The International Student Movement of IPPNWi is proud to announce the development of an international small arms action group for its student members, The International Student Coalition to Abolish Small Arms. This project builds on 'Aiming for Prevention', IPPNW's campaign to prevent injury and death from small arms and light weapons.

Today, 600 million small arms remain in circulation around the world - and most are in civilian hands. Gun violence causes 300,000 deaths and millions of injuries every year, and access to small arms is a critical factor underpinning the escalation of violence in civilian conflict, crime and socioeconomic insecurity. The United Nations Development Program (UNiDP) recognises gun violence and armed conflict as two of the most critical impediments to economic development.

The International Student Coalition to Abolish Small Arms aims to document, support and promote the work of student members collecting data about the impact of small arms. Students can help to reduce the impact of gun violence by collecting clinical and other objective data to educate communities and policy makers about the health, economic and social costs of small arms.

Students members can also make a difference by running advocacy and peer education events on their campus. Contact your National Student Representatives, Sarah Gardiner and Angela Wilson at students [at] mapw [dot] org [dot] au if you're interested in doing more! Email students [at] mapw [dot] org [dot] au

• International Student Coalition to Abolish Small Arms http://www.ippnw-students.org/smallarmsP.html 
• International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) www.iansa.org
• Small Arms Survey (Geneva) www.smallarmssurvey.org
• Gun Policy News (University of Sydney) www.gunpolicy.org

The International Student Movement of IPPNWi is proud to announce the development of an international small arms action group for its student members, The International Student Coalition to Abolish Small Arms. This project builds on 'Aiming for Prevention', IPPNW's campaign to prevent injury and death from small arms and light weapons.

Today, 600 million small arms remain in circulation around the world - and most are in civilian hands. Gun violence causes 300,000 deaths and millions of injuries every year, and access to small arms is a critical factor underpinning the escalation of violence in civilian conflict, crime and socioeconomic insecurity. The United Nations Development Program (UNiDP) recognises gun violence and armed conflict as two of the most critical impediments to economic development.

The International Student Coalition to Abolish Small Arms aims to document, support and promote the work of student members collecting data about the impact of small arms. Students can help to reduce the impact of gun violence by collecting clinical and other objective data to educate communities and policy makers about the health, economic and social costs of small arms.

Students members can also make a difference by running advocacy and peer education events on their campus. Contact your National Student Representatives, Sarah Gardiner and Angela Wilson at students [at] mapw [dot] org [dot] au if you're interested in doing more! Email students [at] mapw [dot] org [dot] au

• International Student Coalition to Abolish Small Arms http://www.ippnw-students.org/smallarmsP.html 
• International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) www.iansa.org
• Small Arms Survey (Geneva) www.smallarmssurvey.org
• Gun Policy News (University of Sydney) www.gunpolicy.org

Are you currently studying medicine or other health disciplines? Interested in meeting other health students both here and around the world who are interested in the impact of conflict on human health? Want to advocate for a more peaceful, healthy planet?

If so, why not become a student member of MAPW! MAPW has student members at universities across the country. We organise advocacy and peer education events, participate in local and international projects to raise awareness about issues including the effect of conflict on health, small arms violence, nuclear disarmament and safety and cluster munitions and network with other global health groups at medical schools across Australia.

There are many opportunities for you to get involved, wherever you are! You can help MAPW by volunteering in our main office in Melbourne, running advocacy and education events or organising MAPW speakers to visit your campus.

MAPW has two National Student Representatives, Sarah Gardiner (Flinders University) and Angela Wilson (University of Melbourne), who can help you get involved, organise local events and put you in touch with your MAPW State Branch.

Interested? Why not check our membership page, and drop Sarah and Angela an email at students [at] mapw [dot] org [dot] au and help us make a difference!

Are you currently studying medicine or other health disciplines? Interested in meeting other health students both here and around the world who are interested in the impact of conflict on human health? Want to advocate for a more peaceful, healthy planet?

If so, why not become a student member of MAPW! MAPW has student members at universities across the country. We organise advocacy and peer education events, participate in local and international projects to raise awareness about issues including the effect of conflict on health, small arms violence, nuclear disarmament and safety and cluster munitions and network with other global health groups at medical schools across Australia.

There are many opportunities for you to get involved, wherever you are! You can help MAPW by volunteering in our main office in Melbourne, running advocacy and education events or organising MAPW speakers to visit your campus.

MAPW has two National Student Representatives, Sarah Gardiner (Flinders University) and Angela Wilson (University of Melbourne), who can help you get involved, organise local events and put you in touch with your MAPW State Branch.

Interested? Why not check our membership page, and drop Sarah and Angela an email at students [at] mapw [dot] org [dot] au and help us make a difference!

Thanks to the many people who have helped create this new website. MAPW members willingly gave up their time to share their views on the style and content they wanted. A dozen student members donated part of their summer break to check and categorise pages from our old website. A generous donation funded some of the costs, along with many hundreds of volunteer hours.

The technical and design details were worked on by a committee of members and supporters - Galen White, Chris Miller, Cecily Gilbert and Angela Wilson. As the launch date drew nearer, this team was joined by Dimity Hawkins, Adam Dempsey, Sue Wareham, Priyal Rama Asary, Torika Bolatagici and Leanne Minshull who wote new pages, transferred pages from the extensive old website, and proof read the new site. Branch coordinators and media spokespersons sent us their details.

An especially huge thanks must go to our MAPW intern, Moritz Kuett from Darmstadt University in Germany. Moritz built the site, project managed the team, advised us on the most effective way to present the content, and remained calm to the end. Thank you, and our very best wishes for your future studies!

Please send comments, favourite links, news items and photos: and remind me if you should be on our thank-you list! Nancy Atkin, EO

The Government of Norway, with the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the Hoover Institution, convened an international conference on Achieving the Vision of a World Free of Nuclear Weapons, in Oslo on 26 – 27 February 2008. The conference explored how all states –  with or without nuclear weapons – can contribute to reducing nuclear dangers, to overcome the current impasse in the nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime. Conference papers are available at disarmament.nrpa.no/

MAPW Victoria is proud to once again support this excellent 10-week course which studies our increasingly complex and globalising world, and Australia's place in it.

The principal facilitator is La Trobe University’s Professor Joseph Camilleri.

Through workshop discussions, lectures, simulations, debates and guest practitioner and expert interviews, course participants become deeply engaged with the subject material. Many MAPW active members have been inspired by taking this course.

Dates: Tuesday evenings 5.15pm—9.15pm, 29 April—1 July 

Venue: Australian Volunteers International, 88 Kerr St, Fitzroy

Read more details or ask for more information from owic2008 [at] wachy [dot] com

• MAPW will fund three full scholarships for students in medical or health care courses. Email mapw [at] mapw [dot] org [dot] au now for application details.