Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

Tag: youth

  • Youth Speech to the 2013 NPT PrepCom

    Speech Written by Julian Caletti, Ban All Nukes Generation; Mayra Castro, Ban All Nukes Generation; Christian N. Ciobanu, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation; Nina Eisenhardt, Ban All Nukes Generation; Martin Hinrichs, Ban All Nukes Generation; and Raphaël Zaffran, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

    Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies, and Gentlemen,

    We thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today on behalf of the youth. Young people from Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Middle East have contributed with comments to this speech in order to claim their voice.

    Nuclear weapons have catastrophic effects that are not controllable in time or space. In the preamble of the NPT, the parties declared their intention to work together to eliminate nuclear weapons.

    As contained in the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, “the legal import of that obligation goes beyond that of a mere obligation of conduct; the obligation involved here is an obligation to achieve a precise result – nuclear disarmament in all aspects.”

    Moving beyond the abstract legal debates, those catastrophic and inhumane devices are a concrete threat to humanity. We share the views of the 1984 Human Rights Committee, which clearly stated that the production, testing, possession and use of nuclear weapons should be prohibited and recognized as crimes against humanity.

    Distinguished Delegates,

    We have been waiting for you to act “in good faith” since 1970 to achieve general and complete disarmament. However, very little has been achieved in multilateral negotiations.

    The youth of the world demands all of the states to take concrete and sustainable steps to accomplish this goal. In our view, nuclear disarmament is as urgent as non-proliferation.

    If states really want to protect their citizens, they must re-evaluate their priorities by divesting military to social expenditures in order to improve the health, education and welfare of their respective citizens. We do not believe deterrence protects us. Nuclear deterrence is based on rational behavior and perfect information. However, we live in an imperfect world with incomplete and asymmetrical information. Therefore, nuclear deterrence is inherently flawed and is not effective.

    Additionally, the international landscape has changed. The Cold War is over. In today’s multipolar and increasingly globalized world, the logic of deterrence is even more unreliable.

    Ultimately, in the post-cold war context, we do not believe that the deterrence rhetoric is still valid and we find the current status quo does not protect us from the threats posed by nuclear weapons.

    Our generation is the first one after the Cold War. In this context, we do not divide the world between West and East: them and us. We are global citizens.

    Nuclear deterrence does not make sense to us because it is based on the construction of states as enemies. We refuse to be enemies.

    Mr. Chairman and Distinguished Delegates,

    We would like to thank H.E. Ambassador Laajava of Finland and regional states for trying to establish a Middle East WMD Conference in 2012. Nevertheless, we are very concerned that the current situation could lead to a paradigm shift in the regional security of the Middle East.

    We strongly believe that there is a high risk that states may question the legitimacy of the NPT and attempt to acquire nuclear weapons to deter one another. Disarmament education in the region is crucial to bring this issue into the limelight. It is the linchpin of civil society engagement and the key for a prosperous and peaceful Middle East.

    Honorable Delegates,

    We welcome the initiative of Norway for hosting the Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons in Oslo. We urge all states to join this important discussion at the follow-up conference in Mexico.

    We have not experienced the same suffering as the hibakusha, but we can imagine the inhumanity of these nuclear weapons by listening to their testimonies. No nation is capable to react to this humanitarian catastrophe.

    We believe that negotiations for a global ban on nuclear weapons are achievable. Recently, the UN General Assembly adopted the Arms Trade Treaty, a fundamental step in disarmament. The decision to adopt such a treaty demonstrates the feasibility to make a concrete step towards disarming the world.

    Consequently, we believe that a ban on nuclear weapons is also possible. Again, we emphasize that disarmament education is the most valuable tool towards this goal.
    Educated mind-sets transcend borders to bring people together and change the status quo. We further request states to fulfil their commitments to the 2010 Action Plan with regard to disarmament education.

    Distinguished Delegates,

    We are the youth of the world. Our freedom, our security, and our fate lie in your hands. Our future could become hell on earth, if you do not succeed in banning these dreadful weapons. Our lives and the lives of our children depend on your actions. We want you to favor cooperation and compromise over confrontation and conflict. We want you to achieve concrete results that improve the world that we live in.

    As youth of the world, we want you to take action – and we want it now.

    Thank you very much.

  • Youth Program on the Humanitarian Dimensions of Nuclear Disarmament

    In early September 2012, with the generous support of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, students from Austria, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Switzerland, Iran, Italy, Palestine, and Romania participated in the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s Youth Program on the Humanitarian Dimensions of Nuclear Disarmament. These students met with members of civil society and representatives from different states. They further participated in a seminar on the humanitarian dimensions of nuclear disarmament and an informational workshop about the Ban All Nukes Generation’s tentative program, entitled “Claim your voice. Ban the Bomb,” a youth empowerment program that will be held during the conference in Oslo.


    Prior to the program, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation established an international coordinating group for this program. This international coordinating group assembled a background document, which contained references to reports from NGOs and statements by states, including Switzerland, about the humanitarian dimensions of nuclear disarmament.


    Participants in the humanitarian program


    When the students arrived to Geneva on September 4, 2012, they participated in a roundtable discussion with members of the NGO Committee for Disarmament, a substantive committee of the Conference of NGOs with Consultative relationship with the United Nations Committee, that is composed of Reaching Critical Will, International Peace Bureau, Mayors for Peace, World Council of Churches, Soka Gakkai International (SGI), Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. During this meeting, participants asked the members of the NGO Committee about the international disarmament machinery, the role of religious organizations in promoting nuclear disarmament, and the humanitarian dimensions of nuclear disarmament.


    After the roundtable discussion with members of the NGO Committee for Disarmament, Mr. Christian N. Ciobanu distributed information about different states’ views on nuclear disarmament to the students. He also underscored the importance of the Swiss joint statement on the humanitarian dimensions of nuclear disarmament to the participants.


    Once the participants received an adequate background on the humanitarian dimensions of nuclear disarmament, the participants met with representatives from Non-Nuclear Weapon States. Most of these representatives explained to them why their governments either supported or did not support the joint statement on the humanitarian dimensions of nuclear disarmament.


    In the afternoon of September 5, the participants attended the NGO Committee for Disarmament’s Seminar on the Humanitarian Dimensions of Nuclear Disarmament in which Mr. Colin Archer, the Secretary-General of the International Peace Bureau served as the moderator. During this seminar, the participants heard statements from Mr. Peter Herby, head of the legal division of the International Committee of the Red Cross; Dr. Daniel Plesch, Director of the School of Oriental and African Studies’ Center for International Studies and Diplomacy (CISD); Mr. Magnus Lovold, a representative of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN); and Mr. Christian N. Ciobanu, Geneva Representative of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Finally, based on the feedback from the participants, they enjoyed Lovold and Ciobanu’s views on how the humanitarian disarmament process can help raise awareness about the need for the international community to support a nuclear weapons convention and the devastating environmental impacts of nuclear weapons.


    On September 6, the final day of the program, the Ban All Nukes Generation convened an informational workshop about the “Claim your voice. Ban the Bomb.” In addition, as part of the workshop, the representatives of Ban All Nukes Generation underscored the need for young people to become empowered citizens and attend the program in Oslo in March 2013. The program would also tentatively give young European people an opportunity to make an impact at the conference in Oslo. Specifically, it will provide them with the methodological tools they need to become actively involved at the local, national and European levels to resolve both the global political and environmental impacts of nuclear weapons.

