|
WILPF members, let’s all celebrate the third anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on Monday, January 22, 2024! We must be visible to the public and to our Senators as we celebrate because the existence of the TPNW is still largely unknown in the US.
The TPNW, called by many the “Nuclear Ban Treaty”, is our best option for eliminating nuclear weapons worldwide. It entered into force as international law 90 days after the fiftieth country ratified it, on January 22, 2021. Now there are 70 countries that have ratified the TPNW.
The DISARM/End Wars Issue Committee asks you to organize an activity in your neighborhood that will highlight the details of the TPNW on January 22, 2024 – the third anniversary of its entry into force. Some of you took part in previous year’s actions so you already have banners, signs and fact sheets.
Ideas and Tools to Help
Here are some examples of how to reach out to the public:
- Holding banners and signs outside a federal building (such as your post office)
- Ringing church or temple bells
- Visiting your Senator’s office to hand in a fact sheet about the TPNW (The US Senate is the institution which must ratify the treaty.)
- Reading out parts of the Treaty as you stand outside a nuclear weapons manufacturer’s plant
With any of these approaches, you’ll likely want to have something in writing to give out, such as a half-sheet version of this informative model for a letter to the editor (click on the underlined text)
If you don’t have the relevant materials stored in some closet, there are excellent resources available. Just visit this resource webpage to find free, downloadable items. You can find a list of actions already organized here: https://events.worldbeyondwar.org. You can also submit your event so others can find and join you.
Please document your actions with photographs and copies of your letters to your Senator and send them to disarmchair@wilpfus.org so we can post them to the WILPF SMART group on Facebook.
Yes, Also Try This at Home
If you are housebound, please sign this online petition to the President (who could sign the TPNW today and thus start the process of disarming the US of its approximately 5,000 nuclear weapons). Plus: phone your Representatives at the Congressional Hotline (202-224-3121) and ask them to cosponsor the Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Conversion Act, HR-2775. (Click here for more information.)
Thank you for any action you can take on January 22 (or the weekend right before) to celebrate and advertise the 3rd anniversary of the entry into force of the TPNW.
For more information, contact disarmchair@wilpfus.org .
Cherrill Spencer and Ellen Thomas
On behalf of the Disarm/End Wars Issue Committee
| 
