Christian Peacemaker Teams would like to share our sincere congratulations to the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize winner ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons). We extend our heartfelt thanks to ICAN for their tireless work in the past year, bringing together 122 countries in order to negotiate and sign a nuclear ban treaty at the United Nations. It is hoped that the ban will have a similar effect to previous international bans on chemical weapons and land mines. This is a significant achievement, and much needed in the current political climate.
CPT were ourselves also nominated for the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize by American Friends Service Committee (who accepted the prize on behalf of Quakers worldwide in 1947), but we are delighted that ICAN has won, as this sends a very strong message to the world that any and every country stockpiling and threatening to use nuclear weapons is doing something which is both morally wrong and illegal under international law. We hope that the Nobel Peace Prize for ICAN will lead to an increased awareness of their campaign and the nuclear ban treaty, and we pray that more and more countries will feel the pressure on their conscience to give up these indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction.