  • Report on the NGO Committee for Disarmament Seminar

    On September 5, 2012, with the generous support of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the NGO Committee for Disarmament convened the “Seminar on the Humanitarian Dimensions of Nuclear Disarmament” at the Palais des Nations in which Mr. Colin Archer, Secretary-General of the International Peace Bureau, served as the moderator. 


    During the seminar, Mr. Peter Herby, Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross` Mines-Arms Unit; Dr. Daniel Plesch, Director of the School of Oriental and African Studies` Center for International Studies and Diplomacy (CISD); Mr. Magnus Lovold, a representative of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN); and Mr. Christian N. Ciobanu, Geneva Representative of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, provided important perspectives about the humanitarian dimensions of nuclear disarmament to students, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Non-Nuclear Weapon States, Nuclear Weapon States, and officials from the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research.


    The following is a brief description of what each speaker discussed at the seminar.


    Peter Herby


    Mr. Herby explained the bombings of Hiroshima caused thousands of civilian deaths, including 270 doctors, 16 nurses, and 112 pharmacists in Hiroshima. He also described the devastating health effects of nuclear weapons on the hibakusha, such as the ionizing effects of Uranium-235 and genetic complications caused by the highly enriched Uranium-235. These effects prompted the ICRC to publicly vocalize its position in favor of nuclear disarmament in late 1945.


    Mr. Herby further touched upon the three core principles of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), including the principle of distinctions between civilians and combatants, the principle of proportionality, and the principle of precaution of attack. He further elaborated upon the International Court of Justice’s 1996 Advisory Opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons.  Finally, he touched upon the ICRC’s decision to affirm its position on nuclear disarmament in 2011.


    Daniel Plesch


    Dr. Plesch provided a concise historical overview of the evolution of International Humanitarian Law to the participants of the seminar. He described how the results of the Nuremberg Trials and the Commission of the Universal Declaration established the basis of IHL. He further discussed the international community’s views on IHL during the period of the Cold War.  Finally, he elaborated upon the ICJ’s 1996 Advisory Opinion and the Nuclear Weapons States’ nuclear deterrence doctrines to illustrate how the Nuclear Weapon States are violating IHL by investing in and modernizing their nuclear arsenals.


    Dr. Plesch also mentioned that the international community should engage in discussions on disarmament within the context of the Open Skies Agreement as illustrated in CISD’s Strategic Concept for Removal of Arms and Proliferation. This process will help the international community to evaluate disarmament within a new context.


    As part of his concluding remarks, Dr. Plesch suggested that the international community should develop a framework, which would be similar to the Iraqi Weapons Inspection Regime, to pressure the Nuclear Weapon States to dismantle their nuclear weapons.


    Magnus Lovold


    As a representative of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Mr. Magnus Lovold explained that “the humanitarian aspects of nuclear disarmament provide an opportunity to take the issue down from the high shelves of international security, and turn it into something that everyone can understand.” Moreover, he argued that the humanitarian approach enables key actors in the disarmament movement to form linkages between the humanitarian dimensions of nuclear disarmament and other humanitarian disarmament processes, including the process leading to the treaty banning landmines and the treaty banning cluster bombs. Finally, by forming linkages between different disarmament processes, ICAN can form the necessary relationships with new organizations to encourage the international community to agree to a treaty that bans nuclear weapons.


    Christian N. Ciobanu


    Mr. Ciobanu, Geneva Representative of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, said that states must support the humanitarian dimensions of nuclear disarmament to avoid the possibility of a nuclear war that would directly contribute to a nuclear famine in the world. He remarked that a nuclear war anywhere in the world, using as few as 100 weapons, would disrupt the global climate and agricultural production so severely that the lives of more than a billion people would be at risk. Finally, he contended that leading atmospheric scientists warned that the effects of a regional war between neighboring states could cause nuclear famine.


    To illustrate his point that a regional war between neighboring states can contribute to nuclear famine, Mr. Ciobanu described that scientists modeled a nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan in which each side detonates 50 Hiroshima-size nuclear weapons on the other side’s cities. He noted that smoke from the burning cities would rise into the stratosphere, where it would reduce sunlight for up to ten years, dropping temperatures on Earth to the lowest levels in the past 1,000 years and shortening growing seasons across the planet. The result would be crop failures and a nuclear famine, which could result in the deaths of hundreds of millions to a billion people globally.


    Mr. Ciobanu underscored that states should support Article 51 and Article 54 of the Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Convention. Finally, he emphasized that states must support the principles of IHL and produce tangible political results to create a world that is free of nuclear weapons.

  • Youth Speech at the NPT PrepCom

    Vienna International Centre

    Speech written by Mirko Montuori, Abolition 2000; Leonardo Scuto, Atlantic Treaty Association; Christian N. Ciobanu, Raphael Zaffran, and Charlie Sell, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation; and Martin Hinrichs, Ban All Nukes Generation.

    Mr. Chairman, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,

    Two years ago in New York our predecessors asked ironically if, at the age of 65, nuclear weapons had reached the time for compulsory retirement. Today, on the verge of them turning 67, we ask you to declare them not only out of business, but also deprived of any retirement scheme.

    We are young, but we are not naive.

    We are young, but we are not unaware of the world around us.

    We are here, representing the youth movement for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, urging you to comply with your commitments towards your citizens and to start immediate negotiations for a decisive nuclear weapons convention.

    We all know the destructive power of nuclear weapons, as they have been used and tested too often in the past.

    The presence of nuclear weapons in this world leaves us with two possible futures: in the best case scenario, states continue to own weapons that will never be used. In the worst case scenario, these weapons could be used at all times. We reject both futures, for nuclear weapons should simply not exist.

    Mr. Chairman, the very first resolution of the UN General Assembly established the objective to prohibit the possession of nuclear weapons as a top priority of the international community. Then the Cold War broke out and the two superpowers developed the concept of nuclear deterrence. It is not surprising that the resulting military doctrine was called MAD. The Cold War is now over and deterrence is an outdated justification for the existence of such weapons.

    Today, we feel the danger and risk of nuclear weapons more than ever. The source of our fears and frustrations lies in the same events that have recently challenged the goals of the NPT.

    We, the youth, fear an arms race in several regions of the world and the unchecked proliferation of nuclear weapons.

    We, the youth, sit frustrated as we continue to witness the lack of political will and trust needed to confront these obstacles.

    It is crucial to build trust among states by prioritizing the elimination of rapidly deployable nuclear weapons. These weapons can destroy entire cities or countries in a few hours. Increasing trust would mean that states tempted to build new weapons would be universally accountable to the international community.

    There is a man who has used nuclear weapons and is now engaging against them. His name is Robert Green, he is a former Commander of the Royal Navy and now one of the staunchest advocates of nuclear abolition. We can all learn from his experience.
    There are also those who have survived the use of these terrible weapons. They are the victims and witnesses of the only weapons that could destroy our planet. Hibakushas bring on their dignified fight against them, well aware of their risks. They are a living warning against the worst form of death conceived by humankind, and to ignore them is to ignore the worst risk that humanity could face.

    We live in the world of the Third Industrial Revolution, with an increasing power of communication and online interaction. As a result, we are all linked to each other.

    How do you justify the existence, development and maintenance of these weapons in a world where your children and grandchildren do not see the difference between an Asian and European boy, between an American and an African girl? And how do you justify them in a world hit by the worst economic crisis since 1929, where youth unemployment is increasingly designing our instable future?
    Representatives of the world’s nations, how do you justify maintaining nuclear weapons in such a context? Is this the world that you want to hand down to younger generations?

    We, as young people, care a lot about the future of this planet. We are aware that differences of cultures, religions, and political constraints persist. But we will not give up our fight against nuclear weapons.

