| September 8th – 21st, 2024 |
| Dear Friends, You are invited to join Voice of Women for Peace, Science for Peace and Jai Jagat in a grassroots initiative. From September 9 to September 21, 2024 a core group of peace advocates will walk the 200 km from Pagweak/Pugwash to Kjipuktuk/Halifax, Nova Scotia. As we walk through diverse communities we will learn from others, also walking the path to peace. Together we will explore the interconnected issues related to peace. Addressing rising temperatures, the threat of rising seas and wildfires includes climate justice. Understanding the burdens that deter us from healing the earth means to talk about militarization, colonization and racism. The overarching threat of nuclear weapons compels us to act. This is most important for youth in facing this future. According to the ICANS (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) report “Surge: 2023 Global Nuclear Weapons Spending“, the total nuclear weapons spending in the last five years was more than $387 billion. This is more than what the World Food Programme estimates it would take to end world hunger. Nuclear spending is only part of the annual global military spending of 2 trillion, 500 billion dollars. We urge policy-makers to take concrete steps toward the reallocation of this massive budget for urgent climate, social, economic and health care needs. We also call on Canada to support the abolition of nuclear weapons and to sign onto the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). We call on all nuclear weapon states to stop the production and sale of nuclear weapons immediately. We hope to re-awaken the great courage of scientists and peace activists who gathered at the National Historic site of Thinkers Lodge in 1957, beginning the transnational Pugwash movement for nuclear disarmament and world peace. Let’s rebuild Canada’s identity as a peacebuilder firmly rooted on a path of reconciliation, reparation and reciprocity. Let’s walk and talk so we can begin to walk the talk together. Sincerely, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace “There is no path to peace, peace is the way. ” Mahatma Gandhi. For more information please contact us at: walkingtogether@vowpeace.org |