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Tête-à-tête
with Caecilie Buhmann
 A promising IPPNW student leader
and founding coordinator of NWIP
(Nuclear Weapons Inheritance Project), Caecilie Buhmann speaks to
e-Pulse about
NWIP and IPPNW.
1. How did NWIP come into
existence?
Dr Hans
Levander, an active IPPNW physician in Sweden
presented the idea to us - Ernesto Guevera and me while we were the
international medical student representatives to IPPNW in 2000.
Initial
group was started at European student meeting in Sweden
in 2001
and consisted of around 10 students. Some of the members including me
went to Russia
soon
after the meeting as part of the Dialogues with Decision-Makers
project, where
we had our first dialogue. Soon, though, we were only 4 left in the
group and
over the next year until the spring 2002 when we went to France, the UK
and India and Pakistan.
We had a lot
of problems in the beginning; we had no contacts and
our ideas of how to undertake the project were changing all the time as
we
gained more experience. This made it hard to motivate people to join
our group.
Looking back into the first year – we were really horrible! We
basically had
very little clues what we were doing…. But, that doesn’t mean that it
wasn’t
worth doing. It was completely a novel idea to apply the dialogue
method
developed by the Oxford Research Group to large scale dialogues with
students
and only as we tried it we were able to improve it. Meanwhile, we also
gradually
gained more knowledge and became better at using the dialogue method.
In 2002, we
felt the trial period was over and we had to make a big
decision of whether to continue the project. At that point we felt that
we were
doing something valuable and therefore Richard Fristedt from Sweden
and I
decided to continue. One major change was made though – we felt we
could have
used some training and help in the beginning, and introduced the idea
of
trainings as an integral part of the project and as a means to motivate
and
empower new project members and students in general. The first training
was in Copenhagen
for a weekend
in December 2002 when a new project group was formed. Since then the
project
has expanded, improved and changed to what it is today. Very
importantly,
however, it's not a stationary project. NWIP today is very different
from what
it was 4 years ago and as a new generation of international
coordinators have
taken over the project we are certain that it will keep changing and
improving.
2. Why do
you think
medical students should be concerned with nuclear weapons?
According to
WHO, Nuclear weapons continue to be the greatest
immediate threat to human health, because no other weapon is so
powerful and
can result in so long-term effects on health continuing for many future
generations to come. In addition to the horrible health effects of
nuclear
weapons production, testing, handling and use, nukes are part of a
larger
system of power that shapes the world order today. The same power
relations and
life philosophy underlies the widespread inequality, poverty, conflict
and
disease that affects a majority of the
world’s population. Nuclear weapons are the logical tool in a strategy
of
military defence, deterrence and short-term solutions that
characterises the
“security” concepts of today. We need to change these if we want the
world to
be a better place. We need to overcome the threat to human development,
security and health that nuclear weapons pose and as medical students
subscribing to a medical ethic, we cannot sit on the periphery and wait
for
others to do it.
3. What has
NWIP achieved
until now?
This is the
first truly international IPPNW student project
connecting several regions. And, this is the only project that has
fostered
true cooperation between students and doctors. We have helped
facilitate the
start of new student groups in several countries and many existing
groups, that
were not traditionally working on disarmament have taken on disarmament
work as
part of the NWIP or as separate projects. It has also tried to make the
issue
of disarmament relevant to post-cold war students.
Besides, it
has been able to create a model for projects on other
topics. This is mainly because the model of 'students training
students' with
interactive methods has proved to be very empowering and many new ideas
regarding NWIP and other areas have developed from our trainings. I
think it
also makes the project sustainable, which is a big challenge for its
members
and provides a living proof of the capacity of students to address
complicated
topics.
It has been
successful to incorporate knowledge from traditionally
different areas such as economics, peace through health, globalization
theories
and human development. It has successfully managed to grow from 4
persons to 4
regions, and to hand it over to the new generation of student
leaders.
4. Do you
think nuclear
war is a real threat today compared to during the cold war? Why?
The Cold War
had a balance of powers which the post-Cold War world
does not. In today's world, the power relations are compounded by the
upsurge
of HIV, inequality, poverty, war on terror, extremism and numerous
violent
conflicts. These have increased the risk of a nuclear weapon being
used.
Possible nuclear terrorism and unbridled proliferation are the worst
facets of
nuclear threats in the present world.
5. Which
regions are
especially threatened by nuclear weapons?
All! The
Middle–East and South Asia
probably suffer the most immediate threat of a nuclear war, but with
the risk of
nuclear terrorism and the new development of mini-nukes and bunker
busters any
country could be attacked by a conventional or an improvised nuclear
device.
The recent failure of progress in the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the
work of
countries like Iran
to get nuclear weapons make the hopes for nuclear disarmament seem even
more
dim than we had hoped in our optimism after the Cold War.
6. What
special features
can students bring to the global peace and disarmament movement?
Students
bring energy and new ways of thinking. The young students
have the real potential of addressing youth and reaching across
borders.
Students and young doctors will inherit the world, and have a powerful
voice
that in the past has made a great impression on decision-makers. We are
able to
express our thoughts and carry out our work in a way that is relevant
to other
members of the young generation. Physicians can learn from us and be
inspired –
and vice versa. We should use our incredible network of resource
persons in
IPPNW and in other abolition movements more than we are doing now.
7. What
challenges did
you face during your time as NWIP coordinator?
My biggest
challenge was how to make disarmament look relevant to
my peers. All writings on nuclear issues tend to be complicated,
technical and
boring, which is not true. Besides I had to motivate students towards
volunteerism despite the lack of time, money and chances to meet
face-to-face.
Finally, it was a challenge to make the project sustainable and
recognized, by
informing about it widely and, motivating students and constantly
communicating
with physicians and staff about the potentials of the project. I am
proud to
see that we actually managed!
8. What do
you think
should be the way ahead for NWIP and the IPPNW student movement?
NWIP needs
to renew itself thinking broadly on its priorities and
structure as it grows, in the background of limited human resources but
so many
possibilities. It has to continue to work closely with physicians. A
new
generation of dedicated students has taken over; they need to shape the
project
according to their own belief s and goals based on the truly
international and
diverse character of project.
IPPNW needs
thinking in the broader context. IPPNW members have to
share a vision for the future to be able to achieve its goals. We have
to focus
on advocacy, research and education. We need to be interactive, and
take
responsibility for reaching out to peers, academics, decision-makers
and most
importantly the next generation. We must seek to understand the world
around
us, integrate different topics of interest and relevance and finally
build
bridges to fill the gaps between aspirations and achievements, young
and old
generations and so on.
In the mean
time we have to inspire, empower, respect and
understand each other.
 9.
Do you have any
messages to the medical students who are yet to get involved in IPPNW?
If we don't
take responsibility, who will? In a global world all
actions have impact on each other. The students need to be an example
to follow.
Remember, we can make a change if we really want to.
Caecilie
Buhmann
International
Coordinator of and co-founder of NWIP 2001 – 2004
IPPNW
International Student Representative 2000-2002
Now
member of the IPPNW Board of Executives
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