Over the past few decades, the presence and use of firearms in schools has become a problem across the region. Some of the manifestations of the phenomenon include: firearms found inside schools, students who carry firearms among their belongings, armed students who threaten their classmates and teachers, and shooting inside schools.
The implications represent a serious obstacle to the human development of boys and girls, adolescents and young people in terms of physical integrity (injuries and deaths), as well as at the educational and psychosocial levels.
Our Approach
- Contribute to the understanding of the phenomenon by deepening understanding into its nature, manifestations, causes and challenges.
- Generate knowledge to comprehensively address the presence of firearms in schools.
- Promote dialogue among national authorities, civil society organizations, education and security sectors, youth groups and other relevant actors to better respond to the challenges posed by firearms in schools.
- Support the integration of specific measures to prevent and respond to the presence and use of firearms in schools.
With the support of:
Sweden
Educational and awareness-rasing materials – Download here 👇
Fact Sheet
Firearms in Latin American and Caribbean schools
Publications
Guidelines for the development of protocols to tackle the presence and use of firearms in schools
Firearms in Latin American and Caribbean schools: Approaches, challenges and responses
[Versão em português] Armas de Fogo em Escolas da América Latina e Caribe: Abordagens, desafios e respostas
[Version française] Les armes à feu dans les écoles d’Amérique Latine Et des Caraïbes : a roches, défis et réponses
News
Interagency Consultation Held in Honduras to tackle presence of firearms in schools On 3 June 2025, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), together with Honduras' Ministry of Education, convened an interagency… 
National Stakeholders’ Forum to Review New Protocol addressing Firearm-Related Incidents in Jamaican Schools Kingston/Jamaica, 12 March 2025 – In a significant step towards improving school safety in Jamaica, representatives from national institutions and organizations gathered at the Planning Institute of Jamaica for a… 
Honduras Takes Action to Prevent and Respond to the Presence of Firearms in Schools In a context where school safety is threatened by the presence of firearms and other forms of violence, Honduras is taking decisive steps to protect its educational spaces. On 18… 
MoEY and United Nations agencies strengthen efforts to tackle violence in school Jamaica’s Ministry of Education and Youth (MoEY) and the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) are collaborating to strengthen measures… 
Jamaica opens space for national dialogue to prevent the presence of firearms in schools On 26 October, the Ministry of Education and Youth (MoEY) of Jamaica, in collaboration with the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the… 
Public officials and civil society from Jamaica participate in seminar to defy violence in schools UNLIREC, in collaboration with UNESCO, conducts webinar 'Violence in schools: challenges and responses' On 25 May 2022, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America… 
Webinar on Firearms Prevention in Schools in El Salvador As part of the cycle of activities that UNLIREC has been carrying out between 2020 and 2021 to encourage conversation regionally and nationally about the phenomenon of firearms in schools,… 
UNLIREC and ANMAC hold National Dialogue on the prevention of gun violence in schools On the 9 November, UNLIREC and the National Agency for Controlled Materials (ANMaC) of Argentina held a national dialogue on the prevention of firearms prevention in schools. The main objectives… 
UNLIREC, Panama and Sweden join forces to understand and prevent Firearms Violence in Schools In recent years, the proliferation of firearms has had repercussions in all parts of society including educational centres in the Latin American and Caribbean region. The readily available arms facilitate… UNLIREC conducts webinar on “Initiatives to address and prevent the presence of firearms in schools”, in Peru On 23 October, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the…
UNLIREC and Instituto Sou da Paz promote a discussion on the impacts and challenges of the presence and use of firearms in schools On 30 September, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) and Instituto Sou da Paz conducted a webinar on the…
Firearms in Latin American Schools Webinar: Approaches, Challenges and Responses On 14 July, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) delivered a webinar on addressing firearms possession and use in…
UNLIREC launches study on firearms in Latin America and Caribbean schools Over the past few decades, media reports of incidents involving firearms in schools have been increasingly recurring in many countries of the region. These incidents include firearms found inside schools,…
UNLIREC promotes regional dialogue on the challenges posed by the presence and use of firearms in schools. 22-23 October 2019 – Over the last few decades, in some countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, reports of firearms being found in schools have become increasingly common. These…
UNLIREC and Peru come together to combat the presence of firearms in school On 6 December, UNLIREC organized a seminar entitled “International Initiatives for Prevention and Action regarding Presence of Firearms in Schools” in Trujillo, Peru. The seminar formed part of the United…