11th March 2022

Senzatomica Joins Events to Promote Nuclear Abolition in Italy

Photo credit: Daniele Santi

  • Disarmament
  • Nuclear Abolition

The Senzatomica campaign on nuclear disarmament, promoted by the Italian Buddhist Institute Soka Gakkai, held several awareness-raising events to mark the first anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

On 21 January, Senzatomica representatives joined an annual event hosted by a school in Cervia in Northern Italy, linking a class of 10-year-olds with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum so that the children can listen directly to the testimony of a hibakusha. This year, Yoshiko Kajimoto shared the experience of being buried under rubble following the atomic bombing, and that it was only when she realized that her friend needed more help than her that she was able to find her own strength.

On 25 February, in Milan, the Italian Network for Peace and Disarmament and Senzatomica organized the event "Nuclear Ban Treaty: results obtained and future steps." Susi Snyder, coordinator of the “Don't Bank on the Bomb” initiative of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), spoke at the event. She explained that the nuclear deterrence argument is ineffective and that thanks to the entry into force of the TPNW, $US 3 trillion has been removed from investment in nuclear weapons. Carlo Abrate of Senzatomica expressed his hope that Italy will seek observer participation in the first Conference of the Parties to the TPNW, scheduled to take place in Vienna from 21 to 23 June.