Monday marks the official start of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, where representatives from around the world and concerned citizens will converge at the United Nations in New York. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is a cornerstone nuclear weapons treaty that dates back to 1970. With more than 180 countries signed on to it, it’s also one of the most universally accepted treaties.

Dear Friends,

This is an exciting and challenging time for abolitionists. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference is nearing, and scores of abolitionists from all over the globe are converging on New York to engage in activities calling on the nations’ representatives at the NPT RevCon to take serious steps towards abolition. Roughly 2000 of those converging on New York come from Japan, and nearly 100 of those are Hibakusha, survivors of the bombings of Hiroshima or Nagasaki.
Most victims of the bombings did not survive, and many of the victims were children. Sadako Sasaki (see photo) was one of those victims. Sadako was only 2 years old when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. She survived the bombing and led an outwardly healthy life; she was said to be an energetic child who never missed one day of elementary school. She was also a fast runner. Things changed dramatically for Sadako in 1955 when she was diagnosed with Leukemia (a radiation induced disease) shortly after her class won the relay at the school field day.

April 27, 2010 – I haven’t had a chance until now to blog (and I really shouldn’t do it now – I’m illegally parked, and the (now) seven walkers just passed me at the steady pace of three miles per hour), but I have a few minutes to say hello from The Road again on behalf of the Proposition One In 2010 Crew.

Photo: The Walkers, on day 6 of our Interfaith Peace Walk to New York  for Nuclear Abolition, which began at Independence Mall in Philadelphia on Earth Day – Thursday, April 22nd.

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

Update: On December 22, 2010 the Senate voted 71-26 to ratify the New START Treaty! This was a huge victory for bipartisan policy-making, with 13 Republicans rejecting partisan politics and supporting international arms control. New START is the first major international agreement to be ratified by the Senate since the end of the Cold War, and we send our thanks and congratulations to all of our partner groups that worked so hard for many months to get this treaty ratified.

Our work for disarmament is not done, but this victory sets us up with many opportunities for further progress in 2011. Go to our Act page to learn more about our campaign priorities for 2011 and get materials and resources to join the movement for a nuclear weapons free world.

The Nuclear Security Summit gathered 47 world leaders in DC to commit to achieving the goal of securing all vulnerable nuclear material, such as plutonium or highly enriched uranium, and securing loose nuclear weapons within four years. President Obama linked the summit to the vision of achieving a nuclear weapons free world, which he outlined in his speech from Prague last year. With world leaders gathered, the summit was also an opportunity to raise the profile of nuclear disarmament.