Template advocacy letter - the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
This template letter will be shared with medical students and organisational members of the IFMSA and the IPPNW Students as a part of the strategy to support and advocate for countries to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons that opened up for signing on 20th September 2017. The template letter consists of two sections 1.) the general introduction, which is the same for all the regions; and the 2.) specific regional section, which users of this letter select and attach to the general introduction based on their regional affiliation.
Instructions:
When using this template, please use the template as presented. The letter will be used by numerous organisations in the same time, and this is also the way how we seek to multiply and increase the impact of our unified message in the joint advocacy activity. Start with the general introduction of the letter, and to this general part, please attach one regional part according to your region (in case you are a regional- or national-based organisation). For sections highlighted by bold and yellow letters, please replace these parts by needed details about your organisation/country.
The target audience for this letter is governments and decision makers. Therefore, please look for contacts to your government (especially to a ministry of foreign affairs), politicians dealing with nuclear or security issues or national committees of the same nature. In the majority of cases, contacts can be found online at respective web pages of these institutions. In case you already established contacts with your government, you can ask for their recommendations and guidance on who to contact as well.
In case you'll need any further assistance with anything related to this template letter, please do not hesitate to contact IFMSA's Liaison Officer for Human Rights and Peace Issues at .
1.) General introduction of the letter:
(serves as the first part of each region-specific letter)
Dear [Add a suitable address - depends on who is the recipient]
We, the [add the name of your organisation], supported by the Students Federation of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW Students) and the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA), on behalf of all member health students, peace activists and concerned citizens who share the common goal of peace and a world free from nuclear weapons, hereby call upon our government to urgently sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons that was opened up for signing on the 20thof September, 2017.
In 2018, youth comprise of over one billion people, 600 million of whom live in violence- and conflict-affected areas worldwide. While making up the largest percentage of the world’s population, being born after the Second World War and the Cold War, today's youth have never witnessed nuclear weapons being used. However, young people are fully aware of the scale and brutality of nuclear weapons and their potential to destroy our whole civilization and the entire ecosystem of the planet. With rising political tension and sharp nuclear rhetorics, we understand our role in the maintenance and promotion of peace and security. To emphasise the paramount role of youth in building and sustaining peace, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted its landmark resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security. Despite that, a young generation will undoubtedly be most affected by outcomes of present peace and security conflicts, and will have to bear political, social and health consequences should a nuclear conflict evolve from the perplexity of current global political tension.
Not only as youth, but especially as health students and future health workers, we feel threatened by the fragile peace we are forced to endure under the so-called nuclear deterrence strategy. We believe that the protection and promotion of the universal right to health is an undisputed responsibility for all healthcare professionals. Any nuclear conflict would result in deaths of millions, with direct and indirect consequences, affecting and sweeping generations. Aside from the direct aftermath of burns and radiation sickness, the ongoing effects of radiation exposure lead to high rates of leukemia, cancer deaths, cataracts, thyroid disease, cardiovascular disease and in utero radiation exposure leading to limb deformities and neurological defects. Health systems would not be able to provide any effective medical assistance to billions of people starving and suffering from malnutrition caused by global nuclear famine.
We believe that our government needs to take responsibility for nuclear disarmament and lead all other governments brought together by the United Nations by example.
[HERE YOU ATTACH YOUR REGIONAL PART!!]
2.) Specific regional sections of the letter:
(please select one region and attach it to the general introduction part)
Africa:
The youth in Africa constitute about 70% of the population. We therefore have a crucial role towards contribution of economic regional growth and development. In conjunction with our governments, it is our responsibility as well to ensure peace, economic stability and nuclear-free states in our region. We as African Youth hereby call upon the governments of all African countries to urgently sign and ratify the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
Africa and her citizens stand at the cusp of a monumental threat that could trigger a devastating climate change and nuclear famine that would endanger billions of lives around the world. We all stand vulnerable to the well-documented humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons’ use. This threat cannot be neutralized with more nuclear weapons but rather with acknowledgment of the evidence that tactics such as deterrence and nuclear posturing have failed.
