No nukes, no war, no warming!
by Drs. Angelika Claussen, Harrison Kuria Karime, Bimal Khadka, and Knut Mork Skagen
“What are you guys doing here?” As the first IPPNW delegation attending the UN climate summit (COP28), this was a question we heard often. For years, the security sector has described climate change as a “threat multiplier,” retooling the crisis into an argument for increased defence research and spending. The UN climate negotiations have, on the other hand, avoided mentioning the damage inflicted by military activity on people, ecosystems and the climate.
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Although, according to the UN Charter, the United Nations was established to “maintain international peace and security,” it has often fallen short of this goal. Russia’s ongoing military invasion of Ukraine and the more recent Israeli-Palestinian war in Gaza provide the latest examples of the world organization’s frequent paralysis in the face of violent international conflict.
Read more…Changing paradigm of war–increasing humanitarian crisis
by Dr. Arun Mitra
War is the most serious threat to public health with catastrophic effects on infrastructure and environment and accounts for more deaths & disability than many major diseases combined. It destroys families, communities and sometimes whole cultures. It channels limited resources away from health and other social needs. Any nuclear exchange can be an existential threat to humanity.
Read more…We are stronger together: Reflections on 2023
by Dr. Sally Ndung’u, IPPNW At-Large Board Member and XXIII IPPNW Congress President
The XXIII IPPNW World Congress – Mombasa, Kenya
2023 was a climax year in my medical peace advocacy work. The year started with a lot of hope; at the time, hope to successfully host the very first IPPNW World Congress in Africa and therefore give an opportunity to many students and young doctors from my beautiful continent to experience the magic that is in IPPNW Congresses. I had only attended one IPPNW World Congress before in 2017, and the great experience gained learning about various indirect determinants of health such as violence and climate change was enough to push me to host this Congress and steer more local and international discussions and solutions surrounding these crucial topics. Therefore, on April 25th to 29th, 2023, IPPNW Kenya with myself leading as the Congress President managed to host slightly over 200 healthcare providers and medical students (both physically and virtually) at the XXIII IPPNW World Congress, “Disarmament, Climate Crisis and Health”. The Congress held at the Travelers Beach Hotel in Mombasa, Kenya was preceded by a successful 500km 5-day IPPNW bike tour from Nairobi to Mombasa that aimed to raise awareness on climate change and how it affects health in addition to encouraging locals to embrace cleaner means of transport.
Read more…The fallacy of deterrence
by Kati Juva
The idea of deterrence is that when the adversary is aware of your capacity to punish it very forcefully (to make a counterstrike) for its unwanted behaviour (using nuclear weapons), they will make a rational decision not execute the unwanted act. Otherwise, they would also be destroyed.
This has been the mantra of all nuclear weapons states since the beginning of the nuclear arms race. That nuclear arms actually safeguard the peace between nuclear powers, when no one dares to use them.
Unfortunately, there are terrible flaws in this reasoning.
Read more…The TPNW provides hope for nuclear disarmament: Part 3
Written by Dr. Lars Pohlmeier, Co-Chair of IPPNW Germany, and translated by Stella Ziegler, IPPNW International Student Representative
This article was originally published on IPPNW Germany‘s blog in German following the second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, 27 November – 1 December in NYC. This is the final part of a three-part blog series by IPPNW Germany members.
The UN Conference of States showed signs of determination for disarmament, and for a few days at the United Nations in New York, the world was something like “all right”. Speaker after speaker called on the world community of states to consistently disarm nuclear weapons and announced that they would take all necessary measures to do so.
Let’s say “almost all”, because the NATO countries Germany and Belgium, which had attended the conference as observers, were unimpressed by this and took the hard NATO nuclear weapons line. First and foremost, this was embarrassing. Even more so as, in the run-up to the conference at the end of October, the UN General Assembly had for the first time called by an overwhelming majority for concrete activities to research the health consequences of nuclear weapons development. Only North Korea, Russia and the NATO states France and Great Britain had refused to do so.
Read more…YouthMSP in NYC: Part 2
Written by Sarah Kuiter and Lea Dittmar, IPPNW Germany Student Leaders, and translated by Stella Ziegler, IPPNW International Student Representative
This article was originally published on IPPNW Germany‘s blog in German following Youth for TPNW‘s YouthMSP on 28 November. This is part-two of a three-part blog series by IPPNW Germany members.
Tuesday lunchtime, 12:30 pm at the United Nations Church Centre: Almost 100 young people from over 20 countries around the world are meeting for the YouthMSP, a youth conference taking place in parallel to the 2MSP in the building on the opposite side of the street. Two panel discussions took place with a view of the UNHQ building, followed by a discussion round in small groups. Topics included the implementation of the TPNW (Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons) with a focus on Articles 6 and 7. Seth Sheldon spoke a lot about the so-called principle of universalisation, which we had also encountered at the campaigners’ meeting on Sunday. What was particularly important here was that the TPNW is not as complicated as it might seem at first glance: anyone can understand it and spread the values and norms that the treaty conveys.
Read more…The first days in New York City: Part 1
Written and translated by Stella Ziegler, IPPNW International Student Representative
This article was originally published on IPPNW Germany‘s blog in German following the ICAN Campaigners Meeting on 26 November. This is part-one of a three-part blog series by IPPNW Germany members.
The Second Meeting of States Parties (2MSP) has begun!
What does this mean and what is happening? In our first blog post, we want to give an overview of what is happening at the MSP, what the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) is, and what IPPNW’s role will be there. In addition, there have already been a few actions worldwide to draw international attention to the conference.
Read more…What happened to Sweden’s leadership on climate and nuclear disarmament?
Newsweek has published an excellent opinion piece by Dr. Vendela Englund Burnett, chair of Swedish Physicians Against Nuclear Weapons, and Sverker Sörlin, professor of environmental history at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. The authors criticize the current, right-wing Swedish government for “giving up Sweden’s long-standing leadership on decarbonization and disarmament and backtracking on our previous commitments….Sweden’s procrastination and backsliding on two of the biggest threats of our time are both morally offensive and depressingly ineffective.” Read the entire article here.
Replacing a disastrous war with a just peace in Ukraine
Although the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has captured the world’s horrified attention, the war in Ukraine has had even more terrible consequences. Grinding on for nearly two years, Russia’s massive military invasion of that country has taken hundreds of thousands of lives, created millions of refugees, wrecked Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and economy, and consumed enormous financial resources from nations around the world.
And yet, despite the Ukraine War’s vast human and economic costs, there is no sign that it is abating. Russia and Ukraine are now bogged down in very bloody military stalemate, with about a fifth of Ukraine’s land occupied and annexed by Russia.
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IPPNW peace and health blog 