A world-wide network of organisations

GENEVA: The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons is far more than an office in Geneva. It is a huge global disarmament alliance that pushed through a UN treaty to ban all nuclear weapons, finally signed in July.

The group includes 450 organisations and tens of thousands of activists. It formed 10 years ago to work to such an agreement.

The treaty bans the production, possession, storage and use of nuclear weapons. It was adopted despite opposition of countries that have such weapons and their allies, including Germany and Japan.

The existing Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty only aims to prevent the spread of such arms, without placing tough disarmament obligations on nuclear weapons states.

The campaign’s efforts were modelled on other disarmament treaties, such as the pact that bans landmines or chemical weapons.

These pacts focus on not just the weapons, but on the human cost of their use. “Is it acceptable to kill hundreds of thousands of people or not? If not, nuclear weapons have to be banned,” Swedish activist Beatrice Fihn said before her organisation was named Nobel Peace Prize winner.

The treaty would place pressure on governments refusing to sign it, including members of Nato, which relies on nuclear deterrence.

The treaty will come into force as soon as 50 countries have ratified it by turning it into national law.

So far, 53 countries have signed, but only Guyana, the Holy See and Thailand have ratified it.

With its Friday win, the tiny Geneva campaign team will also lower the average age of Nobel Peace Prize winners.

All four staff are under 35 years old. The average age of peace prize laureates from 1901 to 2016 is 61. – dpa