    Do not ignore our concern! Remember your humanity, and forget the rest.

    Thank you very much for your attention.

  • Nuclear Disarmament and Deterrence Education

    Introduction


    Early in 2008 I was appointed by the UN Secretary-General to his Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters, as the first Australasian in 25 years.  This has been an amazing experience – giving me the opportunity to feed ideas from ordinary citizen groups into the Secretary General, and to debate with Ambassadors of the 5 nuclear weapon states and nine others on this prestigious Board. 


    The issues we have discussed so far have included pathways to nuclear abolition and nuclear deterrence; nuclear energy security; weapons in outer space; the 2010 Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty Review Conference; cyber warfare and nanoweapons.


    This month we will look at how to revitalise the Conference on Disarmament in order to implement some of the Secretary General’s Five Point Plan for nuclear disarmament launched during Disarmament Week in October 2008. 
    Ban Ki-Moon’s Points included the following: 



    • All parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, especially the nuclear-weapon States, should fulfill its requirement to enter into negotiations on nuclear disarmament, which could focus on either a convention or framework of agreements banning nuclear-weapons.

    • The nuclear-weapon States could assure non-nuclear-weapon States that they will not be the subject of the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons.  

    • Existing nuclear arrangements and agreements (e.g. a ban on testing, nuclear-weapon-free zones, and strengthened safeguards) need to be accepted by States and brought into force.

    • The nuclear Powers could also expand the amount of information they publish about the size of their arsenals, stocks of fissile material, and specific disarmament achievements.  

    • Complementary measures are needed such as the elimination of other types of WMD; new efforts against WMD terrorism; limits on conventional arms; and new weapons bans, including of missiles and space weapons.

    We are fortunate to have a UN Secretary General (UNSG) who is strongly advocating nuclear and general disarmament and has openly criticised nuclear deterrence. His 5 Point Plan has become a great rallying point for citizen groups, diplomats, politicians and Mayors who have come in behind him in his courageous urgently pleas for nuclear abolition.  It has therefore become an important vehicle for nuclear disarmament education.


    Ban Ki-Moon believes that “A world free of nuclear weapons is a global public good of the highest order” and that “…the doctrine of nuclear deterrence is contagious, making non-proliferation more difficult and raising new risks that nuclear weapons will be used.”


    The Secretary General opened the May 2010 NPT Review Conference on a high note, and took a leading role throughout. He gave passionate speeches in both the formal and non-governmental events calling for agreement on a comprehensive programme for nuclear disarmament. He used the opening of the Second Conference of States Parties that established Nuclear Weapon Free Zones by encouraging the diplomats. He said:  My goal – our goal – is to make the whole world a nuclear-weapon-free zone. Nuclear-weapon-free zones are the success stories of the disarmament movement. You are leading by example.


    On the eve of the NPT, he addressed the NGO Disarmament conference at the Riverside Church, where Martin Luther King had given his famous speeches. The crowd of nearly 1000 NGOs gave him 3 standing ovations – including after this rousing finale: “What I see on the horizon is a world free of nuclear weapons.  What I see before me are the people who will help make it happen. Please keep up your good work. Sound the alarm, keep up the pressure. Ask your leaders what they are doing … personally… to eliminate the nuclear menace. Above all, continue to be the voice of conscience. We will rid the world of nuclear weapons. And when we do it will be because of people like you. The world owes you its gratitude.”


    At our Board meetings we have been encouraging him to speak out and take actions to implement the rhetoric. He has recently:



    • Visited Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Semipalatinsk as the first UNSG to do so;

    • Convened a Nuclear Security Summit and a High level meeting to revitalize the Conference on Disarmament in September 2010;

    • Addressed the Mayors for Peace and the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non Proliferation and Disarmament Panels at the NPT;

    • Been asked to facilitate a Conference on Middle East zone free of all WMD in 2012;

    • Opened exhibitions promoting disarmament in the UN, eg CTBTO, photo exhibition from Japanese hibakusha; and 

    • Promoted  Disarmament and Non Proliferation Education.

    Last year the Board reviewed the United Nations Study on Disarmament and Non-proliferation Education which was adopted by consensus in the General Assembly in 2002. The Study requested the Secretary-General to prepare biennial reports to submit to the Assembly.  It was prepared by ten government experts with input from UN international organisations and agencies such as the IAEA, OPCW, UNIDIR, UNESCO, UNICEF, CTBTO, UNIFEM and the UNU.


    The Study included 34 far-reaching recommendations including one which encourages municipal leaders, working with citizen groups, “to establish peace cities, as part of the UNESCO Cities for Peace network, through, for example, the creation of peace museums, peace parks, websites, and production of booklets on peacemakers and peacemaking.”


    This recommendation provides a wonderful opportunity for the fast-growing Mayors for Peace network to declare Peace Cities and educate local citizens and policy makers about nuclear disarmament. The Exhibition organised by the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has been travelling all over the world – and was recently highlighted during a Press conference with Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange in London. In my own country, it has been shown in sixteen cities, and smaller photos displayed in many schools to mark Peace Week.  There have also been very successful exhibitions on Gandhi and Depleted Uranium munitions.


    The twentieth anniversary of the passing of New Zealand’s historic nuclear free legislation in 2007 provided another opportunity for a major exhibition which showcased iconic peace movement memorabilia and highlighted the arguments challenging nuclear deterrence. The exhibition included the original 1963 petition calling for a Southern Hemisphere nuclear free zone, banners, posters, stickers, badges, photos, magazines, stamps, artwork and music. David Lange’s famous Oxford Union debate –in which he rubbishes nuclear deterrence – was available in the red phone box! There was also memorabilia commemorating the World Court Project which began in Christchurch.


    On the anniversary of the legislation many of our elected representatives from all political parties joined together on the steps of parliament wearing ‘nuclear free nation’ tee shirts and badges. Some of them, including the former Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, had been members of the Peace Squadrons which had taken non-violent direct action in small boats to try and prevent US nuclear powered and probably armed vessels entering New Zealand ports during the mid 1970s and early 1980s. The politicians then returned to Parliament House to pass a unanimous resolution, resolving that New Zealand should continue to work for a nuclear weapon free world. 


    Mayors for Peace


    The Mayors for Peace movement is led by the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In 1995 they addressed the International Court of Justice to present the views of the nuclear bomb victims of their cities.  Following the World Court Opinion in 1996, which called on all states ‘to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiation on nuclear disarmament in all its aspects’, they were inspired to renew their call for nuclear abolition and begin a membership drive internationally. To mark the 10th anniversary of the Court’s Opinion in 2006, Mayors for Peace launched the Good Faith Challenge reaffirming the meaning and importance of the World Court opinion.


    At the city level, Mayors for Peace has launched the Cities Are Not Targets project. This encourages and assists cities and municipal associations in demanding assurances from nuclear-weapon states that cities are not and will not be targeted for nuclear attack. To quote the Mayors: Cities are homes and offices. They are not legitimate targets for bombs. To obliterate a city for any reason whatsoever is an illegal, immoral crime against humanity and not to be tolerated.


    Membership in Mayors for Peace has grown exponentially in the last few years.  There are now 4,515 members in 150 countries and regions. The 104 capital cities, include the NWS of Russia (34), China (7), France (134), UK (65), India (16), Pakistan (13) and Israel (55). Japan leads with 901 members, the US has 168 members (including Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston) and Australia with 72. The capital cities of key NATO allies such as Germany (371 cities), Belgium (355), Spain (296), Italy (376), Turkey (11), Greece (30), Netherlands (55), Canada (90), Czechoslovakia (28) and Norway (88) are also signed up.  Citizens in these cities and countries have a special responsibility to challenge their local councils to push their governments to reflect public opinion in support of nuclear abolition.


