Women Just Banned the Bomb!
Published on November, 35 2019
50 nations ratified the UN Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons.
That’s big news, because WILPF has been working with our allies towards this goal for 75 years, ever since the first atomic bombs were dropped on civilian populations in Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan at the conclusion of WWII.
This win follows decades of work by WILPF members. Patient and strategic advocacy and protest by courageous and tireless WILPF members who organized, planned, protested and lobbied. It follows years of patient, delicate diplomacy at the UN and through our UN program Reaching Critical Will.
There will still be plenty of work ahead to press the Biden Administration to be in compliance with this new treaty, and to pursue a mindful transition to an economy based on collaboration, not on war and threats of war.
What the Treaty Means
Once the treaty goes into force in January 2021, it will be against international law for countries to own, stockpile, manufacture, sell or transfer, test, use, or threaten to use nuclear weapons. This will force a new analysis and strategy for global security, that does NOT depend on nuclear annihilation of the planet.
See all the details and learn how YOU can be part of the continuing efforts to get the nine nuclear nations to sign on to the Treaty. This VIDEO explains it briefly.
Key Points:
- On 1-22-21 nukes will be completely illegal under international law.
- Countries around the world ratified the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
- Using, threatening to use, testing, developing, manufacturing, transferring, possessing, or stockpiling nuclear weapons will be against international law.
- Check out the video for list of corporations that make nukes which must be held accountable.
- Now we have to finish the job WILPF and our allies have brought this far.
- Nine nuclear armed nations have boycotted the treaty. THAT HAS TO CHANGE.
You can help SHIFT THE MONEY & BRAINPOWER from weapons of mass extinction to green technologies we need.
Here’s how:
- Spread the word about this treaty. MS Media is not covering the story.
- DEMAND our legislators respect this new international law and JOIN the TREATY NOW.
- DIVEST from the companies that make nuclear weapons. Find the whole list at DontBankontheBomb.com or on the Video.
- Join WILPFus.org to help work on this NOW.
Work with us and help lead the effort.
75 Years of Activism and Commitment
Countless WILPF members have given their time, dollars, been arrested and sacrificed family time to build support for peace and abolishing nuclear weapons. We can’t list all of them. Here are four of our S-Heroes.
To honor their tenacity and sacrifice.
Unquestioned commitment
Ellen Thomas (North Carolina) camped outside the White House in a personal vigil that went on for 18 years. Now she is one of our DISARM Committee Co-Chairs and continues to promote the strategy of complete nuclear abolition through www.prop1.org. This Treaty’s success is very personal to her.
Peace runs in the family
Robin Lloyd’s grandmother was a founding member of WILPF, along with her friend Jane Addams. Robin (Vermont) devoted much of her life to seeking an end to the threat of nuclear weapons and towards peace through activism and producing films that sought international understanding. She devoted much of her family fortune to peace and international diplomacy and is still helping to lead our Burlington VT branch.
Intrepid persistence
Despite her own disability after a devastating auto accident that killed her husband, Carol Urner (Oregon/California) spent years during every Congressional Session wearing a path to the offices of Congress members to lobby for an end to nuclear weapons. She was a well-recognized and very effective citizen lobbyist on behalf of WILPF US and our allies. This win is a source of joy for her now.
Investing in peace
Over the course of her life Yvonne Logan (Missouri) brought brilliance, grace and fun to the cause of international peace. Her work as part of the Baby Teeth Project at St. Louis University helped make the public aware of the devastating long term radiation threats from nuclear testing and explosions. While all peace and justice mattered to Yvonne and her husband Joe, they used their personal fortune to fund organizing to end to nuclear weapons.
Going Forward We Need YOUR Support.
In 2021 and beyond, WILPF will continue the pressure on to outlaw nuclear weapons.
It's the cause of the century...so we might still HAVE a planet by the end of the century.
We’ll be holding the new Administration’s feet to the fire on nuclear weapons, pushing the US to sign on to the prohibition treaty, and advocating to move the money from war and nukes to the services and science that this planet needs.
Please donate to support our work.
Women's International League for Peace & Freedom
US Section
WILPF US was founded in 1915 by Jane Addams and other courageous peace women. Nuclear abolition and PEACE are a big part of what we do.
We also have efforts in the area of Human Rights, Environmental Justice, Economic Justice and Feminist Economics.
We’re multi-issue, because we recognize it's all connected. We advocate for moving the money from an economy built on debt and death to one built on human needs, dignity and life.
We've championed women's rights, feminist policies and economics, and we partner with allies including the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, An Economy of Our Own, The International Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) The Poor Peoples Campaign, The US Women & Cuba Alliance, World Beyond War, the Black Alliance for Peace, Code Pink, World Beyond War, and many other allies.
Join us at www.wilpfus.org/join.
Learn more about us at www.WILPFus.org/story/history.
