9. Resources

Action days and campaigns

UNFOLD ZERO

UNFOLD ZERO (www.unfoldzero.org) is a global platform promoting United Nations initiatives for nuclear disarmament. UNFOLD ZERO also highlights UN processes for resolving conflicts and achieving security without relying on nuclear deterrence or the threat or use of force. The platform promotes nuclear disarmament initiatives in the UN General Assembly, UN Security Council, International Court of Justice, other UN bodies and those of the UN Secretary-General.

UNFOLD ZERO is a joint project of Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace, Basel Peace Office, Global Security Institute, Mayors for Peace, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament and PragueVision Institute for Sustainable Security.

Campaigns have included Open the Door to a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World, in support of the UN Open Ended Working Group on Nuclear Disarmament, and Chain Reaction, a series of civil society actions and events around the world from 8 July until 2 October 2016.

UNFOLD ZERO also organizes actions and events for UN days relating to nuclear disarmament (see Commemoration Days on the left).

Global Campaign on Military Spending

The Global Campaign on Military Spending (www.demilitarize.org) was launched on 10 December 2014 by the International Peace Bureau (IPB) to tackle the worldwide issue of excessive military spending. The campaign builds on over a decade of work done by IPB and others around the theme of Disarmament for Sustainable Development. It incorporates the Global Day of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS) – now in its 5th year.

GDAMS is arranged to coincide with the release of the annual world military expenditure figures by SIPRI. It also coincides with Tax Day in the US, when Americans pay their taxes and debate their use. Many types of activities are organised, from physical actions (flash-mobs, street theatre/demonstrations, banner displays, seminars, signature collections or concerts) to social media campaigns (Thunderclap, selfies or groupies on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest, video productions on Youtube).

IPB proposes that the money released from the military budget could be made available to five broad alternative areas: peace, sustainable development, climate change and biodiversity loss, public services/green job-creation and humanitarian programmes to support the most vulnerable groups. These are all part of a wider global transformation towards a culture of peace.

Move the Money

Move the Money (www.peace-action.org/issues/move-the-money) is a US campaign that is part of the Global Campaign on Military Spending. It is coordinated by Peace Action in liaison with the National Priorities Project.

Peace Action points out that the U.S. spends nearly as much on its military as all other countries combined — at a time when critical domestic needs continue to be cut. The US Budget Control Act caps (aka “Sequestration”) since 2011 have deeply cut federal support for education, food programs, housing, transportation, and green energy. Reductions in the bloated military budget could free up federal funds for these human and social needs.

Three key demands made by the current Move the Money campaign are: 1) Flush the Slush Fund – Overseas Contingency Operations; 2) Cut the F-35 “Budget Buster”, and 3) Reduce Nuclear Weapons and Delivery Systems.

Don’t Bank on the Bomb

Don’t Bank on the Bomb (www.dontbankonthebomb.com) is a campaign organised by PAX (Netherlands) which encourages individuals and organisations to hold their bank accounts only in banks that do not invest in nuclear weapons. The campaign produces a Don’t Bank on the Bomb Report, which identifies both financial institutions that invest heavily in companies involved in nuclear weapon programmes, and those that have policies limiting or prohibiting such investments.

Resolutions and declarations