Aim for Change — New Ways to Address Youth and Gun Violence

Project Description:

Aim for Change is a youth-focused workshop developed for the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) to tackle the growing issue of gun violence around the world. The workshop gives youth who’ve been affected by this issue the opportunity to share their stories.

Funded by the United Nations (UN), Aim for Change was created as part of IANSA’s engagement with the UN “Civil society engagement in support of gender mainstreamed policies, programmes and actions in the fight against small arms trafficking and misuse, in line with the women, peace and security agenda”.

The nine-week project was developed by a multidisciplinary team of four students from the college’s Computer Programming, Graphic Design, Public Relations and Victimology programs. After consulting with IANSA, the team identified their client’s need to develop programming that provides youth in South Africa (who are exposed to gun violence and gangs in their community) a platform for sharing their experience and becoming advocates for change.

After researching themes related to youth and gun violence and interviewing subject matter experts, the team developed the following problem statement: How might after-school programming provide youth a positive platform for not only sharing their experience of living with gun violence but becoming advocates for change?

Aim for Change, is a two-hour after-school workshop that tasks 11-15-year-old students with developing a publication of their own illustrations, short stories, song lyrics and collages. By creating a zine, kids might challenge the problems they see in their communities (i.e. gun violence) and voice their thoughts and feelings in a safe, fun, artistic, creative, and engaging way.

To provide implementation logistics at ground level, the team also connected with Gun Free South Africa (GFSA), one of IANSA’s partners. Working with several of GFSA’s youth workers, the team learned firsthand what it’s like to be a child growing up in a community plagued by daily gun violence and gang activity.

Aim for Change was piloted by GFSA in South Africa in late July. A week later, the team presented project outcomes to the UN, at the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons – Seventh Biennial Meeting of States.

The long-term plan is for the workshop to expand globally through IANSA’s network of partners. The zines will be distributed in local communities, but IANSA hopes that as the workshop scales around the world, youth from different countries can one day exchange their zines with one another.

In developing Aim for Change, the team learned several lessons. First, collaborative design work can be effectively carried out in an online environment thanks to tools like Miro (a digital whiteboard) and Slack. Taking a co-design approach to the project meant learning to be flexible in responding to the feedback received from the client and partners, and changing direction when necessary. Strong teams know when to work together and when to lean on the strengths of each other. And finally, that open communication is the best way to overcome the challenge of coordinating meetings across two time zones!

To learn more, please visit iansa.org.

Contact the Team

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