Small arms work in Russia
7 March 2006 Following on from training organised in Siberia at the end of last year, in February and March 2006, Saferworld and partner the PIR Center, organised two rounds of university lectures, a round table meeting with local experts and a civil society training on small arms and light weapons in St Petersburg.St Petersburg is a city of academics and intellectuals and it is not easy to get people interested and actively involved in issues they have not considered important before. Therefore, it was a major challenge to attract participation, but the events were a success. The week started with two rounds of lectures at the St Petersburg State University, at the Dept of International Relations. Both lectures were very well attended and enjoyed a sustained attention of the students.
The second day focused on a round table meeting with local experts, which was co-hosted by the St Petersburg European University. The meeting was attended by a number of journalists, including radio and two TV stations and there was good coverage of the meeting in the media including a special item on the TV channel 1 main morning news which covered a range of issues around legal and illegal arms possession in Russia as well as the potential risks to ordinary citizens rising from thefts from army stocks.
Saferworld and the PIR Center will continue to organise these types of events in other areas of Russia.
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