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IPPNW

European IPPNW-Newsletter April

Dear friends,

our work brings new opportunities and we are facing new challenges. Urgent action is required to address the crisis on the Korean peninsula. Please see and sign the petition „back to the negotiation table“. Those of us who were able to attend the important ICAN Civil Society Forum in Oslo and the following Conference on Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons organized by the Norwegian government were impressed by a) the hundreds and hundreds of young people participating in the event and b) the possibly new process to move forward towards nuclear disarmament. Although the successfull meetings in Oslo do not make up for the failure of having an UN conference on a Weapons of Massdestruction Free Zone in the Middle East which was postponed in December 2012.

Best wishes

Lars Pohlmeier M.D.
European IPPNW-Vice President

Urgent Action: Korea crisis resolution

© Joseph A. Ferris

Many of us are scared about the heightened tension in the conflict on the Korean peninsula. A way to deal with that fear is to act. We invite you to join us in calling on the heads of states of nations that took part in the Six-Party Talks - the USA, North Korea, South Korea, China, Russia and Japan - to return to the negotiating table and prevent a nuclear catastrophe. Help us to get as many signatures as we can to show how much we care about this issue! Read more

Human Target Congress

International IPPNW-Congress on Social and Health Effects of the Global Arms Trade

From May 30 - June 2 hundreds of people from around the world will convene in the village of Villingen-Schwenningen at the edge of the Black Forest in southwest Germany to discuss problems and solutions about armed violence at “Human
Target: International Congress on Social and Health Effects of the Global Arms Trade.” IPPNW members and others concerned about the devastating social and health effects of the global arms trade will be among them. It is no accident that this congress will take place near the headquarters of Heckler & Koch, a major European arms manufacturer, located in the pretty little town of Oberndorf am Neckar. 

     

IPPNW Regional meeting in Macedonia

Struga, Macedonia

From May 24-26th, 2013 the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) and the Macedonian affiliate "Physicians for peace and social responsibility" will hold the 11th Regional meeting in Struga, Macedonia. This will be the second time that  Macedonia is hosting the participants from Germany, Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia  and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia, all of them committed to the main IPPNW goals.

Health consequences resulting from Fukushima

Since 2011, the food chain in Japan has been severely contaminated by radionuclides from Fukushima

On 11 March 2011, a nuclear catastrophe occurred at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan in the wake of an earthquake and due to serious safety deficiencies. The initial health consequences of the nuclear catastrophe are now, two years after the incident, scientifically verifiable. Similar to the case of Chernobyl, a decline in the birth rate was documented in the nine months following the nuclear catastrophe. In the Fukushima Prefecture alone, some 55,592 children were diagnosed with thyroid gland nodules or cysts. In the long term there are many expected cases of cancer due to Fukushima. A new report of IPPNW Germany undertakes three assessments of the expected incidence of cancer resulting from external exposure to radiation.

Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons

Representatives from 127 governments gathered in Oslo, Norway, from 4 to 5 March 2013 for the Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons. ICAN was the civil society partner and presented a video statement in the opening session as well as four oral interventions, which highlighted that any use of nuclear weapons would have catastrophic humanitarian consequences. Read more

    The delusional thinking behind a policy of 'nuclear deterrence'

    Medact report 'The delusional thinking behind a policy of nuclear deterrence'

    The report "The delusional thinking behind a policy of nuclear deterrence" was launched at the House of Lords on February 6th 2013. Speakers at the launch included Kate Hudson of CND, Ben Zala of the Oxford Research Group and Frank Boulton of Medact. For more details please email info@medact.org - all welcome! The report - dedicated to Gill Reeve former director of Medact - can be downloaded here. Download document.

    ICAN news: Nuclear Abolition Week, 6–13 July 2013

    Nuclear Abolition Week, 6–13 July 2013

    ICAN received many requests to transform Nuclear Abolition Day into a week of action. To facilitate this international mobilization, ICAN will develop captivating ideas and an advocacy strategy to make this yearly event a great success.
    Please also save the following date: PSR Finland will hold an international Congress "Nuclear Exists" from 18th -19th October, 2013. Among the invited speakers are H.E. President Michael Gorbachev and H.E. President Frederick William de Klerk