Report about Youth Initiative to Reverse The Trend of Existential Threats
On November 2, in collaboration with the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, the Prospect Hill Foundation, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, and the Marshallese Educational Initiative, Reverse the Trend: Save Our People, Save Our Planet hosted “Youth Initiative to Reverse The Trend of Existential Threats” at the Yale Club in New York City. The event focused on nuclear disarmament & nonproliferation education, and expressed the significance of providing avenues for young people, especially from communities affected by nuclear weapons & climate change, to voice their views and those of their communities in the policy arena.
Christian N. Ciobanu, Policy and Advocacy Coordinator for NAPF & Coordinator for RTT, provided opening remarks expressing, “While youth are passionate about the issues of nuclear weapons and climate change disarmament, the tools for effective mobilization between activists from both fields have been missing for many years.” The event excelled at addressing this issue and potential avenues for solution. Anya Chachkes, a youth activist for Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and Reverse The Trend, facilitated the interactive discussion by serving as the event’s moderator.
Ms. Soo Hyun Kim, UNODA’s focal point for youth engagement expressed the #Youth4Disarmament mission & initiative. H.E. Ambassador Maritza Chan, Deputy Permanent Representative of Costa Rica, expressed a call for the international community to embrace an intersectional approach on addressing arms control issues. She specified that “we must change the narrative that nuclear weapons are a symbol of sovereignty, bring security, promote stability & peace. In reality, we are living in a very insecure, unstable environment. Changing the narrative requieres a human rights approach & a feminist approach”.
Additionally, guests in-person & via zoom heard from H.E. Ambassador Alexander Marschik, Permanent Representative of Austria to the UN, about why it matters that youth activists were involved in the TPNW negotiations and remain to have a voice at the table of discussion. H.E. Ambassador Amatlain Elizabeth Kabua, Permanent Representative of the Marshall Islands, explained the tragic legacy of nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands. Further examining the impact of the nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands was Dr. Ivana Hughes, Director of K=1 Project, Center for Nuclear Studies at Columbia University.
RTT previewed the trailer of its docuseries’ first episode, “A Journey Home”, created by a group of Marshallese youth affiliated with the Marshallese Educational Initiative (MEI), along with the assistance of Lovely Umayam, Founder & Chief Creative Producer of Bombshelltoe & Coordinator of Reverse The Trend, along with Catherine Killough, Creative Producer of “The Journey Home”. Benetick Kabua Maddison, one of the authors of “A Journey Home”, Project Specialist for Youth, Climate, and Nuclear Issues of MEI also shared his experience. Benetick amplified the need for Marshallese elders to share their accounts of nuclear testing with younger generations to continue to raise awareness regarding the horrendous consequences on the people and land of the Marshall Islands. “The Marshallese people have yet to achieve nuclear justice, so the fight must continue”, Maddison delivered in his moving testimony & speech.
Jeremiah Williams and Taylor Leigh Magnus of Pace University also provided statements at the event related to the importance of disarmament and nonproliferation education for youth, as members of Pace University’s Disarmament Institute. To end, Dr. Kathleen Sullivan, Director of Hibakusha Stories & educational consultant to the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, provided the concluding remarks for the event.
The event was quite a success, totaling over 35 in-person participants & over 40 additional attendees via Zoom.
