Report from the Vienna Conference 2022--Hope Can Change Fate
July 12, 2022
Ambassador Kmentt and Mary Olson, June 20, Austria Center, Vienna.
The Vienna Conference 2022–the day before the first meeting of Parties to the Treaty on The Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW)—I was there, one of 14, who spoke at the conference.
Question: Do you believe in collective healing? If you don’t immediately say “YES!” I understand. I invite you to gently suspend your disbelief long enough to read on…
…if you don’t like the TPNW, if it’s not the “right” version of nuclear abolition…I ask you to crack open one eye and read on…
…or, maybe you have not even heard of it! Definitely read on!
In 2017 over 200 nations at the UN voted to create a treaty to BAN nuclear weapons! TPNW—it is real, capable of healing many splits in our world resulting from fission…and I am a fan. Here is another voice from Vienna:
“Being here, surrounded by partners from the Pacific, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, central and South East Asia and Europe, is a clear reminder that our mission is global. Our different geographies, histories, cultures and politics have led us all to the same conclusion – that nuclear weapons are immoral and illegal, and their tyranny must end.”
-- Hon Phil Twyford, Minister of Disarmament, speaking for New Zealand on June 21, 2022
As an activist for many years, I never dreamed I would hear national ambassadors say these words, and there have been many in addition to Minister Twyford… Our activism set the stage, now it is nations taking action, at last!
This post is an installment on my experience of global healing, balance, growth and change for the better:
It was like lightening striking a second time when UN Ambassador, Alexander Kmentt from Austria called me a few months ago to invite me to speak, again, at an event called the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impacts of Nuclear Weapons. The June 20, 2022 event was a reprise of the 2014 Vienna Conference where I had the honor of being the opening speaker--albeit after a ceremony with statements from Pope Frances, (then) Secretary General Ban Kee Moon, and Setsuko Thurlow, soon to win the Nobel Peace Prize for the new Treaty (TPNW)--which was born between these Vienna events—in part from the evidence presented in Vienna 2014.
The first time, in 2014, when the Ambassador called, I tried my best to decline the invitation…”no, I do not work on nuclear weapons.” He was very persistent, and after saying “no” four times, I agreed to make the trip. It was the promise of an audience of 125 nation-state ambassadors, staff, experts, and media-- 1000 people total; and because Kmentt wanted my talk to include radiation’s impact on women.
In 2011 I had analyzed radiation and cancer data published by NAS in BEIR VII. This was thanks to a woman who asked me a question in 2009 about gender and radiation that I could not answer—it was the nuclear disaster in Fukushima Japan that made finding an answer imperative. That year I published a short paper entitled “Atomic Radiation is More Harmful to Women” and that is why Kmentt called me three years later. (2014 Video)
I learned later that my work on the disproportionate harm from radiation suffered by girls and women compared to boys and men[i] was central to a strategy that would help win the treaty—my work is not more important than others—all the facts, perspectives, arguments and insights about nuclear weapons are important—no. Simply: my paper provided a key. Read on.
There are more than a dozen UN treaties and regional accords on nuclear weapons, and there have been additional bi-lateral agreements[ii], all aimed at limiting these weapons. The TPNW is the first Treaty to actually declare these weapons of mass destruction illegal (a ban). So far 82 nations have signed the TPNW, and 62 nations have ratified and become Parties to conduct the business of the Treaty… The first meeting of these Party nations was June 21-23, 2022 in Vienna…we “reran” the Vienna Conference of 2014 the day before. I was so very honored to be invited to be one of only 14 speakers in this reprise of evidence for a nuclear ban. It is so important, that we can all hear, consider, and test the “why” of a new phase of world development.
The meetings in June for the States Parties were open to civil society, and also any nation that wanted to observe the discussions. Delegations from NATO member states Norway, Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands attended as “observers.”
One of the biggest differences about the TPNW and other nuclear treaties is that it is written under the jurisdiction of Humanitarian Law. This puts it under the authority of the General Assembly. All the other nuclear treaties and agreements are written under Military Law which is administered by the UN Security Council.
News to many is the fact that the TPNW does not revoke or supersede any of these previous agreements—ALL of them are about HAVING nuclear weapons, where the TPNW is wholly devoted to creating legal and enforceable pathways to NOT having these WMDs. It is a transition to a nuclear-weapons-free Earth.
Humanitarian Law, under the General Assembly is a huge contrast to the Security Council. The Security Council is controlled by its permanent Members—China; France; Russian Federation; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; and United States of America. All of these are nuclear armed nations and each has a veto in any matter before the Security Council.
So, when the new TPNW was born into the General Assembly (2017) where each nation has one vote, none has a veto, and a simple majority rules, I and many others celebrated. Do you see it? Can you hear it? Do you smell it? This is the world claiming its own future, ending the tyranny of nuclear weapons—and, we hope, the supremacy which wields them.
Nonetheless, I did not yet comprehend how or why my paper on radiation and biological sex was one of the keys to attaining this treaty…there were, of course, many keys! This is what I learned:
In the case of gendered findings on radiation, the key had two parts:
· First disproportionate impact of radiation on females is news! In 2014—2017 this news restarted conversations on nuclear weapons—at the UN, for some years, there really was nothing “new” to say about nuclear—it had all been said--and no one wanted to keep repeating things that made little or no difference to the status quo. That biological sex is a large factor in radiation harm (at least among the A-bomb survivors) had not been heard before—and it turned out that my choice to publish this news in cartoon-line silhouette figures allowed scaling both the barrier of language and that of math. The points were easy to “get.”
