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, a webinar on ‘Firearms Prevention in Schools’ was held on the 16 December in collaboration with the Ministry of Education in El Salvador.
In this virtual event, UNLIREC shared the main findings of a study on Firearms in Schools in Latin America and the Caribbean: approaches, challenges and responses, presenting a regional overview of the main characteristics and developments of this phenomenon in recent years in the countries of the region, as well as sharing a series of initiatives and measures that have been implemented in some countries in the region to tackle and prevent the presence and use of firearms in schools.
To provide a national perspective on this phenomenon in El Salvador, the Ministry of Education gave a presentation in which many topics were highlighted, including the different types of risks to which schools are exposed, the current legal framework that prohibits carrying and bringing arms to schools, as well as the different measures and actions aimed at guaranteeing safe learning spaces which are free from violence.
As part of these measures, campaigns aimed at educational communities on issues of coexistence, continuous training for teachers, as well as inter-institutional coordination with the National Civil Police and other institutions to promote actions aimed at preventing the use of weapons in educational centres were highlighted.
This webinar was attended by around 175 participants, including staff from the Ministry of Education (such as educational and pedagogical advisors, coordinators, technicians, teachers, among others), as well as staff from the prevention areas of the National Civil Police.
This webinar was made possible thanks to the valuable financial contribution of the Government of Sweden.