We applaud the African countries that have so far signed the treaty and would like to urge all governments, not only to sign and ratify the treaty urgently, but also encourage nuclear weapon and nuclear dependent states to enter into multilateral negotiations to eliminate their nuclear weapons and come into compliance with the prohibitions spelled out in the Treaty.
Furthermore, with glaring evidence of failure of current strategies to slow down the acquisition, investment in, modernization and threat of use of these vile indiscriminate weapons, we believe it is indeed time to end the scourge of nuclear weapons. Now more than ever with the threat of nuclear war looming over us all, the safety of the human civilization must take precedence and sobriety must lead the path to complete elimination. Africa was there when the historic treaty came to life and Africa must emerge as one of the leading supporters of a morally irrefutable treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons, now already signed by more than 50 states. We urge our governments to start the process of putting in place respective national legislation to prohibit and criminalize the manufacture, investment in, testing, deployment, threat and use of nuclear weapons.
Finally, Africa is home to one-fifth of the World’s youth and we ask that African governments acknowledge this important demographic and as such support youthful participation in this process. We also urge that our governments educate and empower the youth through meaningful disarmament education programs in the hope of securing a nuclear-free and peaceable future for all.
We thank you for your collaboration and we are open for any questions you may have.
Sincerely yours,
[add the name of your organisation]
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Americas:
We, American youth, have been in a privileged position of being able to enjoy a long duration of relative peace. This peace has enabled most of us to work on our dreams and our governments to focus on development of our countries. This situation has prevailed despite the rest of the world being in a constant turmoil. However, we are cognizant of the fact that peace is not merely the absence of war. The presence of nuclear weapons in our region and the world pose the greatest threat to the fragile peace we currently enjoy.
We are fully aware that it is only a matter of time before one ‘mistake’ spells doom for our region. One ‘mistake’ and all the social milestones as well as economic strides we have made thus far will go down the drain. With this in mind, we welcome the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons that opened for signing in September 2017. We applaud the countries in our region that have so far taken the commendable leap by signing and ratifying the treaty. Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Guyana, Guatemala Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, St Vincent & Grenadines, Uruguay, and Venezuela have all set admirable precedent for the rest of our countries to follow suit.
Finally, we are calling upon our governments to find sustainable ways for lasting peace. To resort to honest diplomacy and not coercion. To join hands for the common good of the world and not seek mutual destruction. To put the future of youth in their minds. The future that is currently held hostage by the presence of nuclear weapons. The subtle yet most precarious hostage crisis whose only remedy is signing, ratifying, and implementing the Nuclear Ban Treaty.
We thank you for your collaboration and we are open for any questions you may have.
Sincerely yours,
[add the name of your organisation]
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Asia-Pacific:
On 1968, the United Nations opened for signature the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, as one of the many multilateral treaties to restrain the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction. 122 countries voted for the adoption of the Treaty, however, only 56 countries have signed so far and 5 have ratified. In Asia, non-signatories include India and Pakistan, including a withdrawal from North Korea. While many countries in Asia have the capability and technology to produce nuclear warheads, many has chosennot to do so to avoid the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and avoid raising the chances of nuclear warfare, which would lead to the human race having to suffer irreversible outcomes. We applaud our region’s choice to refrain from development of nuclear weaponry and underline thatchoosing to sign and adhere to the Treaty is a further action and symbol for efforts to build peace and health, from Asia to the world.
As representatives of the youth, we strongly encourage and support our country to sign and ratify the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. We believe there is a lesson to be learned from the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan in 1945 ; if an atomic bomb can take the lives of over 200,000 innocents and devastate many more, then the consequences of a nuclear weapon deployment promises to be immeasurably worse. As proof of lessons learned, the international community, too,has repeatedly condemned the possession and use of Nuclear Weapons.
As youth, we are the future of this planet and it is one of our responsibilities to safeguard our future, we plead that you take concrete actions to attain that by promoting peace and abolition of weapons of mass destruction. Governments have the capacity to negotiate and implement binding treaties for the disarmament of nuclear weapons, with the goal of their total abolition. We urge all governments to sign and ratify relevant international documents, treaties, and conventions to ensure that our future remains one that is bright, optimistic, and most importantly: not marred with the fear of large scale destructions due to nuclear weaponry.
