Nobel Women's Initiative

An all-women team of cluster bomb searchers has been breaking new ground and gender barriers in Lebanon’s still dangerous south. 

The country’s only all female team - once local teachers, nurses and housewives - was set up by de-mining NGO Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) to clear areas littered with unexploded cluster bombs dropped by the Israeli military in the 2006 July War. 

Join us on June 25th, the international day of action to advocate for a treaty to ban all nuclear weapons.   On Nuclear Abolition Day,  you can add your voice to the Nuclear Abolition Movement and continue the momentum towards a binding treaty to put an end to nuclear proliferation.

Join the nine Nobel Peace Laureates in calling on world leaders to say no to nuclear energy. 

TAKE ACTION

Write to President Obama: Reverse your support of risky nuclear power, Beyond Nuclear

Appeal for total ban on nuclear weapons, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

The Nobel Peace Laureates of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, together with the rest of the world, are deeply saddened and concerned by the widespread devastation and suffering in Japan. While our thoughts are with the people of Japan, our hopes are with the rest of the world in taking this moment to reflect upon the disaster. Why do we keep investing in nuclear energy when safer, more cost-effective and cleaner alternatives are available?

Nuclear power, whether as energy or weapons, does not provide for a more secure future. The danger and severe radiation risks from nuclear energy are just beginning to be understood as a result of this crisis. As we have seen, it can lead to radioactive catastrophe, leave us with unsolved nuclear waste, huge debts, and contribute to nuclear weapons proliferation.

As the world marks the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire repeated calls this week for global nuclear disarmament and the creation of a nuclear free Middle East. 

The Middle East continues to be one of the world's most politically volatile regions. In his 2010 Nobel acceptance speech, President Obama warned of the dangers of an arms race in the region, saying that "those who seek peace cannot stand idly by as nations arm themselves for nuclear war."

The United States is one of the few nations who has not signed the international Mine Ban Treaty. Earlier this week, leading up to the  Cartagena Summit on a Mine-free World, the US announced that it would be continuing this policy.

Today, 156 nations are party to the treaty -- including Afghanistan, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, all of Europe except Finland (Poland has signed but not yet ratified), all of sub-Saharan Africa except Somalia, almost half of the countries in the Middle East and North Africa (including Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait and Algeria), and the entire Western Hemisphere, except for the United States and Cuba. -- Jody Williams in her LA Times Op Ed.

The US administration seems to have backtracked somewhat on its decision.  Take action now to urge the American President, Barack Obama, to reconsider its landmine policy and sign on to the Mine Ban Treaty.

Send a message to President Obama.

Sign the People's Treaty.

Learn ten things you can do.

On the 6th of July 2009, Presidents Obama and Medvedev committed to decrease their nuclear arsenals by up to a third. Let us keep the pressure on the United States, Russia, and all nuclear powers to take a bolder action in eliminating nuclear weapons entirely. 

Take Action for a nuclear free world and support the Global Zero declaration to stop nuclear weapons.

There are many ways you can Take Action to support global disarmament. This page will tell you about just a few. Read on for information about what you can do to stop the proliferation of Nuclear Weapons , help ensure an international treaty to ban Cluster Munitions in 2008, continue the progress we've seen on Landmines since the Mine Ban Treaty of 1997, and work for a legally-binding Arms Trade Treaty to ease the suffering caused by Small Arms .

Nuclear Weapons

Nuclear weapons are not like other weapons - there is no other weapon that can kill hundreds of millions of people in a few hours and bring about the end of human civilization. Fifty of today's nuclear weapons could kill 200 million people. The 27,000 nuclear weapons in existence are illegal, immoral and genocidal; they can destroy our cities, health, water catchments and our food chain, and they routinely deplete funds and attention from achieving human security. ~ International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)

ICAN is a new campaign that focuses on the roots of the nuclear weapons problem. ICAN's mission is to bring together health professionals, mayors, lawyers, parliamentarians and environmental and human rights advocates to work together to build a truly global, coordinated nuclear disarmament network with the aim of a treaty to ban the development, possession and use of these weapons.

Click here to sign ICAN's petition for a nuclear free world and learn other ways to take action to ban nuclear weapons.

In February 2007 the Oslo Conference on Cluster Munitions achieved widespread support for establishing a historic process to develop, negotiate and conclude a new international treaty rejecting the use of cluster munitions and dealing with their devastating effects. Cluster munitions are unreliable and inaccurate weapons that have killed and injured civilians for 40 years. When cluster munitions are dropped they cover a wide area and many of the submunitions inside each cluster bomb fail to explode, remaining on the ground to function like a landmine. The presence of such unexploded submunitions puts lives and livelihoods at risk for a long time after a conflict. ~ Cluster Munition Campaign

A series of meetings to negotiate this new international treaty has begun, with the goal of concluding a treaty by the end of 2008. The Cluster Munition Campaign is leading an international movement urging states to commit to the treaty process.

TAKE ACTION TO HELP ENSURE A STRONG TREATY:

• Help Make it Happen - Sign the People's Treaty . The People's Treaty provides a vehicle for ordinary people to sign the treaty, committing themselves to ensuring the goals of the Treaty are realized and their government upholds its obligations.
  

• Find out more ways you can take action on the Cluster Munition Coalition's website - find out where your government stands, contact your government officials and more.

If you live in Canada, sign the Mines Action Canada petition .

In 1997 the International Campaign to Ban Landmines dramatically achieved its goal of an international treaty banning antipersonnel landmines . However, landmines are still being planted today and minefields dating back decades continue to lie in wait of innocent victims. Vast stockpiles of landmines remain in warehouses around the world and a handful of countries still produce the weapon. Landmines are inhumane, kill indiscriminately, and have stolen lives, limbs, and livelihoods. ~ International Campaign to Ban Landmines

Find out ten things you can do to build a mine free world!

"Thousands of people are killed, injured, raped, and forced to flee from their homes as a result of the unregulated global arms trade . The Control Arms campaign is calling for an international, legally-binding Arms Trade Treaty to ease the suffering caused by irresponsible weapons transfers."
~Control Arms, a joint initiative of Oxfam, IANSA, and Amnesty International

Join the Control Arms visual "Million Faces" petition by posting your image in support of a small arms treaty or find more information about events in your area by joining the global campaign.

For information about the global movement against gun violence visit the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) Women's Network Portal .

Find out how you can support the Arms Trade Treaty , a model for a legally binding international agreement establishing a set of basic rules to regulate the international transfer of conventional arms.

Read the latest News on Disarmament.

Learn more about disarmement at our Issues page.

For gun policy gender news click here .