CAMPAIGN OVERVIEWWHAT IS ICAN?

The International Campaign to Abolish
Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) aims togalvanize public and government support
for multilateral negotiations on a Nuclear
Weapons Convention by 2015. Such atreaty would outlaw the production, testing,possession and use of nuclear weapons, andestablish the mechanisms needed to eliminate
them within an agreed timeframe. Already, amajority of nations support this plan, as do amajority of the world’s people. But we need
your help to make it a reality.

To date, more than 200 organizations in 60
countries have joined the campaign, with
International Physicians for the Prevention of
Nuclear War and Mayors for Peace among thefirst partners. Notable figures have also comeon board as ICAN ambassadors — including
the Dalai Lama, anti-apartheid leader
Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize-winninganti-landmines advocate Jody Williams, jazzlegend Herbie Hancock and cricket champion
Ian Chappell. With their support, we havetaken our message to new constituencies.

BUILDING THE MOVEMENTNPT REVIEW CONFERENCE 2010

ICAN was launched in a dozen countries
in 2007, including at a meeting of parties tothe nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)in Austria, where we presented an updated
model Nuclear Weapons Convention torepresentatives of more than 180 nations.
Since its inception, ICAN has developed
coordinated strategies and strengthened
networking between national andinternational campaigners, broadening
the abolition movement and building
understanding of why a Nuclear Weapons
Convention is the most realistic path to zero.

In the lead-up to the NPT review conferencein May 2010, ICAN coordinated a global
lobbying effort aimed at bringing the ideaof a Nuclear Weapons Convention into
the mainstream of the nuclear debate as alegitimate, practical and near-term objective
to complement and strengthen the nonproliferation regime.
This strategy bore fruit when the final
document of the conference recognized
the importance of a comprehensive treaty
approach, paving the way for concerted action
on a convention.

1995–2006

2007

n Civil society drafts a model
treaty to prohibit andeliminate all nuclear weapons
within an agreed timeframen ICAN is launched around theworld with the aim of building
a public groundswell of
support for nuclear abolitionn Campaigners begin laying
the groundwork forcomprehensive negotiations
to abolish all nuclear weaponsn Costa Rica and Malaysia
submit the updated model
Nuclear Weapons Convention
to the United Nations

THE PLAN

B

uilding on the unprecedented levelof support for a Nuclear Weapons
Convention generated at the NPT
review conference, ICAN will now work
to strengthen the commitment of civilsociety and governments to prioritize
a Nuclear Weapons Convention as thenext big negotiating objective of theinternational community. We will seek
the full backing of major internationaland national humanitarian, human rights,
anti-war, environmental and disarmament
organizations, and work closely withsupportive governments.
ICAN will develop and disseminate
materials to inspire and explain the needfor a nuclear abolition treaty to a rangeof audiences, from young to old, across aspectrum of regional and political interests.
These will utilize new technologies, internetbased means and viral media as well as more
traditional communications techniques.
We will continue to publicize the Million
Pleas initiative to create the world’s largest
video chain letter calling on leaders tonegotiate a nuclear abolition treaty, which wasstarted by a group of Hiroshima students.

2008

2009

2010

n Organizations in over 60
countries advocate for
ICAN’s goal of a Nuclear
Weapons Convention

n Nobel Peace Prize winners,
famous musicians andsporting legends add their
voices to the campaign

n More than 120 nations
call for a Nuclear Weapons
Convention at the NPT
review conference in May

n UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon joins the growing
call for a Nuclear Weapons
Convention

n ICAN initiates a global
lobbying effort to increase
government support for anuclear abolition treatyn ICAN launches the Million
Pleas initiative aimed atcreating the world’s largest
video chain letter

THE PATH TO ZERON

ow that leaders and governments allover the world have expressed theirvision for a world without nuclear weapons,
they must also think about how to pursue
this goal in practical terms. As with otherweapons systems that have been prohibited,a multilaterally negotiated Nuclear Weapons
Convention offers the most realistic path
to combine disarmament with preventing
proliferation. Opinion polls show that amajority of the world’s peoples want theirgovernments to start negotiations. Our
challenge now is to transform this strong
desire for security into fruitful negotiations
and real action by governments.
HOW WOULD IT WORK?

A Nuclear Weapons Convention would
comprehensively ban nuclear weapons aswell as weapons-useable fissile materials. It
would prohibit the use of nuclear weapons by
everyone, with international obligations andheavy penalties to prevent and deter terrorists
and governments from trying to acquire
nuclear devices or violate this fundamental
ban on their use. Delivery verhicles would
be destroyed or converted to make them
incapable of firing nuclear weapons. All
nuclear-armed nations would be required todismantle their nuclear arsenals in accordancewith agreed steps and phases, and aninternational monitoring system would be set
up to verify compliance with the convention.

How many governments
support a Nuclear
Weapons Convention?

140 support
22 on the fence
30 oppose
WHY IS IT NEEDED?

The Nuclear Weapons Convention would
build on the 1968 nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty, which despite successive attempts at
improvements continues to lack the effective
mechanisms needed to achieve and maintaina world without nuclear weapons. Forty years
after its entry into force, there are still morethan 20,000 nuclear weapons in the world,and no comprehensive process is under
way to abolish them. A convention is themost obvious and realistic path to a nuclearweapon-free world. Comprehensive treaties
have been negotiated to outlaw biologicalweapons, chemical weapons, anti-personnel
landmines and cluster munitions. Nuclear
weapons should not be the exception.
The current step-by-step approachhas proven unsatisfactory. With growing
proliferation threats and the continued refusalof the nuclear powers to do away with their
nuclear arsenals, it is time to seek a new path.

