The Global Security Institute is a founding member of UNFOLD ZERO who recently reported on their activities below. The Swiss-based organization is a platform for United Nations (UN) focused initiatives and actions for the achievement of a nuclear weapons free world. They aim to unfold the path to zero nuclear weapons through effective steps and measures facilitated by the UN General Assembly, UN Security Council, UN Secretary-General and other UN bodies.
Youth initiatives and intergenerational cooperation
Abolition 2000, the global civil society network for the elimination of nuclear weapons, held its annual general meeting online on Saturday February 3. The meeting (held in three sessions) included campaign reports, strategy discussions and movement building, with the theme Keeping the Network Connected and a focus on youth initiatives and intergenerational cooperation.
The breadth of turnout (with reps from Asia, the Pacific, Middle East, South America, North America and Europe), and the surprisingly large number of reports from inspiring nuclear disarmament campaigns and initiatives from around the would, demonstrated that the global nuclear abolition movement is alive, active and influential, even during these difficult times.
Reports show breadth and depth of the Abolition movement
The array of reports presented to the Abolition 2000 Annual Meeting show the breadth and depth of the global nuclear abolition movement. All of them are inspirational. The written versions (linked below) are easy to read as they are limited to 700 words each. The reports include:
- Basel Peace Office and the Move the Nuclear Weapons Money campaign;
- Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament;
- Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space;
- International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms;
- International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN);
- Mayors for Peace;
- Middle East Treaty Organization;
- NE Asia NWFZ;
- Nuclear disarmament and climate protection in UN Human Rights bodies;
- Nuclear risk reduction working group;
- Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament (PNND);
- Peace Depot;
- Phoenix Settlement Trust and Gandhi Development Trust;
- UNFOLD ZERO;
- World Beyond War;
- and more (see online).
Focus on youth engagement and intergenerational cooperation
The Annual meeting included a special focus on youth action and engagement, and on intergenerational cooperation. This included:
- An update from Youth Fusion, the abolition 2000 youth network which won the 2022 Voices Gorbachev/Shultz Legacy Youth Award;
- Presentations from three other youth networks all of which were finalists in the prestigious 2024 PACEY Awards (and one of which was a winner);
- A breakout session to discussion youth actions and intergenerational cooperation for peace, climate protection and nuclear abolition.
NPT and Summit of the Future
Participants at the Abolition 2000 Annual Meeting also discussed upcoming opportunities to advance nuclear abolition globally including the 2024 Meeting of States Parties to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (Prep Com) which takes place in Geneva from July 22 – August 2, 2024 and the UN Summit of the Future which will take place in New York on September 22-23, 2024.
For the 2024 NPT meeting in Geneva, Abolition 2000 members and the coordinating committee are considering similar actions as were undertaken at the 2023 NPT Prep Com in Vienna. This included presentations to the NPT plenary on nuclear risk reduction and frameworks for a nuclear-weapons-free world, a number of side events, and inter-active public actions with the #3DNukeMissile.
For the UN Summit of the Future, Abolition 2000 members are engaging in the preparatory process, including the Global Futures Forum (the second one to be in Nairobi in May 2024) and Peoples Pact for the Future (a key advocacy tool for the UN Summit), and are promoting the nuclear disarmament proposals in the Peoples Pact to the governments and UN Summit secretariate. These proposals are also reflected in Protect People and the Planet: Appeal for a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World, which will be presented to the UN Summit.
The Global Security Institute is dedicated to strengthening international peace and security based on co-operation, diplomacy, shared interests, the rule of law and universal values. Our efforts are guided by the skills and commitment of our team of former heads of state, distinguished diplomats and politicians, celebrities, religious leaders, Nobel Peace Laureates, disarmament and legal experts, and concerned informed citizens. Our focus is on controlling and eliminating humanity’s greatest threat – nuclear weapons.