We thank you for your collaboration and we are open for any questions you may have.
Sincerely yours,
[add the name of your organisation]
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Eastern Mediterranean region:
The Eastern Mediterranean Region is a crisis hole that ranges from hunger and refugees to being a hub for the widespread presence of nuclear weapons. In addition, not all countries are currently fully compliant with the IAEA regulation standards under the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty (NPT).Nevertheless, this has not stopped the youth in the region from advocating for several causes and succeed in their pursuits with the causes ranging from hunger/starvation to the refugee crises and women empowerment.
As a continuation to our pursuits in advocacy, we would like to raise to your attention the above topic. In the Conference to Negotiate Legally Binding Instrument Banning Nuclear Weapons after which the treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was released,Lebanon’s representative, speaking for the Arab Group, expressed hope that the Treaty would bolster the quest for a nuclear-weapon-free Middle East. In addition, The Arab world placed international interests over national interests, she said, expressing hope that the Treaty would bolster the quest for a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East.
Iran’s work to establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East confirmed the consistency of that position. Lastly, the observer for the State of Palestine, associating himself with the Arab Group, said the Treaty expressed the power of the collective will. There was no substitute for eliminating nuclear weapons since they posed an existential threat. The need to create a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East was more urgent than ever and deserved support, he said.
We are stating the above to reiterate the importance and encourage all the countries in this region to not only sign this treaty, but to also enforce its implementation on a regional, national and local level. Every solution starts with one step and we believe the first step is the most important.
Nation and governmental support in this pursuit will encourage and promote unity in the region, decrease the disseminated political tension, and potentially lighten the severity of the crises going on and open room for a de-escalation of conflict. The tension going on between several countries, mainly Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Syria could very much benefit from the implementation of this treaty. Stabilization of similar conditions within the Arab world may have a positive impact on the refugee crisis epidemic, which hopefully would allow us, collectively, to improve access and availability of healthcare to this displaced and marginalized demography.. After all, isn’t the safety of our population the main goal?
The youth remain optimistic of the goodwill of our region and countries towards a nuclear-free middle east. We are calling for this simple action because we believe the region is beyond saturated in desperation and because political will and policy makers’ commitment are essential to make meaningful progress on this situation.
We thank you for your collaboration and we are open for any questions you may have.
Sincerely yours,
[add the name of your organisation]
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Europe:
European context of nuclear disarmament is quite specific in comparison to other regions. There are several States, which possess nuclear weapons - Russia, France and the United Kingdom are considered to be nuclear-weapon States (NWS) under the terms of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). In addition, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey are NATO (The North Atlantic Treaty Organization) members that host nuclear arsenals in their territories. This list makes Europe one of the most nuclearized regions in the world. The involvement of the majority of European States in NATO has a significant impact on the region's position on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Although the European Parliament welcomed the convening of a conference to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, most of the EU Member States, 22 of which are members of NATO, oppose the Ban Treaty, and only five non-NATO EU Member States voted in favour.
As residents and inheritors of our common European region, we note with appreciation the position of several States on the Ban Treaty - Taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations. Nevertheless, we believe that only more resolute, progressive and courageous steps towards nuclear disarmament can ensure a safer, peaceful and sustainable future for all.
Recalling the exact words from the above stated position document - ''We need all states to work in unison if our goal is effective, verifiable and irreversible nuclear disarmament to which our countries are fully committed'', we believe that signing, ratifying and committing to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is the strongest, clearest and most straightforward commitment towards a shared vision of attaining global zero of nuclear weapons. Therefore, as young people of [add the name of your country], we fully support and advocate for [add the name of your country] to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Lastly, we would like to express our willingness and enthusiasm to collaborate with policy and decision-makers in order to build a more peaceful society for future generations. In case you want to know more about [YOUR ORGANISATION] position and activities on peacebuilding, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely yours,
[add the name of your organisation]
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