Locations
SALIENT
The Saving Lives Entity
Children from the Denham Town Community attending the launch of the SALIENT Joint Programme
A Transformative Armed-Violence-Reduction Agenda for Sustainable Development
The Saving Lives Entity (SALIENT) is a global project that allocates small grants to catalyse more comprehensive approaches to small arms and armed violence reduction. It was established in 2020 by UNDP and the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) in coordination with the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO).
With its support to scale-up activities, SALIENT enables the operationalization and mainstreaming of small arms control in development efforts and policies.
The Saving-Lives Entity (SALIENT) has supported comprehensive and sustainable responses and implemented development-centred projects in three pilot countries: Cameroon, Jamaica and South Sudan.
After initial consultations with governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, the following projects were designed in line with the particular needs of each country:
Cameroon
SALIENT efforts include building new connections and platforms for dialogue between different actors working on small arms control issues in the country, incorporating civil society and journalists via sensitization and educational activities, and mainstreaming gender concerns in Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR).
Training for journalists and civil society in the northern regions of Cameroon
Jamaica
SALIENT focused on the revision of policy and legal framework governing armed violence reduction in Jamaica, capacity building for law enforcement, working with youth on attitudes and perceptions towards violence, guns, and masculinity, and support for the country’s first Violence Audit.
South Sudan
SALIENT implementing agencies worked on capacity building for law enforcement, operationalization of women’s networks within national police, support for catalyzing the voluntary civilian disarmament strategy - including through outreach efforts, mine risk education and awareness campaigns, and trainings of trainers for sustainability of disarmament dialogues and processes.
SALIENT in South Sudan
Project implementation in the three pilot countries was completed in 2023. New beneficiary countries have been selected: Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Papua New Guinea, Panama and Honduras.
Papua New Guinea leaders sign peace agreement. Across the world UNDP works to strengthen rule of law, justice, security, and to protect human rights.
SALIENT partners and beneficiaries call for increased and sustained financing
On the sidelines of the Fourth Review Conference (RevCon4) on Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons, SALIENT organized a high-level meeting “Developmentalizing Programmes on Small Arms and Light Weapons Control and Armed Violence Reduction." Showcasing SALIENT achievements, the meeting confirmed the advantages of a programmatic and holistic approach to small arms and light weapons control and armed violence reduction.
The session was co-hosted by the Under-Secretary General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu and Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Haoliang Xu, on behalf of Administrator Achim Steiner, and with the participation of the President of the Fourth Review Conference, H. E. Ambassador Maritza Chan (Costa Rica). Over 120 participants attended the meeting, with more than 30 Member States in the room, including 11 ambassadors, as well high-level ministry officials and experts.
The press briefing of H. E. Ambassador Maritza Chan and USG Izumi Nakamitsu is available here.
SALIENT is referenced in the Review Conference's final outcome document as an international assistance instrument that can help ensure the full and effective implementation of the Programme of Action and the International Tracing Instrument.
A programmatic strategic approach to address armed violence
The Saving Lives Entity (SALIENT) builds on the policy and programming experience of UNDP and the normative and policy mandate for UNODA.
SALIENT is embedded within multisectoral platforms and programmes developed by UNDP, UNODA and other UN entities over the past 20 years that demonstrated the need for multisectoral approaches to armed violence and small arms/ammunitions control. It complements existing initiatives of both UN and non-UN entities working in such areas as policing and crime prevention, as well as border control.
The SALIENT programmatic approach is designed to provide catalytic support to address the multifaceted nature of armed violence with a sustainable perspective.
SALIENT and the Sustainable Development Goals
Working on both the demand and supply sides of the illicit trafficking and misuse of small arms, SALIENT supports national initiatives through a holistic and transformative approach, as well as gender perspective, enabling the achievement of SDGs 5 and 16.
