ICM, along with the international bodies representing physicians, nurses,
physiotherapists and dentists, has called on governments to find non-violent
means to resolve conflict and bring about peace. The joint statement
stresses that war will impact most on civilians, especially women and
children. Read more...
http://www.internationalmidwives.org/pdf/CollateralDamage.pdf

See also news from USA
In the emergency petition presented to the U.N. Security
> Council on Monday, over a million people joined together to ask
> for tough inspections, not war.  It was an amazing and
> unprecedented show of global unity that brought folks from
> virtually every country together in one voice. (See below for
> a more detailed description of how Monday's delivery went.)
>
> Signing the petition is an important first step, but in the
> face of an ever-closer and still unjustified war, we need to
> escalate our activity.  That's why it's so important that
> every person who signed the emergency petition take the next
> step: joining the wave of candlelight vigils that will circle
> the globe this Sunday.  This is going to be a massive global
> event. Already -- just since Tuesday -- 1,605 vigils have been
> scheduled in 77 countries. You can see what vigils have been
> scheduled in your area, and sign up for one, at:
>
>    http://www.globalvigil.org
>
> The site will show you how many people are signed up to attend
> the vigils near you. Spread the word to your friends, have
> them sign up on the site, and we can all watch as the numbers
> grow.
>
> Beginning in New Zealand, these locally organized candlelight
> vigils will circle around the globe.  They'll be beautiful,
> powerful, and inspiring.  They'll send an eloquent and clear
> message that the world wants peace.  And they'll be supported
> by many religious leaders -- including Archbishop Desmond
> Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize winner -- who will help to
> articulate the moral case against war.
>
> Never before have so many coordinated vigils taken place
> around the globe.  We have the opportunity on Sunday to show
> just how the world feels about the war on Iraq -- but the
> impact depends on your participation.  Please take some time
> to join millions in countries around the world in a Global
> Vigil for Peace.  Sign up now at:
>
>    http://www.globalvigil.org
>
> If you can't make a vigil, you can still join the global
> action on Sunday.  Just put Christmas lights or anything that
> shines in your window on Sunday evening.
>
> As for our U.N. petition, we'll still be delivering updates
> to the Security Council, so if you have friends or
> colleagues who haven't signed, please ask them to go to:
>
>    http://www.moveon.org/emergency/
>
> Together, we can avert this war.
>
> Sincerely,
> --Carrie, Diane, Eli, Joan, Peter, Randall, Wes, and Zack
>     The MoveOn Team
>     March 12, 2003
>
> P.S. Here's a report from Diane Jones, the MoveOn member who
> pulled together the petition delivery on Monday:
>
> Dear MoveOn supporters,
>
> In a week's time, you helped us deliver the fastest-growing
> petition we've ever seen to each of the 15 U.N. Security
> Council member nations.  The meetings with Security Council
> members were accompanied by a press conference that helped to
> get our message out across the United States and beyond.
>
> To give you a sense of the scale involved, each copy of the
> petition was twelve boxes' worth of paper.  These boxes served
> as an impressive backdrop for our press conference, where
> MoveOn, American Friends Service Committee, and Win Without
> War representatives were joined by Ethan Hawke, Jessica Lange,
> and Steve Buscemi -- actors who helped to show the popular
> appeal of our call.  CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, Time Magazine, New
> York Times, L.A. Times, People Magazine, Inside Edition, and a
> long list of other media outlets were there to capture the
> moment.
>
> After the press conference, over 300 amazing New York City
> volunteers helped to deliver the boxes to the U.N. missions of
> each Security Council country.  These meetings were nothing
> short of inspiring.
>
> The coordinator of the Guinean mission meeting described her
> experience this way:
>
> "22 people attended.  I [said to the Guinean representative]
> that they, of all people, should vote NO WAR because they knew
> in their hearts what war was like and that we only knew it
> from our heads.  I mentioned a letter I read from a woman who
> had visited Iraq lately and wrote that Iraqis do not speak of
> the future because they do not believe they have one.
