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“The light of a thousand
suns in the sky
shall not match, My Lord, thy brilliance.”
R.J. Oppenheimer
Director
of the Manhattan Project
after the first nuclear test
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Such was the
fascination
on the advent of
the Nuclear Age. But today, these
stockpiles of Nuclear Weapons around the world are threatening our own
existence. They have been aptly described by Ms. Arundhati Roy as
‘man’s
challenge to god ’. Officially now, there are seven Nuclear Weapon
states and
their number is silently increasing. Many of these weapons are on ‘hair
trigger
alert’ with the possibility of accidental launch or terrorist attack.
 NWIP is a
student project of IPPNW and its Swedish
affiliate SLMK. The project
is funded by the Nordic
countries and international fundraising done by the active members. It
is
coordinated by IPPNW students Richard Fristedt from Sweden
and Caecilie Buhmann from Denmark. It aims to
educate
students and future decision makers of Nuclear Weapon
states about Nuclear Weapons and start opinion building amongst them.
Furthermore, it strives to establish new student chapters and train a
core
group of students to dialogue, with their peers in the future, thereby
creating
a network of people working together to raise awareness about the
threat of
nuclear arms .
Peer
education is being
used to influence students in
nuclear
weapons states because we belive they are important opinion-makers and
future
decision-makers. The NWIP use the Oxford Research Group
dialogue
technique
as a method to suggest alternative security strategies and thereby put
disarmament
back on the students' agenda.
The
Dialogue method is based on the fact
that change happens most effectively at the level of the individual
through the
collective exploration of thought and opinion. A common ground is
established
to overcome polarity of opinion as a first step and then building on
this by
further interaction. Different systems of thought with different
possibilities
can bring about a real change in students.
 The
International student group,
coordinated by Inga Blum from Germany and Camilla Mattsson from Sweden,
has formed delegations to travel to the capitals of Nuclear Weapon
states, the US,
Russia, India, Pakistan, China, UK and
France.
Dialogues with students take place at faculties of health sciences,
political
sciences and natural sciences. In addition to the dialogue activities,
trainings
of already active and future active students in dialogue technique and
nuclear
weapons basics are undertaken. The international group serve as
resource
persons for the national groups after delegations and recruit new
members
from the national groups as well as from the IPPNW student
network. Furthermore
the project seeks to establish national groups of students in the
nuclear
weapon states who dialogue with peers on a continuous basis.
The
project is funded by IPPNW and its affiliates and received support form
the IPPNW Board of Directors and the International Medcial Student
Representatives.
The
group now has 25 active medical
students from Europe, Asia and the U.S. Over the last three years,
dialogues
have been undertaken with around 1000 students of Health science in
Russia,
France, India, the US, China, Pakistan and the U.K. More than 100
students from South Asia and Europe have
been
trained in dialogue technique and disarmament issues. Local students
form a
vital part of the Nuclear Weapons Inheritance Project as they would
continue
ongoing dialogue with their peers on a national level, with support
from the
international group.
IPPNW
physicians will be
undertaking dialogues with
decision-makers
simultaneously with the students dialogues. This gives rich opportunity
for
interaction between students and physicians. Every dialogue with
students and decision-makers will
be
evaluated by the international student group.
The
project has strategic importance in South
Asia. India and Pakistan are viewed as two states that are most likely
to have
a nuclear conflict. Neither Indian nor Pakistani assurances, nor claims
to
political maturity in both countries, have been enough to reduce these
fears.
Further Nuclear Weapon abolition will save ample funds for the welfare
projects
in these developing countries. However, the people of these countries
are
ignorant of these issues.
 Everyone
with interest
in disarmament is welcome to
join
the project. To participate in dialogues it is required that you have
participated
in the general work of the international group, have participated in
planning
of the delegation you will be taking part in, have studied the nuclear
field
and dialogue technique in advance and have undertaken a training (this
can
be done at your first delegation) and have participated in a few
dialogues
before you become an active part of the dialogue team. Furthermore it
is
expected that all students make an effort to fundraise for their own
and
the projects expenses.
This might sound
overwhelming, but the project has
experienced
members who can guide you in the beginning. Training and dialogues can
be
attended during your first visit and the project has an extensive
database
of documents and information that you can use as necessary. Therefore
all
it takes is that you have the energy and interest and take the time to
participate. In return you will get unforgettable experiences and you
will require an important
knowledge about disarmament and tools to be used in any work related to
advocacy
and conflict prevention.
The evaluation
report was presented to the IPPNW World Congress in Beijing in
September
2004 and can be downloaded by clicking on the link above. Reactions and
articles about the project can be viewed here.
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