Celebrate with us!! Share the 1-year anniversary of the TPNW

 

Last Saturday, Jan 22, marked the first anniversary of a historic moment: the entry into force of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which we celebrated in Abingdon market place a year ago!

 

As the sun rose over the Pacific last Saturday, a day of celebration started, to highlight this key milestone and everything we’ve achieved with the treaty since.  

 

We were not out in force last Saturday, but want to give everyone a chance to mark the occasion. Here are 2 ways you can still amplify the message from ICAN:

1. Follow ICAN’s social media accounts, where they share the activities from partners around the world.

 

2. Post on social media about the treaty with ICAN’s lovely ready-to-share posts like this one below:

 

 

 

This first anniversary, ICAN is making the celebration all about the impact the treaty has had so far. Here are just a few of the exciting signs we’ve seen this year:

• Support for the TPNW has continued to grow: the treaty now has 59 states parties and we know many more are on their way!

• Since the treaty went into effect, financial institutions named the treaty as the reason to keep their $3.9 trillion out of the nuclear weapons industry.

• Companies building these bombs are feeling the financial pressure: Serco, which used to work on UK nuclear weapons said it won’t bid on any contracts related to the nuclear weapons industry due to their inability to raise funds if they do.

• We shifted the first two nuclear-umbrella states when Norway and Germany, committed to observe the first meeting of States Parties to the TPNW. 

 

Of course, the treaty’s entry into force alone has not fixed all global tensions, or immediately forced the nuclear armed states to stop their reckless arms race. The global security situation is worsening and the risk of nuclear use is increasing. This makes the work with this treaty all the more important, we have the legal basis for pushing these countries towards disarmament.

 

So there’s good reason to celebrate. We expect the impact in all these different sectors to keep growing.

 

Nuclear weapons are illegal and unacceptable and each individual action makes that message stronger and increases the treaty’s influence. The more we spread the word about the progress of this treaty – the more it will contribute to make this world safer.

 

And to cheer you up, Oxford’s John Gittings, whom we know well, has written an article commenting on a very important join statement by the N5 nuclear-weapons states: You can read the statement and John’s commentary here: Joint Statement of the Leaders of the Five Nuclear-Weapon States on Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races with a Comment by John Gittings | The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus (apjjf.org)

As John says, the stand-out new feature is its affirmation that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.” John goes on to say, “The behind the scene negotiations by which the N5, within a few months, were able to speak with one voice is of great interest. I would suggest that one important inducement was the perceived need for more effective propaganda to counter the appeal of the TPNW.”

So if nothing else, the TPNW has achieved unity among the NW states!

So please, go on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram and share the good news! And if you don’t use these platforms, share this email with someone who does!