    One of the recommendations of the UN Study on Disarmament Education was to include NGOs (including Mayors) and politicians, on government delegations to UN disarmament conferences.  New Zealand has done this regularly since 1985 and last year included the chair of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non Proliferation and Disarmament, and a youth worker in our organisation as full members of their delegation to the NPT Review Conference. 


    Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non Proliferation and Disarmament


    In 2001, the Middle Powers Initiative established the Parliamentary Network for Nuclear Disarmament. It was recently renamed Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non Proliferation and Disarmament and has over 780 members in 80 countries.   PNND has a regular newsletter, and the website is available in 12 languages. A few years ago its coordinator, fellow New Zealander Alyn Ware, produced a briefing book on disarmament which was distributed to all PNND and Mayors for Peace members, and all 550 members of the US Congress. This formidable network is now having a strong impact on government disarmament policies in key nuclear allied states where they regularly debate about nuclear deterrence.


    In February 2010 the UNSG, at PNND’s instigation, sent a letter to all parliaments calling for action on his Five Point plan. PNND launched a campaign of support resulting in resolutions being adopted in the European Parliament; the national parliaments of Austria, Bangladesh, Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and Norway; and the Inter-Parliamentary Union which represents 152 parliaments (including France, Russia and the United Kingdom). There has also been support from the 3rd World Conference of Speakers of Parliament and a group of Nobel Laureates. Cross party coalitions of politicians in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Turkey have signed a letter to President Obama calling for removal of US tactical nuclear weapons from their soil. 


    Reports to the UN Secretary General on Disarmament Education


    Every two years governments and NGOs report to the UNSG about disarmament education activities in their countries.   In Canada the government has helped fund the extremely popular Reaching Critical Will website coordinated by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and the World Without Weapons website which provides a Teacher’s Guide and Student’s Manual for Secondary School Grades educating youth about disarmament, non-proliferation, landmines, SALW and human security issues.


    Japan supports UN Disarmament Fellowship Programmes for government officials. It has held regional disarmament conferences since 1989 and published a booklet on Disarmament Policy in Japanese and English.


    Sweden, like New Zealand (NZ), gives support to disarmament education (DE) activities by NGOs.  The NZ Ministry of Education distributed a Pamphlet on peace education to every school and the government supports Model UN Assemblies and gives regular briefings to NGOs. The Disarmament Education UN Implementation Fund  helps fund NGOs to implement the Study’s recommendations, such as the creation of Peace Cities, Museum exhibitions, and the production of educational material for schools, politicians and university students. NZ regularly includes NGO advisers on delegations to UN meetings on Landmines, Small Arms and nuclear weapons.  The Peace and Disarmament Education Trust  helps fund post-graduate scholarships for research on disarmament issues.


    The Russian government helps fund academic institutions and NGOs to develop programmes and train specialists in disarmament education. Higher Education institutes have included a new speciality ‘Security and Non Proliferation of nuclear materials’. The PIR centre gives training for experts in relevant government ministries and has developed a manual on nuclear Non Proliferation which has been confirmed as a textbook for tertiary institutions.


    Venezuela is setting up mass literacy campaigns to help prevent international trafficking in small arms and light weapons. Its constitution includes the fundamental values of ‘peace, integration, rejection of war, peaceful dispute settlement and establishing a fairer and more balanced world based on respect for cultural, ethnic and gender diversity.’ Bolivia also has a ‘profound commitment to peace’ arguing that all problems between States should be resolved through dialogue and mutual understanding. Mauritius has no history of war or civil insurrection and does not hold large stocks of arms and ammunitions. 


    Cambodia has introduced a number of activities, laws and regulations such as providing training to technical military staff to enable them to safely control and store weapons and ammunition. It created a national committee on weapons and ammunition in 2006. By May 2008, in collaboration with Japan and EU, they destroyed over 212,735 units of arms.


    Burundi’s Ministry of Defence has established a strict documentation mechanism for the verification and control of legally held small arms.  Qatar created the National Committee for the Prohibition of Weapons which includes a resolution to create and implement programmes to raise awareness of international arms control treaties.


    Spain teaches disarmament education at all levels in the Ministry of Defence and the government regularly participates in seminars, lectures or post-graduate studies on disarmament education with the Spanish Strategic Studies Institute and the Centre for Advanced national Defence Studies.


    UN Agencies


    The revamped UNODA website  has a special section devoted to disarmament education. It links UN agencies focusing on UNDE and some NGO initiatives including films, teacher resources and other publications. 


    The UN CyberSchoolBus site  has been named as one of the 101 best websites for teachers among 25 other complimentary reviews and prestigious awards. It is in 6 languages and is linked to a range of excellent websites such as the Model UN HQ, Peace Education,  and Voices of Youth. It has some examples of games and model units for teachers.


    However one of the main areas where little has been done over the decade is the creation of effective computer and video games which teach non-violence and disarmament.  The interactive media Global Platform aggregate audience of over 550 million has huge educational possibilities especially for youth.  The UN Study recommended (No 18) that ‘efforts should be made by educators, parents and the business community devise and produce toys, computer games and videos that engender such attitudes’ (ie values that reject violence, resolve conflicts peacefully and sustain a culture of peace).


    Youth


    It is exciting to see young people emerging as leaders in disarmament. There were over 500 young people at the 2010 NPT Review Conference.  The NPT-TV was run by the Students Peace Bureau in Germany, and Disarm TV is a youth-led and produced citizen journalism project aimed at empowering young people as grassroots reporters and peer educators on the nuclear weapons issue. There were simulations for negotiating a Nuclear Weapons Convention, organised by the European youth network Ban all Nukes generation (BANg) and the International Network of Engineers and Scientists against Proliferation (INESAP), held every day which were observed by seasoned diplomats.  


    The Million Pleas video, started by a group of school children from Hiroshima, is addressed to the 9 nuclear weapon states. They are asking people all over the globe to upload a video clip of themselves saying the word “please”. The “pleases” will then be edited into a long virtual chain letter, which will act as a petition to abolish nuclear weapons, worldwide. It is one of the many exciting campaigns being organised by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) based in Australia.


    The International Network of Emerging Nuclear Specialists was established by a group of  young policy specialists concerned that constructive dialogue was largely absent from the ‘nuclear’ debate. They seek to include parties from across these fields and they will facilitate this dialogue.


    In October 2010 the Youth Section of Religions for Peace presented a petition to UN High Representative for Disarmament  calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons – signed by over 20 million people. The petition is part of the Arms Down Campaign for Shared Security, and also calls for a reallocation of 10% of global military spending towards meeting the UN Millennium Development Goals by 2015.


    UN Focus


    I would like to finish by giving a couple of other examples of how the United Nations can create a forum and focus for healing, peace and disarmament.  In October 2000, after intense activity by five leading international NGOs working with UNIFEM, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. A landmark victory, this reaffirmed the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and post-conflict reconstruction. It also stressed the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security.  The follow up Security Council resolutions 1820, 1888 and 1889, empowered States to include more women in key decision making positions.  Last October the UN organised a ministerial review conference on women, peace and security to mark the 10th anniversary of Resolution 1325.
    UN Days for Peace and Non-Violence are focal points for educating the general public. The UN International Day of Peace, 21 September, is observed annually as a ‘day of global ceasefire and non-violence’. It provides an opportunity for individuals, organisations and nations to create practical acts of Peace on a shared date. It also highlights the Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World, 2001 to 2010. Their website contains many exciting examples of young and old, rich and poor from all difference religions and cultures working together to celebrate peace. 


