July 7th marks three years since the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was passed at the United Nations in New York. 122 states supported the Treaty and that level of support has been reiterated in subsequent votes at the UN. The Treaty was achieved after years of campaigning by CND and other groups including the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017. Christian CND is a proud ICAN partner.
The Treaty will ban nuclear weapons in the same way that chemical and biological weapons have been banned, because of their indiscriminate nature and capacity to have grave humanitarian consequences. The International Committee of the Red Cross have stated that no health system in the world could cope with the casualties a nuclear explosion would cause.
There have been 81 states signing the Treaty in the last three years, 38 have completed the process of ratification and officially become party to the Treaty, with many more currently in the process of doing so. It will enter into force once 50 states complete the ratification.
Unfortunately the UK, along with the other nuclear-armed and nuclear alliance states, have refused to engage in the Treaty at any stage. Despite the government frequently saying it wants to see a world without nuclear weapons. We continue to pray that the nuclear-armed states will chance their policy and engage with the Treaty.
Any anniversary is a good chance to take stock and reflect on what has gone before, as well as having hope and resolve for the future. Please join us on the anniversary of the Ban Treaty as we pray:
- Thanking God for the work that went into the Treaty behind the scenes over many years
- Thanking God
