Ações | Dhesarme

actions

Dhesarme carries out its activities through three main areas of action

Activism

By activism, we mean raising awareness, building capacity, and mobilizing civil society to act proactively across different social spheres in support of the goals and values promoted by Dhesarme.

Knowledge Production

We conduct research on international legal frameworks related to disarmament, arms control, and human security, analyzing the global landscape and Brazil’s role in these agendas. We also produce and translate official documents, treaties, reports, and specialized materials with the aim of expanding access to information in Portuguese.

In partnership with universities, we offer lectures, courses, and training initiatives, contributing to the development of new researchers and the critical dissemination of knowledge.

advocacy

We closely follow Brazilian foreign policy, monitoring the country’s compliance with the international obligations it has undertaken in the field of disarmament, and advocating for policies that promote peace and uphold the primacy of human rights, as established in the 1988 Federal Constitution, and consistent with the principles of International Humanitarian Law. At the international level, we monitor multilateral negotiations, treaties, conferences, state positions, and emerging trends in order to identify opportunities, risks, and challenges that impact the protection of civilians and the effective consolidation of International Humanitarian Law.

projects

Realização de exibições de filmes e documentários que abordam os impactos humanitários da violência armada e a importância do Direito Internacional Humanitário. Após as exibições, são promovidos debates abertos que utilizam o audiovisual como ferramenta de aprofundamento e reflexão crítica sobre os efeitos das armas indiscriminadas e de destruição em massa, especialmente sobre populações civis. Nesse contexto, o cinema é mobilizado como recurso pedagógico para estimular o pensamento crítico, a empatia e a análise social, por meio de atividades abertas à comunidade.

Promoção de encontros mensais dedicados à leitura, ao debate e à reflexão crítica sobre Desarmamento Humanitário e Direito Internacional Humanitário. Esses encontros fomentam a troca de conhecimentos e o aprofundamento das discussões entre os participantes, contando também com a participação de professores e pesquisadores, que contribuem para o compartilhamento de experiências, o esclarecimento de conceitos e a circulação de materiais acadêmicos.

O objetivo é amplificar as vozes de sobreviventes de armas ilegais ou restritas pelo Direito Internacional Humanitário, colocando suas histórias pessoais no centro do debate sobre desarmamento humanitário. Já em andamento rm nossas redes sociais, o projeto consiste em vídeos curtos nos quais membros da Dhesarme recontam histórias de sobreviventes de diferentes armamentos, com o objetivo de tornar esse debate mais acessível, plural e ancorado na experiência humana.

O projeto Vozes Jovens pelo Desarmamento tem como objetivo amplificar as vozes de jovens ativistas que atuam no campo do desarmamento humanitário em diferentes regiões do mundo. A iniciativa busca evidenciar que, globalmente, existem jovens engajados na construção de um mundo mais seguro, livre de armas que causam impactos humanitários indiscriminados. O projeto se baseia na realização de entrevistas com jovens ativistas que atuam nas temáticas trabalhadas pela Dhesarme e as matérias completas são publicadas mensalmente no site da Dhesarme.

Research and University Extension

The research and extension project “Humanitarian Disarmament: A Political Approach” was created in 2014 by Professor Gustavo Oliveira Vieira and is currently carried out at the University of Latin American Integration (UNILA). The project aims to engage students, especially from the International Relations and Integration program, with Dhesarme and with major international disarmament and arms control campaigns, such as ICBL-CMC, Control Arms, ICAN, and Stop Killer Robots, which represent what is known as “global civil society.”

The project develops training activities for new researchers and peace activists, promoting the study and critical investigation of issues related to humanitarian disarmament and arms control, while also supporting Dhesarme’s initiatives with political actors so that they take concrete positions on humanitarian and security issues, both nationally and internationally. Students analyze international dynamics related to:

The eradication of landmines, cluster munitions, and nuclear weapons;
The control of the arms trade, both national and international;
The understanding and prevention of armed violence;
The regulation of the use of less-lethal weapons and the prohibition of the development of autonomous weapons.

The project is grounded in the understanding of humanitarian disarmament as an alternative to a military-strategic approach, prioritizing the protection of civilian populations and the progress achieved by global campaigns. Based on an Action-Research methodology, students combine theory and practice by participating in international campaigns, developing studies, and expanding public debate on peace, security, and human rights.

The relationship with Dhesarme

The extension project and Dhesarme (Brazilian Action for Humanitarian Disarmament) are distinct and complementary initiatives. While Dhesarme is an autonomous civil society organization, with ongoing work in activism, advocacy, and knowledge production, the extension project is an academic program linked to UNILA, aimed at training new researchers and activists.

In practice, the project functions as the main gateway to the field of humanitarian disarmament within the university. Through it, students have the opportunity to learn about and collaborate with the main international disarmament campaigns, such as ICBL-CMC, Control Arms, ICAN, and Stop Killer Robots, in addition to developing research and advocacy skills and, throughout their trajectory, engaging more broadly with Dhesarme as associates of the organization.