By Christian N Ciobanu | Project Leader
Dear Friends,
We are very excited to provide you with a report about our activities related to activating frontline communities. In August 2022, we brought a group of Marshallese youth to the NPT Review Conference at UN HQ. We would like to thank our colleagues at both the Marshallese Educational Initiative and ANA for helping us.
In August, we convened a special youth orientation for the NPT Review Conference. To kick-off their month-long advocacy work at the NPT Review Conference, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Reverse The Trend, Marshallese Educational Initiative, Peace Boat US, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Peace Action New York State, Youth for the TPNW, and The Prospect Hill Foundation convened the "NPT Youth Convergence: An International Youth Orientation."
Activists, experts, and states discussed intersectional issues related to nuclear disarmament, including the climate crisis, racism, colonialism, and the important role of gender politics within the discourse of nuclear weapons. We are very grateful to Dr. Hughes of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation; Audrey, Peter, and Sajani of RTT; McGlone of Peace Boat US; Owens of PSR; Faines of Global Zero; Benetick Kabua Maddison and John of the Marshallese Educational Initiative; Dr. Intondi of the Institute for Race, Justice, and Civic Engagement at Montgomery College; McGinty of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War; Sakuma of Hiroshima Hidankyo; and H.E. Ambassador Tito of Kiribati for speaking at this event.
At the NPT Review Conference, Benetick Kabua Maddison the Executive Director of the Marshallese Educational Initiative and Adviser of Reverse The Trend; and Takahashi, Co-Founder of Know Nukes Tokyo and Adviser of RTT, delivered the International Youth Statement. They explained to the states parties that "as inheritors of this planet, we demand not only that you heed our call, but that you act and free us from the anguish wrought by the nuclear threat. We do not want to live in fearful uncertainty any longer." Moreover, they underscored that "if the states parties refuse to consider the past or look towards the future, then we implore you, the delegates, to consider yourselves: is this the world you wish to build? Is this the legacy you wish to leave behind? Will your nations remember you as deliverers of hope and peace, or executioners of violence and oppression? Will this moment be immortalized in history books as one of progress or selfish inaction?"
Building upon the core message of the International Youth Statement on the need for the states parties to take action on nuclear disarmament, the Permanent Mission of Kiribati, Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Reverse The Trend, Marshallese Educational Initiative, and The Prospect Hill Foundation convened a side event entitled "Hope for a Better Tomorrow: Reflections on the Twin Existential Threats." The speakers included: H.E. Ambassador Tito, Permanent Representative of Kiribati; H.E. Ambassador Ilyassov, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan; Maddison, Executive Director of the Marshallese Educational Initiative and Adviser to Reverse The Trend; and Sanders-Zakre, Policy and Research Coordinator at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
Following our activities at the NPT Review Conference, Maddison traveled back to New York for the International Day Against Nuclear Tests. He delivered powerful remarks at a international youth workshop at the UN as well as a High Level Meeting at the UN General Assembly.
After our momentous August and September events, we convened two workshops on nuclear disarmament education in October. One of them focused on humanitarian disarmament education and the other one focused on youth advocacy in the field of nuclear disarmament.
Finally, we are working hard on submitting “A Journey Home," our first documentary to various film festivals. We are pleased that it has been accepted to several film festivals. We will be discussing the developments around the first documentary in our next update.
Thank you for supporting us!
- Christian N. Ciobanu, Project Coordinator, Reverse The Trend: Save Our People, Save Our Planet
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