    Even the UNSG got in on the act using the latest technology to get his message out. On 13 June 2009, he launched a multiplatform campaign under the WMD-We Must Disarm slogan to mark the 100 day countdown to the International Day. He called for governments and citizens to focus on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and used Twitter, Facebook and MySpace to raise awareness particularly among young people. 


    Last year 29 August was named the International Day Against Nuclear Tests   – which gives an opportunity to focus on the ongoing effects of nuclear tests on existing and future generations.  This month the Japanese Peace Boat  hosted nine hibakusha recently appointed by Japan as “Special Communicators for a World Without Nuclear Weapons” together with five Tahitians working on the impact of French nuclear testing, plus five Japanese high school student Peace Ambassadors and four Aboriginal women from uranium mining affected areas in Australia.  The Boat visited Tahiti where the students learned about the ongoing impact of French nuclear testing.


    On 2 October 2009 (UN International Day for Non-Violence and Gandhi’s birthday) the World March for Peace and Non-Violence was launched in New Zealand to mark its position as the country at the top of the Global Peace Index. It attracted thousands of endorsements from former and current Presidents, Prime Ministers, politicians, Mayors, Nobel Laureates, celebrities, musicians, artists and leading NGOs from all over the world. Its colourful website in 30 languages covers the march through 90 countries over six continents in 90 days.  The UNSG met with the group’s leaders because they were promoting his 5 point plan for nuclear disarmament.


    It is my firm belief that education is the key to changing mindsets and mobilising people to take action.  In the past few years we have seen the impact of leadership from the UNSG and retired military and politicians. But still the political will is weak and even Obama, with his fine rhetoric of nuclear abolition, is now saying he may not see nuclear weapons abolished in his lifetime.
    It is indeed encouraging that 140 countries now support the UNSG’s Five Point Plan. However, he felt compelled to issue this challenge to the diplomats and government leaders at the NPT: 


    “…we have a choice: to leave a legacy of fear and inaction, or to act, with vision and courage and leadership…..  we can, and must, do better.”


    I know we can do better. We must keep up the momentum towards nuclear abolition. Whatever Obama thinks, the ordinary people of the world will make it happen in our lifetime. Future grandchildren of mine will be born into a world free of nuclear weapons. Together we can and must achieve this for all of humanity.

  • Youth at the Millennium – Conference Update

    The following is a draft statement prepared by participants in the recent conference Youth at the Millennium: An Intergenerational Dialogue on Youth, Leadership, and Global Society. We welcome your thoughts and opinions regarding this statement. Our goal is to expand the statement, incorporating your feedback and input, as a means to provide interested individuals with clarity on international social justice issues as well as inspiration for action. Please send your comments and questions to youth@napf.org . Click here for testimonials from the conference.
    To Live Simply So that Others May Simply Live:
    Draft Statement from the Youth at the Millennium Conference, April 2002

    From April 1-4, 2002, in Santa Barbara, California, a group of young men and women met with a group of their elders to discuss the world as it is and the world as it could be. The Institute for World Culture, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Santa Barbara City College, and the University of California at Santa Barbara provided support for this gathering which was a project of Group 21, an international organization dedicated to fostering intergenerational dialogue on issues of global importance. The following statement represents the sense of the meeting and the ability of the group to articulate its four-day dialogue on the final day of meeting and discussion.

    Globalization has had a dramatic impact on human society. The forces of globalization have intensified conflict locally as well as globally. People, particularly the young, are left feeling alienated, isolated, and discouraged from free thought. Many among the young have internalized the principles of consumer culture, which are promoted by the media through advertising. However, though the young are targeted as consumers, they are denied a political voice. Decisions are mostly made by older generations. This problems exists on a global level, where the people of the world have little say in the decisions made by international financial institutions on their behalf.

    Globalization does allow young people to connect with and learn about each other throughout the world. On the other hand, it also forces youth to face the disparities and inequalities that exist in the world, which are perpetuated by the rich and powerful at the expense of the poor and marginalized. While oppression has resulted from globalization, resistance to it has also resulted. Youth in particular, passionate and curious can and do serve as catalysts in opposition to the oppression caused by globalization.

    The powerful influence of globalization has shaken the ethical and spiritual foundations of humankind. Recognition of interdependence is necessary for the co-existence of people and planet. The fragile balance within the human body is analogous to the fragile balance of earth’s ecology. Careful attention to it is crucial to all life on Earth. Recent years have seen a degradation of the environment that is unprecedented. Fueled by globalization, the corporatization of nature is accelerating the mismanagement of the natural world. The resulting problems unjustly affect future generations, denying them the intrinsic value of the wilderness, and irreparably damaging their ability to sustain livelihoods.

    We must revere all life, of which humanity is a part. We must embrace diversity, both in the environment and in our brothers and sisters across the face of the earth. Such a global perspective goes beyond the material effects of global processes, and demands an awareness of the intrinsic values of each individual. It is in the best interest of humankind to celebrate the diversity and remain mindful of our actions towards each other and towards the natural world.

    There are over six billion people living on Earth, yet a minority benefits from the effects of globalization. Free trade has led to free reign by the few fully industrialized nations over the many which are not. Some nations enjoy robust economies at the expense of the majority of other nations without whose labor, land and resources the rich nations would not prosper. The undeniable gap between the haves and the have nots is exacerbated by such bodies as the World bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization.

    In spite of accelerating inequalities, youth remains optimistic because there is also an accelerating awareness of these inequities. Furthermore, there is a resistance to them. The world must be reclaimed at the local level through collective action and community development. Economic justice can only be attained if it is simultaneously pursued at the local and global levels. Discovering new personal and social models, which involve youth, is essential to the correcting economic imbalance.

    The consumption habits of the modern world are destroying the very thing that gives us life, the Earth. The processes that maintain the planet’s equilibrium are in jeopardy. Two main problems have resulted: the degradation of the environment and its ability to sustain future generations. These problems harm the integrity of all life. Emphasis on the right of the individual to act independently as a consumer has hidden the interdependence of all life, which is vital to the sustenance of life on Earth. The interest of one is really the interest of all. Recognition of interdependence leads to reverence for the unity of life. The Earth itself must be held in reverence for it sustains life. The moral imperative of this time is to live simply so that others may simply live.
    Draft Statement from the Youth at the Millennium Conference
    April 4, 2002
    Youth at the Millennium: Testimonials

    Student discuss The Political Consequences of Globalization

    I loved the speakers, both in that every one of them was so open and intelligent, but also that each had a different perspective and different focus, so that when everyone came together their views were very diverse.
    – Anonymous

    Youth at the Millennium provided so much – it brought us together and allowed for the networking vital to an effective movement for a positive globalization – to begin at a local level here among the students and groups located in Santa Barbara on one level, and with those outside of Santa Barbara through the wonderful guest speakers. Sharing the experience of experts helps us, the students, to understand what we can do, what to look out for, etc., making us more ready to face it.
    – Anonymous

    The other thing that was key to making this such a worthwhile event is its emphasis on ethics and morality. It is these discussions that are absent in the current discussions around globalization. The anti-globalization has become predictable, which is a problem. By framing questions about ethics, morality, and self-reflection, we are taking the discussion to another level.
    – Anonymous
    I have never before participated in an event with my peers that gave me such a strong sense of solidarity, and it gave me hope for my generation and for the future of humanity in general. The devotion Phil and Bob brought to this cause is truly inspiring, and they have engaged in an endeavor of truth and justice that deserves the utmost respectability. I personally want to thank everyone involved for providing me with such an inspiring and wonderful experience.
    – Anonymous

    This world often leaves me depressed and questioning of the ability to produce positive change; I can easily get consumed by the grim reality of the current state of things. However, this conference has renewed my hope and reinvigorated my spirit… The interaction and conversations that have taken place over the past few days are priceless and will lead to great things in the future.
    – Anonymous

  • Hope in the Face of Darkness

    Hope in the Face of Darkness

    I am very happy to be here with you. I want to thank the organizers of this conference and the members of the Youth Peace Conference.

