International Youth Statements

During the 2MSP, our two youth activists, Stella Dean Rose and Brock Walker delivered statements. We are very proud of them. They attended the 2MSP as part of NAPF and its youth initiative, Reverse The Trend’s delegation.

General Exchange of Views

Statement Delivered by Stella Dean Rose

Esteemed guests, advocates for a brighter, safer future, and the vibrant force that shapes the future – the youth,

It is a privilege and honor to stand before you today. My name is Stella Rose. I'm a student, a youth campaigner at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s youth initiative, Reverse the Trend, and like you, I am a global citizen. In my 20 years of life with social media at my disposal I have grown into what I like to call an interconnected generation Z. Like you, I have been witness to the cruelty of the world, enraged by the unjust political purists at the expense of my peers’ lives and our planet, and maybe most relatably, restless knowing what is at stake.

I stand amongst my peers, proudly, with an unwavering belief in the transformative power of youth engagement. Our interconnectedness enables us with the joint energy to be an active participant in our global community. Each one of us carries the potential to be an ambassador for change, a catalyst for diplomacy, and a builder of bridges that span continents.

We have been promised that the youth will be the leaders of tomorrow. But the doomsday clock ticks, and the time has elapsed. Youth engagement takes place now. It is the youth at the front of the climate crisis, the youth for gun reform, the youth for racial justice, the youth for education, for hygiene. It is the youth for nuclear disarmament.

And we will continue to manifest so long as injustice flows and action stagnates. We will use our collective voice against the false notion of a safer world with 12,512 nuclear warheads in existence. That Mutually Assured Destruction should not offer us comfort, but actually reinforces anxiety.

There is nothing honorable, or prestigious, or commendable in the power to extinguish humanity and our shared planet. Take this as reinvisioned western sentiment.

Nuclear disarmament is not a mere idealistic dream; it is an imperative for our survival. We must not allow the apathy of the present to become the regret of the future. Each nuclear weapon represents not just a threat to an enemy, but a threat to every living being on this planet. It is a threat to the children who dream of a world of peace, who dream of a future. It is a threat to the breaths that you and I are taking in this moment.

As we strive for disarmament, we are not advocating for weakness but for strength of character. True strength lies not in the ability to destroy but in the courage to coexist. The willingness to resolve conflicts through meaningful global dialogue. It requires the fortitude to dismantle the very weapons that, in moments of madness, could extinguish the essence of life itself.

So, let us unite in this noble cause. Let us instead bequeath the pursuit of peace to our children, if nothing else, we owe them that.

When we speak of human-made issues, we know that they warrant human made solutions. Sitting among me in this room today are perhaps some of the most educated individuals on the planet. I know that you are equipped and capable to offer solutions for the better. Now I ask you to find the political courage to execute that. We ask you to answer to most of the world who longs for a planet free of nukes.

I am so honored to have the chance to collaborate with a group of girls from the island nation of Kiribati. A group of girls who are intergenerational survivors of nuclear testing. A group of girls, who, retain an indigenous wisdom that was sought to be disposed of through displacement, decimation of land, and historical genocide. They brought with them to the United Nations, a sort of wisdom that calls on our humanity above politics. I urge all of our leaders to learn from them.

You were bestowed the honor to shape our today which should lead to a better tomorrow.

Now as I grow, I am confronted with the reality that the world isn’t fair. But today I don’t ask you for fairness, just a chance at life, a hope for peace. For I am your children and if nothing else you owe us that.

Thank you.

***

Statement on Articles 6 and 7

Delivered by Brock Walker

Dear President, Co-Chairs, Esteemed Excellencies, and Colleagues,

My name is Brock Walker and I was born and raised in Las Vegas, a downwind community. We are just 65 miles south of the Nevada National Security Site, formerly known as the Nevada Test Site. The NNSS was the site of the majority of weapons tested by the United States with the detonation of over 1,000 weapons between 1951 and 1992. 100 atmospheric tests were conducted until the 1963 ratification of the Partial Test Ban Treaty.

The winds carried the fallout from these tests to downwind communities in Nevada, Arizona, and Utah--today, research demonstrates the impacts affected the entirety of the country. Cancer rates in our communities grew dramatically, and our government has continued to suppress official epidemiological surveys to demonstrate the scope of impact testing had. Over 800 underground tests were conducted at the site, with venting proving to impact the surface environment. Some tests were even conducted at and below the water-table, the main source of drinking water for our communities. Testing represents one stage of the violent lifecycle nuclear weapons impose on our societies, and provides further evidence of the urgent need for disarmament. We have heard from members of the Navajo Nation in previous days that these tests permanently contaminated lands sacred for their heritage, as communities in the deserts faraway from DC were dispensable in the American government’s pursuit of ultimate destruction.

The legacy of nuclear testing has for too long painted an uncertain future for our homelands. Beset by decades of nuclear testing that only grew in magnitude, the resulting ionising radiation released has led to historic devastating health impacts and threaten our environment for future generations. The environmental remediation proposed by Article 6 has no corollary in the national policy of the United States. The victims assistance outlined is paralleled by the inadequate Radiation Exposure Compensation Act highlighting the necessity for Article 7. National policy in nuclear armed states to mitigate and remediate the impact of every stage of the lifecycle of nuclear weapons is critically limited due to their continued justification of the maintenance of these weapons of mass destruction. It is next to impossible to receive compensation under RECA, with the burden of proof extremely high for victims of nuclear testing--and without an official epidemiological survey, their suffering goes unnoticed.

While the United States has tested on Marshall and Kiribatis islands, potential claimants for radiological damages suffered by the US government cannot apply for compensation under current RECA national policy. They suffered from US nuclear testing, yet the US government does not recognize their right to compensation and environmental remediation.

The responses to the unnecessary catastrophes we have faced have so far been inadequate to the damage that has been done, and that continues to evolve. Most solutions have been temporary, without thinking of how future generations would have to grapple with those same problems later on.

With this in mind, it is clear that the TPNW proves a vital method to seek assistance for those suffering from the consequences of nuclear weapons, and for aid in remediating contaminated environments. These responsibilities must be made central to any negotiations that are shared amongst states on the subject of the communities and environments they have and continue to take advantage of. There is no returning to the lands and lives detrimentally impacted back to their natural state, but through articles 6 and 7, the horrific damages incurred can be mitigated to give as close a sense of return back to equilibrium as possible.

The discussion of an international trust fund is a vital path forward that creates a space for all States parties to work together to aid in the humanitarian work and focus that must become central to the discussion of nuclear weapons. Only through international cooperation can we respond to the devastating impact of nuclear testing, as national policy continues to demonstrate inadequacy. We have become the necessary victims of the nuclear-armed world, along with countless others across nations. We refuse to exist only as victims of the past while nuclear weapons are advanced at a rapid rate into the future.

As a youth growing up in a downwind community, I am most focused on the future effects of the health and environmental damages caused by nuclear testing.

Co-chairs, through Articles 6 and 7, how are we compensating future generations?