Here you can find a brief journal of IFOR attendance to the nuclear ban week in Vienna which has been very intense with outstanding events.
Don’t miss the photo album. [scroll down to the end]
Day 1 & Day 2
On the 18th and 19th we participated in the NGOs Forum organized by ICAN and on the 19th evening on the "Give peace a chance!" conference organized by ABFANG, IPB and WILPF.
- recording of main events which took place during the June 18-19 NGOs Forum
- daily MSP TV: twice a day briefing concerning the ongoing Vienna events on nuclear disarmament (Conference on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons and Parliamentarians Conference on the 20th, 1MSP on 21-23rd, Youth Conference on the 21st . . .)
About 600 people participated in the Forum in the past 2 days, coming from all regions of the world such as the islands of the Pacific, Asia, Africa, South America . . .
The topic of nuclear weapons is a global urgent issue which involves those producing, owning and storing nukes and those who have been affected by their use and testing; nuclear weapons are a threat to human life and all earth life. The UN Treaty frames nukes as inhuman and illegal and it provides a plan to ban them!
At this link you can watch recording of main events which took place during the June 18-19 NGOs Forum
Day 3
On Monday July 20th, IFOR participated in the Conference on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, which was organized by Austria at the Austrian center in Vienna with the participation of State delegations, NGOs, academics, OIs...
Several experts took the floor on specific aspects concerning #nuclearweapons 1. What we know, 2. Impact on people and planet, 3. The risks.
Speakers were as well from UN Office for Disarmament Affairs Vienna, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) , International Committee of the Red Cross , KNOW NUKES TOKYO , UNIDIR, the UN Institute for Disarmament Research , Nuclear Information and Resource Service , SIPRI , Arms Control Association , Princeton University . . .
Here are some insights from the Conference:
P. Lewis reported on several cases concerning individuals who decided not to escalate as P. Stanislav in 1983.
"The more NATO emphasizes nuclear deterrence, the more it legitimizes nuclear threats" D. Kimball
"Nuclear detonation may be a low probability event, but not a zero probability event" J. Revill
"Nuclear colonialism has been affecting indigenous communities" M. Olsen
"Illusion to bend the future to our will; illusion of control" Z. Mian
"We live in a system of states, not of people, and states make wars" Z. Mian
"Fragility of security theory based on nuclear deterrence" Z. Mian
"Only the elimination of nuclear weapons offer effective prevention" Z. Mian
The detailed program is available here.
The complete list of speakers and bio is available here.
The Opening remarks by Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu High Representative for Disarmament Affairs are available here.
Day 4
Tuesday 21st, the historical 1 Conference TPNW MSP started at the UN Vienna with the opening message by António Guterres UN Secretary General, the director of International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), UN Office for Disarmament Affairs Vienna.
We expected many States “observers” such as those in the middle of the ratification process and those still reluctant to sign the treaty.
4 NATO members (Norway, Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands) will attend as observers and there is the last minute chance for others to join in.
It's important not to give up and to persist on national campaigning and lobby efforts!
The meeting continued with testimonies from nuclear weapons victims.
Member States delivered statements on #nuclearweapons from different perspectives.
Here some insights from the general debate from States, IOs and NGOs:
"Preserve life, instead of threaten it"
"Unacceptable humanitarian consequences" Austria
"Deterrence is an ultimate call for further proliferation" Austria
"We need a realistic approach based on evidences" Austria
"Multilateral cooperation is the only way for global concerns" Austria
"Many ratifications from the Pacific which bears scars of decades of nuclear testing" New Zealand
"Nuclear weapons are never the answer" New Zealand
"Nuclear deterrence does not preserve peace" South Africa
"Sense of responsibility and urgency; no room for procrastination" South Africa
"Culture of peace instead of culture of death" Venezuela
"Nuclear weapons offer no security" Ireland
"Nuclear weapons are contrary to the spirit of U.N. and its Chart" Guyana
"Giant step for the preservation of human life" Trinidad and Tobago
"Importance of addressing the financing of such production" ICAN-Etica
"We banned them and we will eliminate them" Parliamentarians for the TPNW
"Every dollar on missile is a moral abhorrence" Fiji
The Program of work of the 1MSP is available here.
ICAN updates on the 1st day of the MSP is available here.
ICAN executive director statement is available here.
Day 5
On the 2nd day of the 1MSP, on June 22nd, the plenary adopted decisions on art. 4 of the #TPNW concerning above all 10 years time for the destruction of nuclear weapons owned by states parties and 90 days for the removal of nuclear weapons from hosting states.
The working session then addressed Art. 6 and 7 on "Victim assistance and environmental remediation" and "International cooperation and assistance".
Among speakers there have been representatives of the civil society who shared their first hand testimonies as 2nd and 3rd generation affected victims.
International Fellowship of Reconciliation - IFOR joined an interfaith oral statement delivered by World Council of Churches on behalf of 144 NGOs, including Pax Christi International, Soka Gakkai . . .
