Initiatives to collect and destroy handguns and other small arms, especially in countries with high homicide rates, such as Brazil and South Africa, help to bring down the number of homicides, a worldwide survey indicates.

About 490 000 homicides are committed worldwide each year, and in about 60% of homicides the weapons used are small arms. By comparison, the annual number of deaths from war and conflict is estimated at between 52 000 and 184 000.

The Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, which carried out the survey, says that children and teenagers are affected by armed violence in ways different …