Dear Friend,

Imagine you are five years old, your mom is doing laundry out back, and all of a sudden the world is on fire.

That’s part of the story Hiroshima A-Bomb survivor Rumi Hanagaki shared with Emma Pike in this powerful video.

For nearly 80 years we have lived with the constant threat of nuclear war, a threat that is increasing as world leaders seem to have forgotten the nightmare tales of the children who miraculously lived through the unleashing of hell on earth.

At ICAN, we know that when we talk about what nuclear weapons do to people we change the conversation. Nuclear weapons are designed to cause mass destruction, they are meant to be indiscriminate and they cannot be used without harming the most innocent and vulnerable in our communities.

That is why eight years ago countries adopted the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. They knew that the path to dismantling all nuclear weapons on the planet requires making them illegal under international law. The Treaty is unique in how it recognises the indiscriminate nature of nuclear weapons and provides a path to justice and assistance to those harmed by nuclear weapons use and testing.

Now, it is our job to make sure that people everywhere remember what nuclear weapons do. Will you help us share these stories with others?

Our efforts to put an end to nuclear weapons have had moments of success and struggle in the last 80 years. Everytime we tell the story of a survivor is an opportunity to remind people that this is a problem we can solve. We have the facts, we have the tools and together we are the movement that will end nuclear weapons forever.

Please help share the stories so others can join us to build the world we all want to see.

Thank you,

Daniel Högsta, 
Deputy Director
ICAN