· Second, and in many ways more important, these findings gave the TPNW drafters a means to mirror the Mine Ban Convention, which is also under Humanitarian Law. It is the most successful Treaty in the history of treaties, and so a good model. The drafters needed to show that non-combatants, children, elders, and women are impacted disproportionately by the weapon, and that these impacts persist through time. My work does this—it reveals that radiation from the bombs hurts very young girls the most—significantly more than military-aged males. Further, cancer harm unfolds over decades, as does the potential for intergenerational harm. This opens the Mine Ban Convention as a precedent for the TPNW.
That is the “key” that my work provides…and these points are part of the summation of my talk in Vienna, June 20, 2022.
My initial work on gendered findings on radiation harm was done in 2011 with no knowledge of the work by Dr Arjun Makhijani, et al, published in 2006[iii] showing the same findings. My paper is an independent confirmation of these findings. It is a long road to bring awareness of new, contradictory facts to the mainstream. I founded Gender and Radiation Impact Project in 2017 in order to help stimulate more scientific research in institutions of excellence to build a literature (published papers) upon which new and better radiation protection policies, practices, and regulations could be built.
My participation in the conferences has, so far been service as a volunteer, in support of the Treaty. A service I am deeply honored to provide.
One sign of hope for me this year is the far greater interest in networking and moving forward the questions on why radiation is more harmful to female bodies. I hope, very much, these new contacts will contribute to the rising generation doing more research that will result in better protection of our lifecycle—and other living beings—instead of only our young military males.
If you are still doubting the value of the TPNW – The Mine Ban Convention stands as a historical model of how the world has progressed, even when very intractable elements refuse to participate. The Mine Ban (1997) has sponsored a global undertaking to clear mines from former battle zones. People continued to die from landmines that were buried as part of WWI, WWII, Viet Nam and a great many other conflicts. Many of these mines have now been cleared under this UN agreement.
Only two nations have NOT joined in banning mines: the USA and Singapore. If you want to buy, sell, or plant a mine, these are the only two nations on Earth where you can do that. Wow. Nuclear may look different; nonetheless, over time, the arc is clear…and the nations stepping forward to chart a path to a nuclear-free future are to be celebrated!
There is a deep commitment by these nations to show up regularly, share evidence-based information in an open and transparent ways, stand up for what is right, and hold the space for all nations to join in this move towards global health and sanity.
Writing now, I reread my Blog post shared in December, Be Hope. I do recommend it!
All the time, somewhere on Earth, healing is in process, balance is sustained, healthy growth is unfolding, and there is change for the better. When we notice these, even when it is hard to do so, then hope is our guide star. A path can be smoother when it has such a compass. Hope was my “take home” from Vienna in 2014, and why I didn’t hesitate to say “Yes!” when the Ambassador called me this time.
In my wildest dreams I never thought that I would contribute in a substantial way to the effort to rid the planet of nuclear weapons. Never in my wildest dreams as an activist, did I imagine I would I see NATIONS with their authority lead us towards a nuclear-free Earth and future. It was a small group of people who decided to take nuclear weapons out of military-only-authority and bring it to the world of health, community and life in Humanitarian Law. They have hope.
Hope (as the movie scriptwriters promise) CAN change fate. Please drop disbelief you harbor! At least a little…and support this effort.
Gender and Radiation Impact Project serves the TPNW, as our gift. If you want to support us in this effort, please do. Donate – gifts are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law…and there are so many allied organizations also serving these goals—please give where your heart moves you.
RESOURCES:
Vienna Conference 2022 on the Humanitarian Impacts of Nuclear Weapons
The entire conference was recorded when LIVESTREAMED—all 9 hours are available on the link above.
This link starts the posted video, when Mary Olson is introduced by Ambassador Kmentt. https://youtu.be/JBfEoaA01-k?t=9192
Find other speakers via the Vienna Conference 2022 Event Program
Olson blog Dec 2021 Be HOPE
https://www.genderandradiation.org/blog/2021/11/21/invitation-be-hope
Read the rest of the Honorable Phil Twyford, Disarmament Minister of New Zealand’s Address to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons First Meeting of States Party
Other TPNW events 2022:
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) – offered LIVESTREAM of Civil Society events called Nuclear Ban Week, Vienna (June 19—23) available here: https://vienna.icanw.org/live
Check out this great list of speakers: https://vienna.icanw.org/speakers
#TPNW #HINW2022 #Radiation #Women #Girls #Nuclear
[i] Olson 2019. Disproportionate impact of radiation and radiation regulation. In special edition on Gender of Interdisciplinary Science Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1080/03080188.2019.1603864
Pre-publication manuscript posted here: https://www.genderandradiation.org/success-stories
[ii] Nuclear Treaties and Accords on Wikipedia accessed July 2022: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_weapons_of_mass_destruction_treaties#:~:text=ban%20chemical%20weapons-,Nuclear%20weapons,-%5Bedit%5D
[iii] Makhijani, et al 2006. Science for the Vulnerable, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, part of the Healthy from the Start Campaign, accessed July 2022 here: https://ieer.org/projects/healthy-from-the-start/