ABOUT THE MWT NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT PROGRM
Melanesian Women Today coordinators decided to establish our own nuclear disarmament program to support efforts in the Pacific to lobby every government to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). We are an indigenous Pacific group working to uplift the voices of indigenous anti-nuclear weapons advocates from around the region.
Misson:
Our mission is to help Pacific Islanders speak and write about the importance of banning nuclear weapons through workshops and information sessions, raise awareness about the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) through community engagement and lobby our governments to join the TPNW with marketing and communications campaigns in the Pacific region.
Goals:
Through this program, we hope to engage and encourage indigenous Pacific Islanders to become good public speakers, writers, and activists on issues that impact Pacific people.
PARTNERSHIP WITH ICAN
We have signed up to partner with ICAN in order to participate in the campaigns of eliminating nuclear weapons through the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
ICAN is the biggest nonprofit working in the nuclear disarmament space. They focus on mobilizing civil society around the globe to support the specific objective of prohibiting and eliminating nuclear weapons. Their organization and advocacy around the world made it possible for the UN to develop and establish the TPNW and host the First Meeting of State Parties in Vienna, Austria.
HOW WILL THIS PROGRAM BENEFIT THE VOLUNTEERS OF MWT?
This program will offer volunteers a way to learn about government policies, how they affect their lives and how they can lobby their governments to change policies.
It will also encourage volunteers to become better writers and public speakers so they can express their concerns about the political situation in the Pacific region and become involved in creating change.
This program will also offer travel opportunities for Islanders who may not receive these benefits outside of the program.
It will be an educational program for volunteers who hope to become researchers or academics.
WHY MWT JOINED THIS SPACE?
While visiting Vienna, I learned that many Pacific Islanders were taken advantage of on a regular basis by big international nonprofits. These nonprofits gave their volunteers little to no money for their trip which put them in situations where they had little or no food, no transportation to and from venues and no way of contacting people for help while overseas. When MWT joins this space, we will make it safer for Islanders to travel overseas for these amazing opportunities that can offer them jobs, fellowships and research grants.