In the context of the Education for Justice (E4J) initiative, a component of the Global Programme for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration, the Global Firearms Programme (GFP) held a regional meeting for academics, "Promoting culture of peace and sustainable development: Teaching on the issue of firearms and armed violence in higher education", from 5 to 7 June 2018, in Panama City, Panama.
The meeting benefited from the participation of 17 professors from 12 countries from North, Central and South America, who are actively teaching law, social sciences, political sciences, international relations and security studies at university level. UNODC/GFP presented 14 tertiary-level teaching modules covering key aspects related to firearms, with a view to promote and support university level education in this field, promote a culture of peace and lawfulness, and support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
During the event, the participants debated over the modules in a process of review, enhancement and validation. The process will continue after the conclusion of the meeting with professors collecting and sharing their national and regional perspectives. After the final validation and publication of the modules, the universities will have the possibility to use them in part or as a standalone course in their teaching curricula. The GFP will continue to collaborate with the participants for dissemination of the modules among their peers, who will form a network of educators to enhance cooperation and dissemination of ideas on the topics covered by the E4J initiative at the tertiary level.
The meeting in Panama City, Panama will be followed by another regional meeting of educators organized in Vienna, Austria, between 26-28 June 2018 with participants from Europe and Africa regions.