Hi Friend --

In May, the heads of the G7 states will meet in Hiroshima for their annual summit. Given the location, all eyes will be on these seven leaders - who represent states that either have, host or rely on nuclear weapons-  to see if they can commit to real action to eliminate the weapons that once flattened Hiroshima, or whether it will all be empty rhetoric.  So in the coming month we’ll be ramping up the pressure on them to do the right thing! 

The signs aren’t looking great so far. Earlier this week, the G7 foreign ministers met in Japan, and their statement neglected to acknowledge how their own nuclear weapons policies including foreign stationing, modernising their arsenals and the implicit threat to use these weapons in their nuclear doctrines undermine global security. They also failed to present any new or concrete ideas for moving towards the elimination of nuclear weapons.

In May, the G7 leaders will have to do better. Reports indicate the leaders have committed to meet with atomic bomb survivors, hibakusha, during their visit. The call of the hibakusha is loud and clear - we need to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons. The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) is the clearest path to doing so. 

That is why we’re spending this month making these leaders feel the pressure:

• Last week, ICAN coordinated with hundreds of civil society organisations around the world to present a set of joint demands to the G7 from the official civil society engagement group, the C7.

• Next week, on 25-27 April, the G7 Hiroshima Youth Summit will bring together over 50 participants to meet with survivors, visit Hiroshima, connect with others in advance of the G7 summit and announce the recommendations they’ve developed together for G7 leaders.

• Immediately afterwards, the G7 Parliamentarian Forum for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons - held in Tokyo and Hiroshima on April 28th to 30th -  will bring together elected officials from all 7 states to discuss and recognise the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, condemn threats to use them, and discuss ways to eliminate them altogether through the TPNW.

We hope these events will inspire and empower the participants to go back to their countries and demand action from their governments, so that the leaders feel the pressure even before they arrive. And in the coming weeks, we will keep you posted on ways you can get involved, particularly if you are also in a G7 state. 

And of course, we will be sharing a lot of our activities on social media next week, so make sure you are following us (we're on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok and LinkedIn) and tune in to the livestream from the Youth Summit’s public event on April 26th here. 

Daniel Högsta
Interim Executive Director
ICAN

It’s time to end nuclear weapons.

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