    I feel a great sense of hopefulness in this room, coming from your hearts. I know you have accomplished great things in the past and I know of your commitment to continue to meet the challenges that confront humanity.

    I hold your president, Daisaku Ikeda, in the highest regard, and consider him to be one of the true world citizens and peace leaders of our time. It was my great privilege last year to present him with our Foundation’s World Citizen Award. It was also my privilege to engage in a dialogue with him, which was published this year on August 6th under the title, Choose Hope.

    In our dialogue we discussed the route to achieving a world free of nuclear weapons and a world at peace. We also looked at the role of education, literature and poetry in shaping our lives. There was nothing we agreed upon more strongly than the importance of hope and of youth in shaping our common future. We share the belief that it is indeed possible to shape a peaceful future, and that youth must help lead the way.

    The title for this talk was chosen in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Those attacks were meticulously planned. They were attacks against symbols of US economic and military power, but they were far more than symbolic. They took some 3,000 to 4,000 innocent lives. The intentional taking of innocent lives is a mark of darkness on our planet.

    Each life is a miracle. Each of us is a miracle. We cannot explain by logic or experience where we come from before birth or where we go after death. We have no way to comprehend the mystery of life or the mystery of our universe. We can only appreciate that we exist on this Earth at this time in this vast and expanding universe, and try to use our precious lives for good purposes.

    As shocking as terrorism may be, it is far from our only problem or even our major problem. We still live in a world in which some 30,000 children die daily from starvation and preventable diseases.

    We live in a world in which the richest 20 percent control 80 percent of the resources. Some 450 billionaires have combined incomes equal to over half of the world’s population. While some on our planet live in lavish abundance with every material advantage imaginable, others live in abject poverty, lacking even the basic resources needed to survive.

    The world spends some $750 billion annually on military forces and weapons, while for a fraction of this amount everyone on the planet could have clean water, adequate food, health care, education, shelter and clothing.

    There are some 30 to 40 wars going on at any given time. Injustice, disparity and old and new hatreds give rise to these wars. The vast majority of the casualties are civilians. In these wars, some 300,000 child soldiers participate. These wars destroy the environment, the infrastructure in already poor countries, and produce new masses of refugees.

    In many parts of the world, people suffer from massive human rights abuses. These abuses fall most heavily on women and children.

    As a species, but particularly in the developed world, we are using up the resources of our planet at a prodigious rate. In doing so, we are robbing future generations of their ability to share in the use of these resources.

    We are also polluting our land, air and water – our most precious resources that we need for survival – with chemical, biological and radiological poisons.

    If all of this were not enough, we have developed and deployed tens of thousands of nuclear weapons capable of destroying humanity and most of life. Many people think that this problem has ended, but it has not. There are still more than 30,000 nuclear weapons in the world and some 4,500 of them are on hair-trigger alert.

    We have reached a point where all of us should be concerned and responsive. Things could grow still worse, however. Nuclear, chemical or biological weapons in the hands of terrorists would multiply the dangers. Instead of buildings being destroyed, nuclear weapons could cause the destruction of whole cities. Imagine the damage that could be done if terrorists had nuclear weapons. This danger cannot be dismissed.

    Humanity can no longer afford or tolerate the damage that hatred can cause. Nor can humanity afford or tolerate the suffering and premature death that has been the lot of the poor.

    Far too many people on this Earth live in despair and hopelessness. These are afflictions of the soul that go beyond physical pain.

    Others, who should know better, live in selfishness, ignorance and apathy. In many ways, these are even crueler afflictions of the soul. They are symptoms of the disease of selfishness of the Roman Emperor Nero, who fiddled while Rome burned.

    It is not always easy to have hope in the face of darkness, but it is necessary. If we give up hope for bringing about change, we give away our power and diminish the possibilities for change.

    Hope must be a conscious choice. There are always reasons for giving up and retreating into selfishness, ignorance and apathy. If you want hope, you must choose it. It will not necessarily choose you. The way to choose hope is by your actions to achieve a better world.

    There are important reasons, though, to have hope.

    The most important reason for me is the power of the human spirit. The human spirit is amazing. It is capable of achieving sublime beauty and overcoming tremendous obstacles. All greatness – in art, music, literature, science, engineering and peace – is a triumph of the human spirit. But the greatest triumph of the human spirit comes from choosing a compassionate goal and persisting in overcoming obstacles to achieve this goal. All worthy goals require persistence to achieve. They will not happen overnight.

    We should celebrate the spirit of the hibakusha, the survivors of the atomic bombings. They are fighting for a better world, a world in which nuclear weapons will never again be used. They have been proposed to receive the Nobel Prize for Peace. I would strongly support their nomination for this recognition and high honor.

    Miyoko Matsubara was a young girl when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. She has had a dozen or more surgeries and has suffered from breast cancer, but her spirit is indomitable. She learned English and has traveled throughout the United States and Europe to tell her story to young people in the hope that they will understand nuclear dangers and not suffer her fate. When I think of Miyoko, I think of her humble but determined spirit. She is a woman who has suffered and who bows deeply.

    Sadako Sasaki was two years old when the bomb fell on Hiroshima. When she was 12 years old she suffered from leukemia as a result of her exposure to radiation, and was hospitalized. She folded paper cranes with the wish of being healthy again. She folded some two-thirds of the 1000 paper cranes that she hoped would make her wish come true. On one of these cranes she wrote, “I will write peace on your wings and you will fly all over the world.”

    After Sadako died, her classmates finished folding the cranes. Today Sadako’s statue stands in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. The base of the statue is always covered in thick layers of folded cranes that have been placed there by children from throughout Japan and from throughout the world. Children all over the world know of Sadako’s story and her courage.

    Nelson Mandela fought for the rights of his people and an end to apartheid in South Africa. The government of South Africa put him in prison, where he remained for 27 years. Despite his imprisonment, he was able to maintain his spirit and his hope. When he was finally released from prison, he became the first black president of his country. Instead of seeking vengeance, he presided over a peaceful transition of power in South Africa, appointing a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to offer pardons to all who confessed their misdeeds during the period of apartheid.

    The first two presidents of Soka Gakkai went to prison rather than fight as soldiers in a war they thought was wrong. I admire their spirits. Mr. Makiguchi died in prison, and Mr. Toda came out to re-build this organization dedicated to applying Buddhist principles to social action. Mr. Toda left a lasting legacy to Soka Gakkai when he called nuclear weapons an “absolute evil,” and called upon the youth of Soka Gakkai to join in ending this evil.

    You responded magnificently to this challenge when you gathered more than 13 million signatures on the Abolition 2000 International Petition calling for ending the nuclear threat, signing a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons and reallocating resources from nuclear weapons to meeting human needs. This petition was presented to the United Nations, but much more needs to be done.

