Nuclear Weapon Free World: Global civil society event for UN Day for Nuclear Abolition
Event Date: 26th September 2020
Location: Internet
UNFOLD ZERO Newsletter
September 26, 2020
September 26 is the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
The UN General Assembly will hold a High Level Meeting on the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on Oct 2. #WeThePeoples2020, an initiative of more than 100 participating organizations and networks, is hosting a global civil society event running over 10 hours to commemorate the day.
Who is participating?
The event is moderated by Kehkashan Basu (UAE/Canada), Youth Ambassador for the World Future Council and Winner of the 2016 International Children’s Peace Prize, and Vanda Proskova (Czech Republic), Deputy Chair of the PragueVision Institute for Sustainable Security and PNND Program Director for Women, Peace and Security. It will include presentations, video messages, workshops, poetry and music featuring:
- Izumi Nakamitsu (United Nations), UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs;
- Yuriy Kryvonos (United Nations), Director of the UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific;
- Prof Azza Karam (Netherlands), Secretary-General of Religions for Peace;
- Gareth Evans (Australia), Chair of the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament and Former Minister for Foreign Affairs;
- Maria Fernanda Espinosa (Ecuador), President of the UN General Assembly from 2018-2019 and former Ecuador Minister of Foreign Affairs;
- Fabian Hamilton MP (UK), Shadow Minister for Peace and Disarmament;
- Ela Gandhi (India), Founder of the Gandhi Development Trust;
- Kelly Slater (USA), 11 times world surfing champion;
- Kathleen Burkinshaw (USA), Daughter of a Hiroshima nuclear bomb survivor and Author of The Last Cherry Blossom;
- Solomon Yeo (Solomon Islands), Co-founder of World Youth for Climate Justice;
- Karipbek Kuyukov (Kazakhstan), Artist, second generation victim of nuclear tests and Honorary Ambassador of the ATOM Project
- Antony Owen (UK), Poet and Patron of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament;
- Yasmeen Silva (USA), Partnerships Manager for Beyond the Bomb;
- Roger Waters (UK), Singer-Songwriter from Pink Floyd;
- Sooyoung Hwang (South Korea), Peoples Solidarity for Participatory Democracy;
- General Bernard Norlain (France), Former Air Defense Commander and Air Combat Commander of the French Air Force;
- Dr Hedy Fry MP (Canada), Special Representative on Gender Issues for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe;
- Marzhan Nurzhan (Kazakhstan), Convenor of the Abolition 2000 Youth Network, PNND Coordinator for CIS (former Soviet) Countries;
- Saber Chowdhury MP (Bangladesh), Honorary President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,
- Douglas Roche (Canada), Former Senator, Member of Parliament and Canadian Disarmament Ambassador
- Makana and the Kwassui Girls Choir (Nagasaki)
- and more.
Sessions and Registration
The Nuclear Weapon Free World event takes place in two parts:
Part 1: Timed to suit people in Asia and the Pacific. Click here to register.
Part 2: Timed to suit people in the Americas, Europe and Africa. Click here to register.
Each part will have three sessions:
Session 1: 10-12 presentations on nuclear disarmament issues
Session 2: Practical workshops on key approaches to nuclear disarmament, including using the arts, how to move the nuclear weapons budgets/investments to better things, and engaging key communities including youth, faith-based communities and policy makers.
Session 3: A panel discussion followed by Q&A on how to move the nuclear-armed states to relinquish nuclear deterrence and achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world.
Click here for more information. Click here for the draft program.
UNFOLD ZERO and #wethepeoples2020