Side Event to the UN General Assembly’s First Committee: Humanitarian Disarmament Education
By Omar Majumdar, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and Reverse The Trend
On 11 October, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF), Reverse The Trend: Save Our People, Save Our Planet (RTT), Soka Gakkai International (SGI), and the Mission of Kiribati sponsored a hybrid event entitled “Humanitarian Disarmament Education”. The speakers included H.E. Ambassador Tito, the Permanent Representative of Kiribati to the UN; Mr. Aziz Azril, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the UN; Anna Ikeda, Program Coordinator for Disarmament, Office for UN Affairs, Soka Gakkai International (SGI); Christian N. Ciobanu, Policy and Advocacy Coordinator, NAPF and Co-Founder, RTT; Jeremiah Williams, a student at Pace University; Alicia Sanders-Zakre, Policy and Research Coordinator, ICAN; and Mary Dickson, Nevada Test Site Downwinder. Dr. Ivana Hughes, President of NAPF, chaired the meeting. The video can be found here.
Dr. Hughes stressed the imperative need for nuclear disarmament education as it is a powerful tool to help achieve a just and peaceful world. Dr. Hughes emphasised that the narrative of nuclear destruction did not simply end with Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but its legacy is prevalent in many parts of the globe such as the American Southwest, Kiribati, French Polynesia, and Algeria. Dr. Hughes reminded the audience that we all continue to be the victims of nuclear terror with the normalisation of nuclear weapons technologies.
H.E. Ambassador Tito stressed that the damages caused by nuclear weapons testing are still prevalent and impacting affected communities in his country. The Ambassador specifically addressed the youth in attendance, encouraging them to continue their disarmament education and help in the global effort to eliminate WMDs. Finally, he compared the struggle for nuclear disarmament to “the greatest love story to save mankind.”
Mr. Azril discussed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), the rhetoric associated with nuclear weapons doctrines and the dangerous normalisation of these weapons. Mr. Azril began his discussion on the universalisation of the TPNW. Specifically, he discussed the need for states parties to advocate for the TPNW and shift the rhetoric associated with nuclear weapons. He further explained that the nuclear weapon states should change their current “moral rhetoric” about their nuclear weapons. Mr. Azril further underscored how student activism can lead to nuclear disarmament. For example, a grassroots student movement sparked the nuclear disarmament movement in Apartheid South Africa, which directly led to South Africa’s Post-Apartheid government to renounce its nuclear weapons program.
Anna Ikeda of SGI explained that disarmament education can push the needle forward. In this connection, Ikeda mentioned that the creation of the TPNW can be seen as an educational journey. Ikeda stressed that our shared humanity is the focal point of nuclear disarmament education and campaigning. With the rise of militarism and racism globally, the quality of education was also emphasised, pushing the value and need for an intersectional education encompassing diversity and self-reflection.
Christian Ciobanu stressed the importance of youth advocacy as the vehicle of current and future change in nuclear disarmament. RTT works globally by collaborating with frontline communities on the twin existential threats of climate change and nuclear weapons. RTT encourages youth activists to raise awareness about the TPNW. Ciobanu emphasised the need for multi-pronged approaches to nuclear disarmament education. He discussed RTT’s widespread campaigns through curricula, filmmaking, toolkits, and mediums like poetry and art. He further highlighted RTT’s new journal that contains submissions from international youth on nuclear disarmament and environmental justice.
Jeremiah Williams spoke of his personal journey to involvement with the existential issue of nuclear proliferation and its disarmament. He shared his reflections about the overwhelming lack of youth presence and diversity among the discussions of the issues. Williams made an appeal to the youth in the audience to learn and propagate nuclear disarmament education as a crucial vehicle for change. He stressed that the inclusion of young people is essential, and that they have a right to determine their own future and influence policy of the future they will be living in.
Alicia Sanders-Zakre presented ICAN’s new university study on “Schools of Mass Destruction”. As explained by Sanders-Zakre, numerous universities are involved in supporting the United States’ (US) nuclear weapons complex, aiding their design, research, engineering, and normalisation of nuclear weapons. Instead, she proposes that the universities and students should put their efforts towards nuclear disarmament advocacy and education. Sanders-Zakre called out the US refusal to ratify the TPNW and said that the treaty must bring about a new order of global peace.
Mary Dickinson, a downwinder of US nuclear weapons testing, gave a heart wrenching and harrowing speech on her personal account of the terror and danger of nuclear weapons and their testing. She called herself and those also mortally affected by nuclear weapons testing as unaccounted victims of the Cold War. Dickinson spoke of the gruesome and existential danger that nuclear weapons have wrought, and looms over us in this very moment. She explained that the survivors of the downwinders and their descendants are disappointed by the lack of accountability and refusal by the US to provide adequate compensation. Dickinson highlighted the deeply tragic danger that nuclear weapons pose to all humanity, and that we should never forget what is being fought for when advocating for a peaceful nuclear weapon free world.
This event served as a pertinent reminder for the aims of disarmament education, and the vital need for it in a global system, which has normalised nuclear weapons and their proliferation.