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September 26, 2020, will be the seventh International Day for Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
Join people around the world in celebrating the vision of a nuclear weapons free world, raising awareness and calling on their leaders to advance nuclear disarmament.
For 2020, UNFOLD ZERO will be joining with other organisations to organise a global webinar on nuclear abolition on September 26. The webinar will be part of #WeThePeoples2020, a series of UN High-level events and associated civil society actions, from September 21 (UN Day for Peace) until October 2 (UN Day for Non-violence).
a) affirm that a nuclear war should never be fought,
b) call for the elimination of nuclear weapons by 2045, and
c) support the end of investments in the nuclear weapons industry.
Send a letter or email or tweet to your President/Prime Minister/Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the United Nations, calling on them to promote nuclear abolition at the UN High Level Meeting on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on October 2, 2020
Sample letter to your government urging them to participate effectively in UN High-Level Meeting on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons (Oct 2, 2020).
Dear …
The UN General Asembly is hosting a High Level Meeting on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on October 2.
I/we urge you to speak at this meeting on the importance to: a) prevent any use of nuclear of nuclear weapons; b) achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world, and c) cut nuclear weapons budgets and investments.
Any use of nuclear weapons would have catastrophic human, economic and environmental consequences. The use of just a small fraction of the 14,000 nuclear weapons in the world’s stockpiles could end civilization as we know it. In addition, the $100 billion spent annually on nuclear weapons is sorely needed for environmental, economic and human needs, including addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and implementing the Sustainable Development Goals.
I/we encourage you in particular to:
Thank you
[your name]
Country leaders and UN ambassadors contact emails and twitter handles:
The nuclear arms industry is one of the most powerful drivers for the nuclear arms race. A handful of companies are making billions of dollars by manufacturing nuclear weapons and their dedicated delivery systems. They lobby for increased nuclear weapons budgets. And they stimulate tensions between the nuclear amrs powers to justify these massive budgets.
Help take back the power (and money) from the nuclear weapons industry by joining the Move the Nuclear Weapons Money campaign.
Send a quote in support plus a photo of yourself to Move the Nuclear Weapons Money and they will turn it into a social media meme for posting on facebook, twitter, instagram etc…
On the night of September 26, 1983, Stanislav Petrov disobeyed military protocol and probably prevented a nuclear holocaust. He says that he is not a hero: ‘I was just in the right place at the right time.’ Watch this powerful docu-drama about the incident, and you decide!
UNFOLD ZERO and #WeThePeoples2020 are organising special screenings on Sep 28, 2020 of the award-winning movie ‘The Man Who Saved the World’ featuring Stanislav Petrov (the man himself), Kevin Costner, Sergey Shnrynov, Matt Damon, Natalia Vdovina & Robert de Niro. Details to be finalised soon.
For a few crucial minutes on September 26, 1983, Stanislav Petrov held the fate of the world in his hands. It was the height of the Cold War. The Soviets had recently shot down a Korean airliner. The United States was preparing to deploy Pershing II missiles in Europe. The Soviets suspected that the United States was planning a nuclear first strike.
In this tense time, a nuclear war was almost started by an error.
When an alarm suddenly went off at Soviet nuclear early warning center Serpukhov-15, Stanislav was responsible for reacting to information from Soviet satellites that five American nuclear missiles were heading toward the Soviet Union. Rather than initiate a nuclear retaliation, Stanislav went against protocol, and assured his colleagues that it was a false alarm.
He was right. His decision saved the world from a potential devastating nuclear holocaust. But he went unrecognised for this action for decades.
The Man Who Saved the World recreates those tense moments in 1983 when Stanislav was faced with the decision of his life. And it chronicles his spectacular journey to the United States three decades later, where he was finally acknowledged for his historic deed and found the strength to reconcile with his past.
In the film we see him reflecting on the current state of nuclear tensions as he visits a US nuclear missile silo. He is honoured at the United Nations. And he is thanked for his actions by celebrities including Walter Cronkite, Kevin Costner, Robert De Niro, Matt Damon, and Ashton Kutcher.
Shot on location in the former Soviet Union and the United States, The Man Who Saved the World shines a light on the continued risks of nuclear weapons today, and the challenge to reject nuclear weapons in order to prevent an unimaginable disaster.
UNFOLD ZERO and #WeThePeoples2020 are organising special screenings of this powerful movie on September 27 and 28, 2020, in conjunction with the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
Details to be posted here soon. Contact info@unfoldzero.org for more information.
Click here to listen to a BBC interview with Stanislav Petrov.
Established by the United Nations General Assembly, the aim of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons is to enhance ‘public awareness and education about the threat posed to humanity by nuclear weapons and the necessity for their total elimination, in order to mobilize international efforts towards achieving the common goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world.’ The resolution establishing the day also calls for the immediate start of multilateral negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention – a global treaty to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons – and decides to hold a high level United Nations conference no later than 2018 to review and enhance progress.
The day is supported by UNFOLD ZERO and the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs. UNFOLD ZERO provides a platform for governments, parliaments and civil society to post announcements, photos and reports of actions and events to commemorate this day.
The Inter Parliamentary Union (164 member parliaments) has called on all parliamentarians to promote and commemorate the day.
ACTION 2
Join a social media action:
Move the Nuclear Weapons Money
Take back the power (and money) from the nuclear weapons industry.