You can read more on the Interfaith joined statement and its signatories here.
Kiribati rep called on all 1MSP participants to gather together as "brothers and sisters".
The debate was also characterized by statements of observer states such as NATO members Sweden, Germany, Norway and The Netherlands.
Germany statement is available here.
Norway statement is available here.
Swede statement is available here.
Switzerland (another observer state at the 1MSP) statement is available here.
Day 6
The 3rd day of the 1MSP, on June 23rd, concluded an historical Conference on nuclear disarmament, which adopted by consensus the Vienna declaration: the Action Plan in 50 points to move forward with nuclear disarmament and fully implement.
More details are available here.
ICAN's preliminary analysis on these 2 historical documents is available here.
Several principles have been highlighted:
scientific advisory committee
universality
complementarity (with the NPT)
gender perspective
…
Several member states took the floor as well as NGOs such as International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) that stated again the perfect complementary with NPT and the TPNW's vital importance.
The plenary agreed as well on the 2MSP presidency to Mexico and the 3MSP presidency to Kazakhstan.
The President of the Conference, Alexander Kmentt, celebrated the historical outcome restating:
"Important message from this meeting, a clear message"
"Now the real work will start!"
"We set a new standard to work together and efficiently"
"Thank you to observers who have not yet made their mind on it"
"Viva Mexico!"
The meeting ended with excitement and celebrations from all participants, diplomats and civil society together.
Nuclear ban week concluded with renewed commitment to nuclear disarmament by all the MSP and renewed joint effort with civil society to free the world from nuclear weapons and remediate its harm.
Nuclear weapons are banned and there is a Plan!
The nuclear ban week has been a very intense week with many useful and interesting insights.
July 7th commemorated as well the 5th anniversary of the adoption of the TPNW which entered into force on January 22nd 2021 following the reaching of its 50th ratification on October 24th 2020.
Till today, 66 countries had already ratified the TPNW
Day 1 Photo-Book
Day 2 Photo-Book
Day 3 Photo-Book
Day 4 Photo-Book
Day 5 Photo-Book
Day 6 Photo-Book
Additional Tools:
Take a look at the pictures and posts published on IFOR's Facebook page and share them!
At this link you can watch daily MSP TV: twice a day briefing concerning the ongoing Vienna events on nuclear disarmament (Conference on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons and Parliamentarians Conference on the 20th, 1MSP on 21-23rd, Youth Conference on the 21st . . .)
All the statements delivered during the 1MSP by invited guests, member states, observer states, international organizations and NGOs are available here.
ICAN's pictures from NGOs forum (free to use for ICAN’s partner organisations for non-commercial use, please just make sure to credit the photographer and ICAN):
ICAN's ED Beatrice Fihn highlights about the #nuclearbanweek:
The panels and discussions at the Nuclear Ban Forum were . I was so impressed with the energy, commitment, new and fresh angles on this issue and just the joy of us being together again.
It almost got lost in the noise, but we got three states (!) from three different continents to join the treaty on the eve of the MSP. This shows that the momentum for the treaty keeps growing, and we know many more states are on their way to ratify. Congratulations to Timor-Leste, Grenada and Cabo Verde.
The first ever Parliamentarians for TPNW conference took place, and it was so great to see relationships building and connections being made between our supportive parliamentarians across countries. Plans were made and participants plotted about how they can get their countries to join the treaty. This is such important work to increase the power and reach of the TPNW.
We had financial institutions engaging as stakeholders in the Treaty meetings for the first time. Financial institutions and investors representing €230 billion sent a strong message of support and solidarity to the MSP, and raised divestment as a way to implement the TPNW.
We got five nuclear allied states, Norway, Germany, Australia, Netherlands and Belgium, to attend the MSP. While we have lots of work left to get them to join the treaty, we need to recognize that this was a very impressive achievement for our partners in these countries.
The Nuclear Ban Forum, the Humanitarian Conference and the MSP were packed with young people and new campaigners, from all corners of the world. This is such a clear sign that our movement is reasoning with people and becoming stronger and stronger. A big thanks to Youth for TPNW, Reverse The Trend and all other organisations that prioritized bringing young people to Vienna, and for every single partner organisation who are creating a campaign that is welcoming for new people and creating space for young activists to make their voices heard.
The outcome documents of the MSP were really incredible achievements, and no other nuclear weapons forum will in the foreseeable future be able to get close to what we achieved.. The Vienna Declaration is the strongest multilateral declaration against the threat of nuclear weapons use that has ever been adopted. There are so many good parts in this document, and we hope to have more analysis and writings about it coming out soon. Please do share any writing and commentary that you and your networks are publishing on this, in absence of media coverage on this we need to make sure we spread the word ourselves.
The Vienna action plan is pretty unique for a UN treaty outcome document in its inclusiveness of civil society, impacted communities and academics and scientists as well as in its concrete and timebound commitments by states. Here’s a list of the key decisions that were taken, and we’ll follow up with more information and analysis of what this means in the coming weeks.