The Nuclear Ban is here
Today, the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons enters into force. It makes it illegal for the signature countries to develop, test, stockpile, sell or use nuclear weapons.
“Friday 22 January marks an enormous victory and an important step on the way towards a world free from these weapons of mass destruction”, said Tuva Krogh Widskjold, coordinator for ICAN Norway.
ICAN is The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, and the leading civil society organisation working to establish an international treaty banning nuclear weapons. It was established in 2007, and was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its groundbreaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.
"A brilliant choice"
“The Norwegian Nobel Committee receives criticism sometimes for not choosing the right Nobel Peace Prize laureate, but with the the success of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons I think we can say in this case they made a brilliant choice", Executive Director Beatrice Fihn of ICAN says. "ICAN is not one person, but a global campaign built on decades of activism. Peace is built and lasting change happens with movements across generations and nationalities. The election of ICAN and the nuclear ban treaty’s success has been a victory for peace builders everywhere.”
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted by the UN in July 2017. It prohibits nations from developing, testing, producing, transferring, possessing, stockpiling, using or threatening to use nuclear weapons, or allowing nuclear weapons to be stationed on their territory.
To enter into force, the treaty needed signatures from 50 member states. That number was reached in October last year, allowing for the treaty to enter info force 90 days later. Many countries, including the nuclear powers ant NATO countries, have refrained from signing, and as long as nuclear weapons exist, they may be used. So ICAN continues their fight for a world free from nuclear weapons. But 22 January will remain a milestone in history, according to the organisation.
"The story of nuclear weapons will have an ending, and it is up to us what that ending will be. Will it be the end of nuclear weapons, or will it be the end of us? One of these things will happen."
The “entry into force day” is celebrated across the world. In Oslo, ICAN, Nei til Atomvåpen and the Nobel Peace Center will show the exhibition “The moment that changed the world”; a 15 meter long panorama photo showing the distructions after the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. The exhibition will be on display at the City Hall Square from 23 until 28 January.
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