Celebrating Feminists’ Voices, Inspiring Global Peace

71 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, UN Talks May Lead to a Ban on Nuclear Weapons

6 August 2016

Yesterday, on the eve of the 71st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and four days before the same anniversary of Nagasaki, the chair of the UN Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) on nuclear disarmament officially presented his zero draft report. The report will be debated at the upcoming third and final session of the 2016 OEWG, where states will decide on recommendations to take to the UN General Assembly in October.

US atomic bombing of Japanese cities

On 6 August 1945, an estimated 140,000 people were killed in Hiroshima after the US nuclear attack on the city. Many thousands more died of horrific injuries caused by radiation poisoning in the days, weeks, months, and decades that followed. Three days later, around 80,000 died when the US dropped a second nuclear bomb on the city of Nagasaki.

The massive death and destruction caused in August 1945 should have been more than enough reason to immediately ban and eliminate the use, production, stockpiling, and manufacture of nuclear weapons, for all states.

Yet 71 years later, nine countries still possess around 15,800 nuclear weapons. The UK has just committed to renewing its Trident nuclear programme and NATO is increasing the role of nuclear weapons. All nuclear-armed starts are investing billions of dollars in modernising their nuclear arsenals and none are engaged in disarmament negotiations, in violation of their legal commitments under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

WILPF and nuclear weapons

WILPF has been campaigning to rid the world of these weapons of mass destruction since they were used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We are a partner organisation of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and as part of this coalition, we advocate for a treaty banning nuclear weapons. A legally-binding instrument prohibiting nuclear weapons could bridge the gap between long held aspirations for nuclear disarmament and the seemingly intractable legal and political landscape that exists today.

The majority of states want a legally-binding instrument

Finally an overwhelming majority of states have shown the courage to call for negotiations on a ban treaty. At the second round of OEWG discussions in May this year, the nuclear-supportive states were the minority of voices in the room. Nuclear-armed states boycotted the process that is widely seen as setting the stage for negotiations on a legally-binding prohibition. Their argument is predicated on an outdated conception that nuclear weapons provide security.

The OEWG will meet for its third and final round of discussions on 16, 17, and 19 August, where states will consider the draft recommendations, presented yesterday, to take to the UN General Assembly First Committee in December. It is clear that the next logical step is negotiations for a nuclear weapons ban treaty to turn the decades-long rhetoric into concrete action for nuclear disarmament.

Yesterday WILPF hosted a webinar: A nuclear weapon free world: 71 years in the making – is there an end in sight? featuring Ray Acheson, Director, Reaching Critical Will of WILPF, Dr Helen Caldicott, veteran anti nuclear campaigner and WILPF Peace Woman Laureate, and Daniel Högsta, Network Coordinator, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

For more information, follow WILPF’s disarmament programme, Reaching Critical Will’s coverage of the OEWG process and subscribe to the First Committee mailing list to receive updates during the August talks. Listen to this podcast by Tim Wright, Director, ICAN Australia, for an overview of the progress made at the May session of the OEWG.

 

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Melissa Torres

VICE-PRESIDENT

Prior to being elected Vice-President, Melissa Torres was the WILPF US International Board Member from 2015 to 2018. Melissa joined WILPF in 2011 when she was selected as a Delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women as part of the WILPF US’ Practicum in Advocacy Programme at the United Nations, which she later led. She holds a PhD in Social Work and is a professor and Global Health Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine and research lead at BCM Anti-Human Trafficking Program. Of Mexican descent and a native of the US/Mexico border, Melissa is mostly concerned with the protection of displaced Latinxs in the Americas. Her work includes training, research, and service provision with the American Red Cross, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Centre, and refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. Some of her goals as Vice-President are to highlight intersectionality and increase diversity by fostering inclusive spaces for mentorship and leadership. She also contributes to WILPF’s emerging work on the topic of displacement and migration.

Jamila Afghani

VICE-PRESIDENT

Jamila Afghani is the President of WILPF Afghanistan which she started in 2015. She is also an active member and founder of several organisations including the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organisation (NECDO). Elected in 2018 as South Asia Regional Representative to WILPF’s International Board, WILPF benefits from Jamila’s work experience in education, migration, gender, including gender-based violence and democratic governance in post-conflict and transitional countries.

Sylvie Jacqueline Ndongmo

PRESIDENT

Sylvie Jacqueline NDONGMO is a human rights and peace leader with over 27 years experience including ten within WILPF. She has a multi-disciplinary background with a track record of multiple socio-economic development projects implemented to improve policies, practices and peace-oriented actions. Sylvie is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and was the Section’s president until 2022. She co-coordinated the African Working Group before her election as Africa Representative to WILPF’s International Board in 2018. A teacher by profession and an African Union Trainer in peace support operations, Sylvie has extensive experience advocating for the political and social rights of women in Africa and worldwide.

WILPF Afghanistan

In response to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and its targeted attacks on civil society members, WILPF Afghanistan issued several statements calling on the international community to stand in solidarity with Afghan people and ensure that their rights be upheld, including access to aid. The Section also published 100 Untold Stories of War and Peace, a compilation of true stories that highlight the effects of war and militarisation on the region. 

IPB Congress Barcelona

WILPF Germany (+Young WILPF network), WILPF Spain and MENA Regional Representative

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Demilitarisation

WILPF uses feminist analysis to argue that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. The more society becomes militarised, the more violence and injustice are likely to grow locally and worldwide.

Sixteen states are believed to have supplied weapons to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2020 with the US supplying 74 % of weapons, followed by Russia. Much of this equipment was left behind by the US military and is being used to inflate Taliban’s arsenal. WILPF is calling for better oversight on arms movement, for compensating affected Afghan people and for an end to all militarised systems.

Militarised masculinity

Mobilising men and boys around feminist peace has been one way of deconstructing and redefining masculinities. WILPF shares a feminist analysis on the links between militarism, masculinities, peace and security. We explore opportunities for strengthening activists’ action to build equal partnerships among women and men for gender equality.

WILPF has been working on challenging the prevailing notion of masculinity based on men’s physical and social superiority to, and dominance of, women in Afghanistan. It recognizes that these notions are not representative of all Afghan men, contrary to the publicly prevailing notion.

Feminist peace​

In WILPF’s view, any process towards establishing peace that has not been partly designed by women remains deficient. Beyond bringing perspectives that encapsulate the views of half of the society and unlike the men only designed processes, women’s true and meaningful participation allows the situation to improve.

In Afghanistan, WILPF has been demanding that women occupy the front seats at the negotiating tables. The experience of the past 20 has shown that women’s presence produces more sustainable solutions when they are empowered and enabled to play a role.

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