>
> He responded in English saying that Guinea was a very poor
> country but that they liked being free.  He said that they
> would rather be poor and free than rich and-- he extended his
> hands in front of him crossed at the wrists as if bound."
>
> Even when a few of the missions would not confirm an actual
> meeting, our MoveOn delegation arrived to officially present
> the petition to the Ambassador's office and to get a
> representative to meet with them on the spot.  Cameroon's
> mission was one such challenge, as described by the meeting
> coordinator:
>
> "Total success at Cameroon mission today! I was blown away by
> the preparation and eloquence and French-speaking (some) of
> the 16 or so people who showed up to deliver the petition.
> After a bit of checking [we were escorted] to a meeting room
> upstairs, where we sat around a table and people shared their
> prepared comments. Everyone was respectful but that didn't
> preclude displays of passion and emotion. . . . [One] woman,
> after saying she had never done anything like this before and
> was doing it because she was scared of what might happen, said
> on a lighter note that the Cameroonian Lions team had given
> her a lot of enjoyment over the years, which elicited some
> laughs from the reps."
>
> The German contingent also had a great experience:
>
> "We met with Dr. Hans Schumacher, Deputy Permanent
> Representative of Germany to the UN.  Dr. Schumacher
> interrupted a meeting to meet with us ... and gave us a warm
> welcome."  "About 20 people represented MoveOn.org. Lin Wefel
> [meeting coordinator] read from a prepared statement about the
> petitions that MoveOn.org had collected and our desire for a
> peaceful settlement to the Iraq crisis.
>
> Ambassador Schumacher welcomed the MoveOn.org representatives
> by saying, 'As far as this mission is concerned, you are
> coming in through open doors.' He noted that the German
> mission is opposed to war as a means of disarming Iraq.
>
> Ambassador Schumacher said his personal feeling was that the
> U.S. and Britain would not be able to get nine votes on the
> Security Council to pass another resolution on Iraq. He said
> that Germany believes that the existing UN resolutions have
> sufficient authority to disarm Iraq through vigorous arms
> inspections."
>
> We have received similar, often exuberant reports from the
> other meeting coordinators.  It was a powerful experience --
> and one you made possible by signing the petition.
>
> THANK YOU
>
> The U.N. Security Council mission meetings and petition
> delivery project, and our work for the preceding week was made
> possible by the incredibly hard work and generous financial
> contributions of members, hundreds of volunteers, and local
> and national organizations.  We deeply appreciate the
> assistance that we have received -- we couldn't have pulled
> this off without lots of lightning-speed help!
>
> Thanks go to the over 300 NYC volunteers who came out on
> Monday on extremely short notice to attend the mission
> meetings, hold banners, and generally increase our presence
> during the events.  Very special thanks goes to the team of
> volunteer coordinators, who used their commitment and
> ingenuity to pull off outstanding meetings.  They are: Tim
> Bailey, David Bogoslaw, Merrily Butler, Susan Chenelle,
> Jessica Flagg, Cheryl Guttman, Elinore Klein, Yvonne Lassalle,
> Judy Martialay, Carl Pritzkat, Rikki Reich, Sarah Richardson,
> David Roth, Kristin Roth-Ey, Michael Rothman, Bethene Trexel,
> and Lin Wefel.  Extra special thanks goes to Tim Bailey, who
> went the extra "hundred miles" to give his time, skills,
> enthusiasm, and unique gifts to make this happen.
>
> Many sincere thanks also to:
> Tom Andrews, Ira Arlook, Steve Buscemi, Sarah Clark, David
> Fenton, Trevor Fitzgibbon, Ethan Hawke, Jessica Lange, Mary
> Lord, Josh Lucas, Brendan McCarthy, Mary Ellen McNish,
> the American Friends Service Committee and the Win Without War
> coalition.
>
> The last thank you goes to every one of MoveOn's members and
> supporters.  We have to say it again -- you are making an
> incredible impact around the world.  We are honored and proud
> to work with you.
>
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