Wave goodbye to nukes in April

Carol Urner, Disarm/End Wars Issue Committee

April is WILPF’s hundredth birthday. Let’s join the rest of the world in waving goodbye to nukes as one of the best birthday presents ever.  And keep the birthday celebration going – check out the calendar of events.

Of course the very best would be to end war, and in April we are working hard on that, too. On April 15 WILPFers traditionally vigil and leaflet on US tax day and once again we will have rich resources from GDAMS to draw on. April 24 is the big Peace and Planet conference, march, and festival on the eve of the NPT sessions at the United Nations. WILPFUS is an endorser and participant in the planning. Go to New York City if you possibly can or watch the events live on your own computer at home. On April 27 the UN begins its five year review conference and on April 28 is WILPF’s hundredth birthday. Eleanor Holmes Norton is introducing her bill on nuclear weapons abolition. Join us in finding co-sponsors. May is another big month so we also are giving some information on nuclear weapons abolition and ANA D.C. Days educating Congress and the Administration on eliminating nuclear weapons. 

In April we celebrate WILPF’s hundredth birthday in The Hague and around the world. We will join the rest of the world in waving goodbye to nukes  in a global action on April 26. Take photos or short videos and send them digitally to Abolition 2000 on that same day. They will be shown to Ambassadors and government delegates in the UN NPT Plenary on Tuesday, April 28. That is also the hundredth anniversary of WILPF’s beginnings in The Hague where women from both belligerent and neutral nations had gathered, determined to end that war. For us, at least, the Global Wave is like a birthday present to WILPF, honoring the visions of our foremothers, and promising to continue their work and ours until militarism and wars are ended and all of us can continue building the better world we seek.

HERE IS A CALENDAR OF KEY EVENTS IN AN APRIL DEVOTEDTO ABOLISHING NUKES AND ENDING WAR.

At our monthly meeting on March 29 we asked the development committee to seek funding so that Branches can host community meetings where those of us who have attended The Hague Centennial Congress and conference can share from that experience as well as from our own resources for action.  We hope other Issue Committees can do the same.

April 1: Abolition of nuclear weapons bill to be introduced in Congress this spring. We just learned this on April 1 but we and our Whittier College Peace Research Fellow were already organizing for an all-out campaign to enlist co-sponsors in hopes that she would do so. Branches will soon hear from us!

April 1: Registration is now open for D.C. Days,  May 17 to 20.  Arrive by Saturday evening, May 16, for the obligatory Sunday training followed by three days of intense meetings with Congressional staff and legislators. There will also be opportunities to meet with Administration officials. We have low cost condominium housing available with the option of staying until Saturday morning, May 23^rd for additional Congressional meetings or sightseeing.

April 13-15: Stopping autonomous weapons such as fully automated killer drones is being considered at a United Nations meeting of experts in Geneva. This is welcome fruit of a Reaching Critical Will initiated Campaign launched in 2014.

April 13: Money wasted on war and militarism: SPIRI annual report on global arms production issued in Stockholm and Global Day of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS) again just in time for US tax day.

April 15: GDAMS rich resources are available for US Tax Day.   Resources include WRL pie chart on where our taxes go, fliers, fact sheets, videos, webinars, model letters to send, banners. National Priority Project, WAND materials and more.

April 22-25: WILPF Centennial Congress for WILPF members.

April 24-25: Peace and Planet Conference. An international conference in New York City open to all peacemakers. Attend if you can.

April 26: Peace and Planet mobilization. Rally, march and festival. WILPF will have a booth at the festival. Let Ellen Thomas et@prop1.org  know if you are coming. You can help with the booth and distributing materials if you wish. And sign the petitions if you have not yet done so.

April 26: Wave goodbye to nukes in a global action Take photos or short videos and send them digitally to Abolition 2000 on that same day. They will then be shared with Government Ambassadors, Delegates and staff at the NPT Five Year Review Conference.

April 27-29: WILPF Centennial International Conference open to all peacemakers.

April 27-May-22: Five Year Review Conference of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. Contact Ray Acheson  and watch for news on Reaching Critical Will