Celebrating the Entry Into Force of the TPNW

On Friday, January 22nd, 2021, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) officially entered into force, roughly three years after its adoption by the UN Conference tasked with negotiating a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons. For the IPB, this day is a landmark win in the struggle to rid the world of the existential threat posed by nuclear weapons. Thanks to the efforts of numerous civil society organizations, experts, and peace advocates around the globe, and the tremendous coordination efforts of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the world has just gotten one step closer to a nuke-free future.

The IPB celebrated with our family and friends a full-fledged online “house party,” featuring amazing speeches from IPB’s Co-Presidents, the Executive Director of ICAN, Beatrice Fihn, Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, and Noam Chomsky. Furthermore, Arielle Denis guided us through the last 75 years of nuclear disarmament activism, paying tribute to generations of activists that have tirelessly raised awareness about the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

Afterward, there were singing-sessions, a nuclear trivia quiz, cocktail-hour, and many more activities in honor of this historic day. Meanwhile, there is still a long way to go, and we are ready to get back to work!

 

IPB also teamed up with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) to publish a letter  on 22 January urging NATO to support the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Read the full letter here.