“A Nuclear Weapons Convention is possible, necessary
and increasingly urgent. I can imagine a world
without nuclear weapons, and I support ICAN.”
His Holiness the Dalai Lama

WHY A CONVENTION?
1

There is an urgent political necessity
and a window of opportunity to
pursue the total abolition of nuclear
weapons now

6

Work on a convention will facilitate
further incremental steps and bringadvocates of non-proliferation anddisarmament closer together

2

A convention will reduce nuclear
dangers by making it unlawful foranyone to use, deploy, produce orproliferate nuclear weapons

7

A convention will provide legal
recognition that any use of nuclear
weapons would be a war crime andcrime against humanity

3

Nuclear abolition has the support of
two-thirds of all governments andoverwhelming endorsement frompublic opinion everywhere8

A convention will develop appropriate
phases to enable all the nuclear
weapon possessors to eliminate their
existing arsenals quickly and securely

4Work on a convention will strengthen
the current non-proliferation regime
while establishing the conditions fordisarmament

9

A convention will help build trustand confidence among nations by
establishing much more effective
systems to verify compliance5

A convention will engage states thatare outside the NPT and will provide
effective and non-discriminatory
obligations for everyone

10 Governments negotiated conventions
to outlaw other inhumane weapons— now it’s time to prohibit nuclear
weapons, the most inhumane of all

Public support fora Nuclear Weapons
Convention

93%

Argentina
MexicoUnited States
FranceBritainUkraineAzerbaijan
RussiaEgypt
Palestine
Iran
IsraelTurkeyPakistan
Kenya
NigeriaSouth Korea
China
Indonesia
Thailand
India

87%
77%
86%
81%
80%
70%
69%
83%

NO
16%

70%
68%
67%
65%
46%
96%

YES
76%

86%
86%
83%
81%
67%
62%

0

20%

40%

Source: World Public Opinion, 2008

60%

80%

100%

Average support globally

MILLION PLEAS

On the 65th anniversary of the US atomic bombingsof Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ICAN launched“Million Pleas” — a project to create the world’s largest
video chain letter, with one million people from aroundthe world calling for a treaty to abolish nuclear weapons.
The chain letter was started by students in Hiroshima.
“You can build the groundswell of support for a nuclear
abolition treaty from your home or school by adding yourvoice to the world’s largest video chain message to leaders.
Sixty-five years since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, it’s time we retired nuclear weapons.”
Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize 1984

“We can’t leave it up to politicians to rid the planet of
nuclear weapons. The best chance we have of achieving thisgoal is for the people to stand up and demand our right tolive in a world free of nuclear weapons. I urge you to upload
your plea today at MillionPleas.com.”
Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize 1997

BUILDING THE MOVEMENTI

CAN’s major international partnerorganizations include International
Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear
War, Mayors for Peace, the International
Trade Union Confederation, the Nobel
Women’s Initiative, the World Federation of
UN Associations, the Women’s International
League for Peace and Freedom, and theInternational Association of Lawyers Against
Nuclear Arms. We are planning to expand the
networks of groups that are working together
under national ICAN umbrellas (such as set
up in Australia, Britain and France).
WORKING WITH DIVERSE GROUPS

An effective movement for nuclear abolition
will require the involvement of a broad
range of groups. Humanitarian organizations
played a pivotal role in the efforts to ban
landmines and cluster munitions. In April
2010 the International Committee of the Red
Cross signalled for the first time that nuclear
abolition is among its top priorities.
The participation of development
organizations will help us to draw attention
to the broader problem of excessive military
expenditure. Redirecting the annual sum
spent on nuclear weapons would make a huge
difference in solving actual development andsecurity problems, like mitigating climate
chaos and alleviating poverty.
In raising awareness of the human andecological destruction that would result
from widespread radiation and the abrupt
global cooling and darkening effects from
nuclear weapons detonations, we aim tobuild alliances with humanitarian andenvironmental groups to push collectively
for negotiations on a Nuclear Weapons
Convention to prevent such a catastrophefrom ever occurring.

SCHOOLS PROGRAMECAEICAN has launched a public education
initiative called Learn Peace, which
encourages primary and secondary
school students to contribute to aworld without nuclear weapons.
Activities in the resource book include
holding a mock UN debate on nuclear
disarmament, designing a peace symbol
to rival the original, conducting an
opinion poll on nuclear issues, roleplaying a nuclear crisis, and holding a
nuclear-themed trivia night.

ni elor a yalp ntne

www.icanw.org/learn_peaceQuitnukes.
Advice from your doctor?
Support a Nuclear Weapons
Convention. Help the world
overcome its addiction.

If you support a Nuclear
Weapons Convention
wear a red wristband.
Si vous supportez une Convention relative
aux armes nucléaires, portez un bracelet rouge.

Si quiere dar apoyo a una Convención sobre
Armas Nucleares, póngase una pulsera roja.
核兵器禁止条約を支持する方は真っ赤なリストバンドを付けましょう。

Wenn Sie eine Nuklearwaffenkonvention
unterstützen, tragen Sie ein rotes Armband.

HEAD OFFICEPO Box 1379
Carlton VIC 3053
Australiat + 61 (0)3 9347 4795
f + 61 (0)3 9347 4995
e info@icanw.org
w www.icanw.org

Printed August 2010