Transcript
[APPLAUSE]
BEATRICE FIHN
You might be looking at us here on stage from out there in the crowd or back home on your television or computer. And I don’t really blame you for thinking, who are these people?
[CHUCKLING]
We are not celebrities. We’re certainly not musicians. Although, Oslo has really made us feel like pop stars here, I think, these days.
[CHUCKLING]
We are the campaigners who make up this large family that is ICAN. We are citizens. We are activists. We are brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers. We are, quite simply, people who are shocked that even after seven decades, nuclear weapons are still threatening all of us. And frankly, we got sick of waiting. We are done waiting for politicians to act on promises they made decades ago to get rid of these weapons of mass destruction.
We are done waiting for the leaders of a handful of countries to break the chains of nuclear oppression, to stop holding us all hostage. We are done waiting and worrying that men with big bombs and fragile egos will blow us all up, that they will poison our water and precious earth.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
The clock is ticking. And if they do not abolish their nuclear weapons, these weapons will be used. We are done waiting for our luck to run out. We know the humanitarian cost. We know the suffering that these weapons of mass destruction would be if they were used in conflict again or even by accident, something that is more and more likely as each day goes by. We cannot allow that to happen.
So we got together, we organised, we turned our frustration into action, and we reminded the world that just as scary as they are, nuclear weapons are just that, weapons. They made them. They control them, which means that they can also destroy them. And we ordinary people organised and took action. And we found each other.
We found allies. We brought together civil society, campaigners, academics, doctors, faith leaders, and faith communities. And yes, we even brought together some bold politicians. Anyone who has agreed that we must end these weapons before they end us were welcome. And, of course, we listened to the guiding voices of those forgotten victims of nuclear testing.
And we listened to the wisdom of the survivors of nuclear war, the witnesses to the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the fearless Hibakusha.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
And they told us, as Setsuko Thurlow told us yesterday, keep pushing. Don’t give up. They have fought for 72 years to make sure that nobody suffers the fate that befell on their families and friends, their beautiful cities. And when we wavered, when we thought that odds were impossible, when the powerful said over and over again, it’s not realistic, stop it, it’s time to give up, the Hibakusha simply said, keep pushing, and we did. And together--
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
And together, these people made the impossible possible. The historic treaty to ban nuclear weapons was adopted in July at the United Nations. It provides a clear framework, a clear road to a world without nuclear weapons. We are done waiting for them to act on past promises. We are done waiting for an invitation to the negotiating table. We are done waiting for permission to stand up, speak up, and protect all that we hold dear.
And today, I have some good news. Yeah, it might seem dark. It might seem like we are close to the nightmare of nuclear war, but we are actually closer than ever to the ending of nuclear curse. The UN Nuclear Ban Treaty is a light in a dark moment. If we keep pushing forward, we will see the end of nuclear weapons. And yesterday, we launched something big, bigger than we have ever done before.
With 1,000 cranes made by children from Hiroshima, we launched a 1,000 day fund. We are going to use that fund to support campaigners working to get the treaties signed and ratified in their countries. We are going local to accelerate the entry into force of this treaty and, ultimately, the end of nuclear weapons.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
And that’s really where you all come in. Wherever you are, you have a part to play in this story. The impact of these weapons do not obey national borders. And because the consequences affect us all, it is our right to demand that they are abolished. You all have the right to live on this earth free of nuclear weapons. It is vital that people in each country put pressure on their representatives to sign the nuclear ban treaty and to ratify it.
And think about that now. It is now up to the politicians who represent you, the parliamentarians, the MPs, the senators to make this treaty a legal force. Your voice will be heard, it will matter, and it’s needed now. If you are ready to join us, if you are ready to help these people write the final chapter of this story, go to nuclearban.org right now and join this movement.
And we will connect you with these incredible campaigners up here on stage and so many more people and organisations around the world right where you live. So who is ICAN? I’m ICAN. All of these people are ICAN. All the people around the world are ICAN. And if you believe that we must end nuclear weapons before they end us, if you believe we can, we really can, we’ll end this long nuclear nightmare through the power of people, then you are ICAN.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
We, these people, are coming for these weapons. And to the world leaders, if you are not with us, then get out of the way.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
We are ICAN. We choose the end of nuclear weapons, and we are done waiting. Thank you. Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]