Defence companies face important challenges when attempting to implement Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD), due to the opacity of the arms value chain and also the fact that the most severe risks are situated downstream, being associated with the (mis)use of weapons. Yet defence companies are not the only ones facing challenges. In this new report, we explore the ways in which companies in three other sectors (technology, diamonds and non-energy extractives) are trying to deal with similar challenges.

Current armed conflicts are also driven and aggravated by weapons that - in whole or in part - ended up in the wrong hands after being diverted. Yet in the fight against the diversion of (components of) conventional weapons, relatively little use is made of new technologies. What potential do certain new technologies have to counter the diversion of weapons and weapon components? Read our newest project D-TECT publication.

This analysis by Merel Selleslach and Maarten Van Alstein looks at how different states (Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland) and sub-state regions (Catalonia, Emilia-Romagna, Flanders, Hessen, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Wales) in Europe developed a peace orientation in their foreign policy. It also examines how the war in Ukraine has impacted these approaches. Confronted with shifting foreign policy priorities, the analysis explores novel pathways for shaping peace policy in Europe.

The multifaceted links between illicit drug trafficking and illicit firearms present a global challenge requiring a clear understanding and integrated responses. Read this new report, authored by the Flemish Peace Institute and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.