Campaigns / Issues
Weapons Companies & Influence
The proliferation of weapons is one of the greatest threats to peace today. The global weapons industry profits from war and insecurity, and is associated with corruption and human rights violations. The Australian government has committed to making Australia a ‘top ten’ arms exporter, investing billions of dollars to grow a domestic arms industry. Our […]
Climate Emergency
Peace is the key enabler of the cooperative action needed to address our climate emergency.
Healthcare Not Warfare
Healthcare, not warfare, must be explicitly affirmed as a national and global goal, and resources committed to achieving it.
Action on Australian Arms Exports
As the war in Yemen enters its 5th year, Australia must end military exports to Saudi Arabia and UAE.
Quit Nukes
If you have money in Superannuation, you may be investing in the world’s worst weapons.
War Memorial
The Australian War Memorial seeks and accepts sponsorships from the world’s largest multinational weapons manufacturers. They have no place in a memorial to our war dead.
Health Professionals Statement on Nuclear Ban Treaty
Medical Association for Prevention of War urges health professionals, students, professional associations, and health organisations to sign our statement urging an Australian commitment to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Other Weapons
Chemical and biological weapons, along with nuclear weapons, are termed “weapons of mass destruction” because of their large scale indiscriminate effects, although of these three classes of weapons, nuclear weapons are by far the most destructive.
However there are other weapons that kill on a very large scale every year.
Small arms have a devastating impact on health. They are the major cause of civilian casualties in modern conflicts, and Global Issues estimates that some 300,000 to 500,000 people around the world are killed by them each year. Gun Policy states that there are more than 875 million firearms in the world.
Australian Militarism
Australia has been continuously at war since 2001, when we joined the US invasion of Afghanistan following the terrorist attacks of September 11 that year. This is the longest period of warfare we have ever been engaged in. We joined the illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003, which increased Australia’s risk as a terrorist target. Australian leaders have continued to commit our troops to counter-productive and ill-advised US military ventures in the Middle East and Afghanistan, which create immense human suffering.
Nuclear Chain
There is a clear and ongoing link between nuclear weapons, nuclear power generation and the nuclear fuel chain.
Nuclear weapons
Education, advocacy and campaigning on nuclear weapons issues are core to the work of MAPW. Nuclear weapons represent a major existential threat. No emergency response is possible, and the only ethical approach is to prevent their use.
In 2007, MAPW and IPPNW launched the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear weapons (ICAN). ICAN is the core commitment of MAPW and IPPNW to education of the community as well as advocacy with governments towards a nuclear weapons free world. Along with partners such as the Mayors for Peace international campaign, ICAN is raising a strong international voice for nuclear abolition.