Small Arms Violence, ISCASA, and the IPPNW Students’ Congress

by Tova Fuller

Previous to the IPPNW Students’ Congress, several students including Nigerian student and new International Student Representative Ehase Agyeno, American students Jack Wang and Tova Fuller, and Latin American students Nidia Rodriguez (of Ecuador) and Cesar Aleman (of Nicaragua) decided to form a group that would provide cohesion to student work on small arms . This group, entitled the International Student Coalition to Abolish Small Arms (ISCASA) would work parallel to existant IPPNW program, Aiming for Prevention, to draw parallels between small arms violence on different continents and provide support to involved students.

During the IPPNW Students’ Congress, students from several continents presented on small arms and light weapons – presenters included Abhinav Singh and Andrew Winnington, both of whom presented during plenary Session II: Modes of Destruction. Furthermore, a later workshop highlighted the work of Kenyan student Walter Odhiamso (check back soon for photos), Nigerian student Mansur Ramalan, Latin American students and American students. At the end of this workshop, Tova Fuller moderated a discussion of where ISCASA is going, and handed out a report detailing her current knowledge of small arms work. An idea that was presented was the creation of a virtual map of the world on the IPPNW students’ website, with hyperlinks on countries where student work on small arms is being done, along with key facts and details about this work and links to One Bullet Stories. During the following discussion, students were encouraged to share ideas for resources they think would be helpful in their own work including, but not limited to:

• A list of funding resources
• Victim testimonies (perhaps informally, and not via One Bullet Stories)
• A photo gallery
• Short versions of clinical data that one can present easily
• Research on trade and production specific to high conflict areas

Students present at the congress agreed on having conference calls via Skype every 2-3 months, and will be communicating via the ISCASA google group.

Walter Odhiamso presenting on clinical research on small arms in Kenya