Living in Peru : your everyday companion

(LIP-ir) -- As part of a campaign against the commercialization and uncontrolled sales of weapons and firearms, Amnesty International (AL) and the Municipality of Miraflores have organized a trade-off.

The trade-off, which is to take place on Wednesday July, 4, allows any child or adult to trade a war-related toy, such as a toy gun, soldier or toy grenade, for a puzzle, stuffed animal or board game.

During the event, different institutions will be present at different stands, exhibiting games which promote peace. The toy trade-off is directed at boys, girls, adolescents, students and the general public.

This event is part of the worldwide "Control Arms" campaign, which began in October of 2003 and is calling for an international, legally-binding Arms Trade Treaty.

The event, also held in May of last year, was a great success in which 5,000 people were present and over 2,000 war-related toys were collected.

The following information was taken from the Arms without borders report, October 2006

On average, up to one thousand people die every day as a direct result of armed violence. Between one-third and three-quarters of all grave human rights violations and 85 per cent of killings reported by Amnesty International over the past decade have involved the use of small arms and light weapons.

The US Congressional Research Service estimated that collectively, countries in Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa spent $22.5bn on arms during 2004; 8 per cent more than they did in 2003. This sum would have enabled those countries to put every child in school and to reduce child mortality by two-thirds by 2015, fulfilling two of the Millennium Development Goals.