middle-income countries.

WHO activities for the prevention of armed violence carried out by the Department of Violence and Injury Prevention and Disability currently cover:

Data collection and research
  • The WHO Global Burden of Disease project includes estimates of deaths, morbidity, and Disabilty-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) due to self-directed, interpersonal and collective violence.
  • The Global Burden of Armed Violence project includes estimates of deaths, morbidity, and DALYs due to self-directed, interpersonal and collective violence involving firearms and other weapons in conflict and non-conflict settings. WHO and other partners contribute to this Small Arms Survey project.
Policy, capacity and programme development
  • WHO is working on the Armed Violence Prevention Programme (AVPP) with the United Nations Development Programme and several other UN agencies. AVPP focus countries currently include Guatemala, Jamaica and Kenya.
Advocacy
  • WHO publishes and disseminates evidence on youth and armed violence prevention and campaign materials.
  • WHO acts as the Secretariat of the Violence Prevention Alliance.

WHO

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