    There are so many people whose lives reflect the best of the human spirit. Another is Hafsat Abiola, who was one of our Foundation’s honorees for our 2001 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award. Hafsat’s father was the first democratically elected president of Nigeria, but he was not able to serve even one day because he was imprisoned by the military. When Hafsat’s mother fought for democracy in her country and for her husband’s release from prison, she was assassinated. On the day before Hafsat’s father was to be released from prison, he, too, was killed.

    Despite the pain of losing her parents, Hafsat is without bitterness or rancor. After graduating from Harvard University, she started an organization named for her mother, the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND). Hafsat works for democracy and for the rights of women and children throughout Africa.

    One other example of the power of the human spirit is found in Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire. Mairead was a young woman working as a secretary in Northern Ireland when disaster struck her family. Mairead’s sister and her sister’s three young children were hit by an out of control car when British forces shot an IRA getaway driver. Two of the children died and the pain was so great that Mairead’s sister later committed suicide.

    Mairead debated what she should do. She considered taking up arms against the British, but she instead choose the course of non-violence. Mairead and another woman, Betty Williams, organized peace gatherings in Northern Ireland. They brought together hundreds of thousands of ordinary people calling for peace. The important thing for you to note is that Mairead herself was a very ordinary person, who became extraordinary because of her choices that reflected courage, compassion and commitment. Today she is the most active of the Nobel Peace Laureates, and often brings them together to speak and act on important peace issues.

    A second reason for hope is that even improbable change does occur. Changes that no expert could predict sometimes occur with incredible speed. Relationships change and new possibilities for peace open up, such as occurred in US-China relations in the early 1970s. The Cold War ended after more than four decades of tension and conflict between East and West. This was symbolized by the fall of the Berlin Wall, which opened the way for a reunited Germany. Pieces of that wall with their graffiti are now souvenirs sold to tourists. I have such a small piece of the wall in my office. It reminds me that great barriers can come down.

    Nelson Mandela went from being a prisoner of a repressive government to becoming president of South Africa. Similar stories mark the lives of Lech Walesa of Poland and Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic. These changes are not predictable, and are usually the result of efforts that have been taking place over a long period of time by committed individuals, generally outside the glare of the media spotlight.

    A third reason for hope is the Power of One. Individuals can and do make a difference in our world. The second person our Foundation honored with our 2001 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award was Craig Kielburger. Craig is 18 years old, but he is already an old hand at social change. What changed Craig’s life was reading about a 12-year-old Pakistani boy, Iqbal Masih, when Craig was himself only 12 years old. Iqbal had been sold into bonded labor as a carpet weaver and had been virtually a slave, chained to his carpet loom for 14 to 16 hours a day. Somehow he had been able to get free, and began speaking out against child labor. Iqbal was given the Reebok Human Rights Award, but when he returned to Pakistan he was murdered by the “Carpet mafia.”

    Craig thought about Iqbal being the same age as he was. When Craig went to school that day, he told his friends about Iqbal and insisted that they do something to further the cause of children’s rights for which Iqbal had been fighting. That was the beginning of a new organization, Free the Children, founded by Craig Kielburger at the age of 12.

    Today, six years later, Craig’s organization has grown to over 100,000 members. It is the largest organization of children helping children in the world. They have been responsible for freeing thousands of children from bonded labor, and they have built hundreds of schools in places where children were previously not able to obtain a basic education. Craig travels throughout the world to learn and to inspire young people to get involved and make a difference.

    Let me review. Three important reasons to have hope are: the power of the human spirit; the fact that improbable change does occur; and the Power of One. The most important reason, though, is that hope is needed to change the world, and you cannot leave this job to others. Your hope and your help are needed.

    The greatest enemies of change are selfishness, apathy and ignorance. These are the enemies of hope. I urge you to resist these at all costs.

    Selfishness is a narrow way to live. It is about what you have, not what you do. Rich lives are not about the money we accumulate, but about the ways in which we interconnect and help others. The antidote to selfishness is compassion, built upon helping others.

    Apathy is about not caring about others. It is a lack of interest and a failure to engage in trying to make a difference. The antidote to apathy is caring and commitment.

    Ignorance in the midst of information is also about not caring – not caring enough to find out about the problems that confront us. I recently visited Sadako Peace Garden, the small garden that we created in Santa Barbara on the fiftieth anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. Each year on August 6th we hold a commemoration at the garden for all who died and suffered in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

    It is a very beautiful natural garden. It has many wonderful trees, but there is one immense and dramatic eucalyptus tree at one end of the garden that is called the Tree of Faith. The garden also has large rocks in which cranes have been carved.

    In that garden, people sometimes leave folded paper cranes and short messages hanging from the oak trees. On the day I visited, I found this message: “There are many things here I do not know, the knowing of which could change everything.” What a powerful message. The antidote to ignorance is knowledge.

    We must be seekers of knowledge, not for its own sake but to better understand our world so that we can engage in it and break our bonds of selfishness with a compassionate response to life. I don’t think this is asking too much of ourselves or each other. It is the essence of being human.

    Don’t be constrained by national boundaries. Recognize the essential equality and dignity of every person on the planet. This is the basic starting point of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

    Don’t expect to change the world overnight. Change seldom occurs that way. Trees grow from seeds. They all begin small, and some grow large. Sometimes they become magnificent. Often they need care and nurturing. Most of what we do to achieve a better world will require patience and persistence.

    I encourage you to plant seeds of peace by your engagement in issues of social justice, by your efforts to create a more decent world in which everyone can live with dignity.

    I have with me a seed from the Tree of Faith in Sadako Peace Garden. It has within it all that is necessary to become a great magnificent tree, just as you have within you all that is needed to become a great human being and a leader for peace.

    I want to conclude by asking you to take three specific actions.

    First, take the pledge of Earth Citizenship: “I pledge allegiance to the Earth and to its varied life forms; one World, indivisible, with liberty, justice and dignity for all.” That is the world we need to create. I also want to encourage you to study two very important documents, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Earth Charter. Please be an active and responsible citizen of our planet. Nothing less will do.

    Second, help to build schools in areas of great need. We have joined with Free the Children to raise funds to build schools in post-conflict areas, such as Chiapas, Mexico and Sierra Leone in Africa. For between $5,000 and $10,000 dollars a school can be built and a teacher provided for students who would otherwise not get a primary education. Free the Children has already built over 100 of these schools in poor countries. This is one of the best ways I can think of to make a difference in our world.

    Third, make a commitment to work for a nuclear weapons free future. Recognize the essential truth that human beings and nuclear weapons cannot co-exist. Choose life and a human future. In the past you helped gather 13 million signatures on the Abolition 2000 International Petition. Today I’d like to ask you to do even more.

    Work to make your school, your community, your nation and our world nuclear weapons free zones.

    Organize letter writing and petition campaigns to the media and to government leaders.

    Promote the idea of a Nobel Peace Prize for the hibakusha of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to bring global attention to their cry of “Never Again!”

    Use the sunflower as the symbol of achieving a nuclear weapons-free world.

