Translation notice: This is an English translation of the original article published by the Italian Peace and Disarmament Network.
Italian citizens who are eligible to vote can support this citizens’ initiative by signing it online through the official Ministry of Justice portal using SPID or an Electronic Identity Card (CIE). Find out how to sign.
You can sign this citizens’ initiative here: https://firmereferendum.giustizia.it/referendum/open/dettaglio-open/6100008
Coordinamento Campagne Rete Italiana Pace e Disarmo
September 10, 2026
Over 70% of the target has been reached, with around 20% of all signatures collected in the past week alone. Only a few thousand more are needed to bring the citizens’ initiative bill on unarmed and nonviolent civil defence before Parliament. The recent surge gives grounds for optimism, but the campaign must gather momentum in its final days. The appeal is simple: sign—and encourage everyone who cares about peace, disarmament and nonviolence to sign.
We are getting there. With seven days remaining before the signature drive closes, the “Another Defence Is Possible” campaign has surpassed 70% of its target of 50,000 signatures, the number required to submit a citizens’ initiative bill to Parliament establishing a Department for Unarmed and Nonviolent Civil Defence. Only a few thousand more signatures are needed, and they are now coming in at a rapidly increasing pace.
The momentum of recent days is particularly encouraging: around 20% of all signatures were collected in the past week alone, a surge that has brought the target firmly within reach. But this growth also shows that success is not yet guaranteed. We must strengthen the campaign in its final week, multiplying signatures and spreading the word throughout the days ahead. Our optimism is well founded—but everything depends on what we do now.
This progress has been driven by the mobilisation of the campaign’s promoting networks—the Italian Peace and Disarmament Network (Rete Italiana Pace e Disarmo), the National Conference of Civil Service Organisations (CNESC) and Sbilanciamoci!—together with all their member organisations and the many public figures from culture, journalism, politics and civil society who have lent their faces and voices to the message: “I’ve signed—have you?” We must now step up efforts to promote this concrete, effective and achievable proposal within Italy’s constitutional framework.
The most important result has already been achieved
Over recent months, the campaign has accomplished what initially seemed most difficult: bringing an alternative form of defence into public debate and presenting both the public and political leaders with a concrete, viable alternative to rearmament. As Europe pushes for greater military spending and the winds of war intensify, “Another Defence Is Possible” has shown that security can be approached differently: through conflict prevention, mediation, grassroots diplomacy and cooperation. In doing so, it would give full effect to Articles 11 and 52 of the Italian Constitution.
This work of raising awareness has, at least in part, lifted the veil of militarisation that has dominated public discourse in recent months—a period during which the campaign did not receive the visibility and attention it deserved. Those who profit from militarism fear proposals like this because, if widely understood, they would attract broad public support. That is why the voice of nonviolence must be amplified, not silenced.
What the proposed law calls for
The bill would establish a department within the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, bringing together instruments that already exist under Italian law—the Universal Civil Service, Civil Protection and Civil Peace Corps—under a single prevention-oriented strategy. It would also establish a Peace and Disarmament Research Institute and a dedicated national fund, financed in part through proceeds from an optional allocation of six per thousand of personal income tax (IRPEF). It is a constitutionally grounded response based on a simple principle: we must stop funding war in the hope of achieving peace and finally begin preparing for peace through means consistent with that goal.
The final seven days: one last push
Between now and the formal end of the signature drive in seven days, local committees and networks across Italy will organise numerous events devoted to public information, debate and signature collection.
To support this final push, the campaign has released a video, “Another Defence Is Possible | The campaign video: add your signature!”, across the social media channels of the networks promoting the campaign. In the video, representatives of several supporting organisations join together to deliver a collective appeal: Salvatore Marra (CGIL), Mao Valpiana (Movimento Nonviolento), Tonio Dell’Olio (Pax Christi), Francesca Farruggia (Archivio Disarmo) and Laura Milani (CNESC).
The message is direct: “They tell us” that we must prepare for war and that ever more weapons are needed. But another path exists: redirecting even a small portion of military expenditure towards institutions for peace, thereby building the civil, unarmed and nonviolent form of defence envisaged by the Constitution.
Another Defence Is Possible | The campaign video: add your signature!
The goal is within reach. Now it is up to every one of us.
