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    Zamira was always scared. The eldest of eight children she lived in a small Albanian village, plagued by guns and her home was a frightening place to live. "I remember in 1997 weapons were spread all over my village," she said. "You could hear gunfire everywhere, even my 16-year-old friends possessed guns and explosives."Following wide-scale public looting of Albania's army depots during the civil unrest of March 1997, over half a million military weapons and tons of ammunition fell into the hands of civilians. Some weapons were trafficked to Greece, Kosova and elsewhere, but many remained in Albania. The Government has been only able to recover 30% of the stolen weapons. Like everyone in Gramsh, Zamira's father got a gun and ammunition during the looting. The impact on his family was devastating. Zamira and her brothers and sisters lived in terror. "When he was drunk, we children would sit in the corner of the room trembling out of fear. My dad used to threaten our mother with the gun," she says. Zamira wanted to throw the gun away but knew she would be in trouble. "My father spoke to the gun as if speaking to his child. 'My darling one' he would say, and my heart would always break, hearing him speak like that," she says. Zamira remembers seeing the leaflets and TV reports about a UN project offering to build roads and repair the school in exchange for the weapons. "I had of course learned in school about the UN but we never thought to have a UN presence in my village in our district," she recalls. The villagers decided they wanted to exchange their guns to repair the road, which often became impassable during winter. It meant children could get to school and men like Zamira's father could take produce to the market When her father announced that he would hand in his gun, Zamira and her mother were overjoyed. He was filmed on television calling on his friends to turn in their weapons too. From that day, Zamira's family life changed. Life changed in the village too. "Now we can go to school even in the hardest of winters, now we have a better economy at home, and what is more important we are safe. We now greatly thank UN, UNDP for an excellent programme which has changed the lives of Gramsh citizens; which has changed my life," Zamira says. The Gramsh Pilot Programme "Weapons in Exchange for Development" was conceived by the UN Department of Disarmament Affairs and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The programme uses a combination of public awareness and community-based development projects to encourage people to voluntarily return the weapons. Nearly 6,000 weapons and 137 tons of ammunition have been collected in Gramsh and $1 million worth of development projects carried out, including road repairs, telecommunications and school rehabilitation. Since its success, the Albanian government is working with the UN to expand the programme in two other districts Elbasan and Diber. The spread of small arms and light weapons and their illegal trade has devastated societies and caused incalculable human suffering. More than 500 million — one for every 12 people — are in circulation around the world. They have been the weapons of choice in 46 out of 49 major conflicts since 1990, causing millions of deaths about 90% of them civilians and 80 per cent women and children. The United Nations held a conference on small arms July 2001 in New York. FIND OUT MORE about the different ways the UN works to promote peace. Go to the links next to Zamira and her friends. ADDITIONAL PEACE STORIES: Andres is in a new field Marie helps build peace | A star shoots for peace Photo credit: Nora Kushti |
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