    I urge you also to join us in also gathering support for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s Appeal to End the Nuclear Weapons Threat to Humanity, and sending it to leaders of your country and other countries throughout the world. The Appeal, which has already been signed by some of the great peace leaders of our time, asks the leaders of the nuclear weapons states to take five critical actions for the benefit of all humanity. These are:

    – De-alert all nuclear weapons and de-couple all nuclear warheads from their delivery vehicles. – Reaffirm commitments to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. – Commence good faith negotiations to achieve a Nuclear Weapons Convention requiring the phased elimination of all nuclear weapons, with provisions for effective verification and enforcement. – Declare policies of No First Use of nuclear weapons against other nuclear weapons states and policies of No Use against non-nuclear weapons states. – Reallocate resources from the tens of billions of dollars currently being spent for maintaining nuclear arsenals to improving human health, education and welfare throughout the world. – Not one of these critical actions was even addressed by Presidents Bush and Putin at their summit in Crawford, Texas in November. Their pledge to unilaterally reduce their arsenals of strategic nuclear weapons to between 2,200 and 1,700 over a ten-year period is inadequate and represents their desire to continue to rely upon their nuclear arsenals. We must ask that these leaders take up again the issue of nuclear disarmament in a far more serious way when they meet again in Moscow next March. If they do not, they and we will face the risk that terrorists will be able to purchase, steal or develop nuclear weapons and destroy our cities.

    I would encourage delegations of youth representatives to travel to Washington, Moscow, Tokyo and other key capitals to make the case for ending the nuclear weapons threat to humanity. We cannot rely upon the leaders of the nuclear weapons states to solve the problems themselves. They need the help and encouragement of all of us. This is part of our responsibility as citizens of planet Earth.

    If serious progress on nuclear disarmament is not made soon, you will be inheriting the nuclear dangers that are left behind. Time is of the essence and we must approach nuclear disarmament now as if the future of civilization depended upon our success in convincing world leaders to adequately control and eliminate these weapons and the fissile materials needed to create them.

    I hope that I have challenged you, particularly with the actions I have proposed. I have confidence that you will meet the challenge of being an active participant in creating a more just and decent future for humanity, a future you can be proud to pass on to your children and grandchildren.

    I encourage you to choose hope and then never lose hope, even in the face of darkness. Your success in life will be something that only you can judge, but I believe the right criteria for you to use are compassion, commitment and courage. I hope that you will work to achieve a better world, and I know that you can and will make a difference.

    *David Krieger is president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

  • Building a Culture of Peace

    Building a culture of peace means that we begin educating our young children on personal, local, national and international issues of conflict and violence. All too often, education and dialogue is reserved for undergraduate, post-graduate and professional circles, ignoring the vast resource of youthful enthusiasm and exploration which high school-aged students can provide. The institutions of government, military, and popular media wage educational campaigns to inundate young people’s lives with violent images and wasteful propaganda. If a culture of peace is what we want to provide for the future generations, then we must begin to explicitly *teach peace*. In the United States, this may mean restructuring the academic calendar to make learning at school more permanent rather than seasonal, and it may mean challenging our system of “accountability” where we are teaching our kids to test rather than teaching them to learn and think.

    Furthermore, kids learn by example. So if we want them to learn nonviolence and healthy conflict management, we as a nation must become more vigilant in creating compassionate policies for education, healthcare, foreign countries, immigration, nuclear energy and weapons of mass destruction. As a high school teacher of nonviolence, I tell my students that if they want to know where their priorities are, they should track where they spend their money. Does it go to transportation expenditures, to new clothes or movies, or does it go to charitable causes? Students see where their governments’ priorities are when they learn of the disparity between the defense budget and the education budget.

    *Leah C. Wells is Peace Education Coordinator at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

  • Notes From the Road

    On Saturday March 10, 2001, I participated in World Peace through Human Revolution at the SGI-USA Santa Barbara Community Center. The event exposed attendees to Buddhist practices and allowed local non-profit organizations the opportunity to discuss our respective missions and programs with SGI members and event participants. Event organizers treated participants to a historical overview of Buddhism, brief discussion of the main figures who shaped present day Soka Gakkai International, and recitation of the Lotus Sutra. The program debuted Changing Society by Changing Ourselves, a captivating visual chronicle of the major figures and events shaping war and peace in the 20th century. Talented SGI members not only showcased their theatrical skills through a skit entitled Changing Poison to Medicine, which portrayed a day in the life a young women in the process of changing her life for the better by overcoming greed, foolishness, and anger, but also their musical skills through an inspirational piece combining turntable, spoken word, and vocal stylings. Many participants experienced the Victory Over Violence exhibit, learning whether it was their first time or viewing the exhibit as a reminder of our need to wage peace. Also, Nonviolence International Founder and local high school educator, Leah Wells, donated her own facilitation skills to a workshop on conflict resolution. Initiated and led by students, World Peace through Human Revolution relayed Gandhi’s message of be(ing) the change that you want to see in the world. I commend all of those who contributed to the success of the afternoon festivities.

    The video Changing Society by Changing Ourselves features Foundation President David Krieger. Video narrators reiterate his belief that the collaborative and organizational efforts among those of us working to affirm and expand the just and humane components of our society must equal and exceed the efforts among individuals, organizations, and corporations organized around preparing for and mounting war. This concept remains a rallying point today! Case in point – approximately three years ago, SGI youth collected 13 million signatures from Japanese citizens calling for both an international treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons within a fixed time period and for the reallocation of resources from military purposes to social services. David Krieger accepted the signatures on behalf of the Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons at a ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Being that the United States is twice the size of Japan, I believe it is possible to collect 26 million signatures through our current Appeal to End the Nuclear Threat to Humanity. Please join with me and voice our commitment to transforming society for the better starting with ourselves.

    *Michael Coffey is the Youth Outreach Coordinator for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

  • Notes from the Road

    Earlier this month, I participated in Make Our World 2000, a joining of minds between international youth peace activists. The event was held at a scenic retreat center just outside of Malibu, California. A group of remarkable, concerned southern California residents — and activists in their own right — convened the event and enlisted the assistance of the Global Youth Action Network to encourage young activists to attend, facilitate discussion, and develop a plan of action.

    Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

                                                                       -Margaret Mead

    Much was accomplished in the few days we spent together, and a number of larger themes surfaced. We spent valuable time getting to know one another, summarizing our purpose for heeding the call to attend, sharing meals, and hiking together in the Malibu hills. We brainstormed on how we could combine forces, better support one another, and create an international youth platform addressing and linking multiple social justice issues. We recognized the accomplishments of previous meetings with similar goals, yet seized the moment at hand to synthesize, organize, and contribute our individual and collective energies to the youth movement.

    Diversity is a cornerstone in building this movement! Unfortunately, a number of our allies experienced difficulties in securing the proper approval and means to attend the event. Their presence was sorely missed! In their absence, the group acknowledged a relationship between structural, global, macro-level injustice and individual, micro-level suffering.[1] As a means to find solutions to identify and act on solutions to end such suffering, the group recommitted itself to having a greater representation of indigenous peoples, people of African descent, and people of Asian descent at our next gathering, tentatively scheduled for June 2001.

    The facilitators and the group as a whole created and maintained a comfortable and flexible environment that allowed for changes to the agenda. One such change and subsequent discussion validated the point that often times activists work in isolation and/or lack adequate mentorship and support. Knowing this, all individuals working for a sane and safe world must better support one another, expand our network, and use new technologies to reinforce the sense of community.

    [Together we can be] 1,000 candles burning as bright as the sun.

    -Jimmy Hurrell

    I will spare you the specifics on the proposed projects out of respect for group members as we continue to discuss appropriate action steps and with the realization that Make Our World 2000 was just one very important step out of many more to come. Please check back with us soon at https://wagingpeace.davidmolinaojeda.com for an update on Foundation efforts to develop a network of other youth organizations around the world working on issues complimentary to our own. Don’t worry. You won’t have to wait long!

     

    [1] Jonathan White, a sociology professor at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, visited the Foundation in November 2000 and discussed one example of such injustice – hunger – with area high school and college students.