The Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations in New York, with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), UNIDIR, and the Small Arms Survey (SAS), will host a side event during the preparatory meeting of States on the Global Framework for Through-life Conventional Ammunition Management (GFA).
Women have historically been underrepresented in conventional ammunition management, particularly in technical roles. In response, Objective 14 of the GFA seeks to promote the full, equal, meaningful and effective participation of women in this field. The GFA also references the Women, Peace and Security Agenda – which advocates for women’s participation, leadership and empowerment – and marks its 25th anniversary in 2025.
The Women Managing Ammunition Network (WoMA-Network), created under the UN SaferGuard programme, supports equality and diversity in ammunition management. It highlights the role of women in technical positions and encourages their participation in global discussions. Its flagship activity is an annual training course for women technical experts on the International Ammunition Technical Guidelines, which brings together 15 participants from around the world. The activity, organized since 2023, will be hosted again in July 2025. It will be organized by the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations in New York, UNODA, and the Ammunition Management Advisory Team, with support from the Golden West Humanitarian Foundation and the SAS.
This year, the WoMA+ initiative was launched to involve eight WoMA-Network members in the Preparatory meeting and in contributing to the GFA’s follow-up discussions. The event will provide a unique opportunity to discuss the challenges women face in this field and how States can implement Objective 14 of the GFA by promoting women’s meaningful participation in ammunition management.
The event will feature an interactive discussion focusing on key questions, including the barriers to becoming a technical expert in ammunition management, lessons learned from the WoMA-Network’s activities to address these challenges, ways for member States to ensure women’s meaningful participation in national institutions and the role of the GFA in promoting international cooperation to support this objective.
A detailed programme will follow soon.
When and where
24 June 2025, 13:15 – 14:30 EDT, Conference Room 12, UN Headquarters, New York (for those who have access to the UN Secretariat building).
In partnership with
