NuclearAbolitionDay.org launched at the United Nations in Geneva

PNND joined other organizations from around the world on Friday August 29 to launch NuclearAbolitionDay.org, a new platform for civil society actions and events to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons (‘Nuclear Abolition Day’).

Nuclear Abolition Day has been observed annually on September 26 since 2013, when it was established by the United Nations General Assembly to enhance public awareness and education about the threat posed to humanity and the planet by nuclear weapons and the necessity for their total elimination. The day serves to mobilize international efforts towards achieving the common goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world.

“The objective of the UN in establishing the day is laudable,” says Chris Guillot, co-founder of AwareNearth, one of the organizations joining with PNND to launch the new initiative. “However, the lack of engagement and good faith actions by UN Member States on nuclear disarmament is not just disappointing – it’s a dangerous failure. We must shift our mindset on nuclear risk now, for the sake of future generations.”  

“The International Court of Justice affirmed an unconditional obligation to achieve complete nuclear disarmament," says Alyn Ware, PNND Global Coordinator. "In order to fulfill this obligation, nuclear-armed States are required to meet their security needs without the reliance on nuclear weapons, and in accordance with the UN Charter prohibition on the threat or use of force.”

Appeal to governments

The initiative includes an appeal to governments to: 

• Affirm the inadmissibility of the threat or use of nuclear weapons;
• Implement this by standing down nuclear forces;
• Commit to achieving the global elimination of nuclear weapons no later than the 100th anniversary of the UN;
• Cut nuclear weapons budgets and investments; and 
• Redirect these funds to strengthen the UN, advance peacekeeping and conflict resolution, accelerate steps to protect the climate, and meet other human and economic needs.

“There are a number of pathways to reaching the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons,” says Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director of Western States Legal Foundation and North American Coordinator for Mayors for Peace. “But the nuclear-armed States and their allies must commit to ending reliance on the ever-more-dangerous doctrine of nuclear deterrence – the threatened use of nuclear weapons – as the basis for their national security."

"They could do this by negotiating a comprehensive and inclusive nuclear-weapons-convention similar to the Chemical Weapons Convention. Or they could start with a framework agreement on nuclear disarmament and fill in the details of the implementation mechanisms later. Or they could negotiate protocols that would enable them to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Under any of these pathways, the elimination of nuclear weapons no later than 2045 is imperative and is feasible."

"We urge individuals and organizations to endorse our Joint Appeal to governments to make this happen.”

Social media action

The initiative also launches a joint social media action Stop Nuclear Weapons: Peace is in our Hands to promote the day and the call to governments. Between now and September 26, and especially on Nuclear Abolition Day itself, individuals and organizations are encouraged to use their hands in symbolic and/or cooperative ways to promote nuclear disarmament - or use the NuclearAbolitionDay.org graphic depicting the classic nuclear disarmament logo inside the palm of a hand.  Photos or videos of these will be uploaded for social media promotion.

Natia Ninoshvili, PNND Program Officer elaborates that “through simple and symbolic actions, we can amplify a collective message: civic engagement and youth participation are essential to achieve a nuclear weapons-free world. Our social media initiative invites people from around the world to take part and send a clear message to take steps forward for nuclear disarmament.”

The social media action is taken in cooperation with the Not One Nuclear Explosion initiative organised by Youth4Disarmament, a project of the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs (UNODA).

"Nuclear weapons have returned to the centre of national security strategies and are being brandished as tools of coercion," Ms Izumi Nakamitsu, Head of UNODA, told the 11th General Conference of Mayors for Peace in Nagasaki on August 9. "Peace and security cannot be achieved through an arms race," but must be built on "dialogue, diplomacy, confidence building, transparency, and arms control and reduction."

Sep 26 and the 'Man who Saved the World'

September 26 is also the anniversary of an incident in 1983 when nuclear war “by accident” was narrowly avoided. 

“Colonel Stanislav Petrov, Duty Officer at a Russian nuclear early warning facility, broke protocol by not affirming to senior command an apparent incoming ballistic missile attack from the United States, which was later confirmed as a false alarm” reports Marc Finaud, Vice-President of Initiatives pour le désarmement nucléaire and PNND Coordinator for France. 

"If a situation were to arise either in the Russian nuclear command and control system or in the US one today, its doubtful, in the current geopolitical context of explicit nuclear threats, that a latter-day equivalent to Colonel Petrov would be there," says John Hallam, Nuclear Disarmament Campaigner for People for Nuclear Disarmament and PNND Coordinator for Australia. "The consequences for everyone and everything would then be catastrophic."

New York activities for September 26

In New York on September 26 there will be special commemoration events building public awareness through a multimedia interactive action that bridges art and advocacy.

“There is a stark dissonance between the rapid ticking of the Doomsday Clock closer than ever to midnight and the number of nuclear armed and allied States engaged in armed conflict with a retreat in the collective conscience and consciousness of the existential threat posed by nuclear weapons," explains Rebecca Shoot, PNND’s Senior Advisor and the Co-Convener of the ImPact Coalition on Strengthening International Judicial Institutions. "Our joint actions in New York aim to close this gap – especially for younger generations for whom the specter of nuclear war may not be felt as acutely.”      

From a nuclear test ban to a nuclear-weapon-free world

The NuclearAbolitionDay.org initiative was launched at a special event at the United Nations commemorating the International Day Against Nuclear Tests.

“Global nuclear testing has enabled the manufacture of weapons systems involving the planned death of hundreds of millions of human beings,” reflects General Bernard Norlain, Former Air Defense Commander and Air Combat Commander of the French Air Force and a speaker at the launch event. “It has also directly caused the deaths of nearly 2.5 million people living near test sites and led to radioactive fallout on a global scale…. We must strongly denounce the nuclear arms race in which nuclear-armed countries and their allies are engaged.”

“I believe we can plant the seeds of a future – where might is not measured in missiles, but in the strength of institutions that deliver justice, freedom, and opportunity... In democracies free of corruption… societies free of want...and the next generation, free of fear," said Michael Douglas, UN Messenger for Peace and a supporter of the NuclearAbolitionDay initiative, addressing the Speakers of the World’s Parliaments at the UN in Geneva. “Let us tell our story, expand our movement, and hope that together, we can create that future. There isn’t a moment to lose.”