Publicizing and Supporting the January 22 Start of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
The new arms control treaty, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), “Enters Into Force” (EIF) on Friday, January 22 for those over 50 countries that have ratified it. This eALERT and the four resource guides it points you to describe this new important new treaty and why we are celebrating it coming into effect. The US Government has only denigrated the TPNW and tried to get the ratifying countries to rescind their ratifications (but none have).
Taking Action!
WILPF branches and members, take action.
- Sponsor and/or participate in a local or virtual demonstration
- Write to President Biden and other legislative representatives to press them to support the TPNW
- Get informed about how the treaty could affect US companies, even though the US has not ratified it
To help WILPF members take part in this national push, draw attention to the TPNW, and be fully informed, a volunteer WILPF team has prepared four resource guides. Find these four guides at the links listed below.
The names for all these resource files start with “C4PGuide”, to quickly identify them after downloading. The rest of their file names indicate what they describe.
Basic Treaty Information and Demonstrations Sponsored by WILPF and Others
Guide #1 lists all the in-person actions taking place in states where WILPF has branches. The version linked here is REVISED from earlier ones, with several more WILPF branch demonstrations added so please use this R2 version.
I hope some of you will be moved to get out on the streets on Friday January 22. All these peaceful outdoor actions will require you to wear a mask and keep at least a six-foot distance from your fellow demonstrators. Go to this link to download Guide #1, C4PGuide1EIFTPNWDemosR2.doc:
What You Can Do at Home: Online Webinars, Letters, and Lawn Signs
Another effective way of presenting our messages to the public is lawn signs. We have designed one with our main message in support of the treaty, with a large QR code that can be scanned by a smart phone from a distance. That scan links to an online petition to the President and Senators to sign the TPNW. The design is in a pdf file, LawnSignTPNWwilpfUS.pdf. Download it from here: https://files.constantcontact.com/3275cbb2501/2d2686e3-0371-4c1b-8dc1-a525aa851606.pdf
If you have questions about any of the activities and information in the guides then please write to me at disarmchair@wilpfus.org .
This is the first theme of our Call For Peace campaign; you will hear from me again regarding the other two themes: Move the Money – from the military budget to human needs – and the UN call for a global ceasefire, in a few weeks time.
Regards from
Cherrill Spencer
Co-Chair, Disarm/End War Issue Committee and coordinator of the ad hoc team preparing resource guides for WILPF’s Call for Peace campaign
