The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is a civil society campaign with the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons through a legally binding nuclear weapons convention

Nuclear weapons convention

A nuclear weapons convention is a proposed international treaty that would prohibit the development, testing, production, stockpiling, transfer, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons, as well as provide for their elimination...

. It was launched internationally in Vienna in 2007 at a meeting of parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. National launches have also taken place in Australia, Canada, France, India, Italy, Malaysia, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States.

It is supported by more than 200 non-government organizations in 60 countries, including the Nobel Peace Prize

Nobel Peace Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...

-winning International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

is a non-partisan federation of national medical groups in 63 countries, representing tens of thousands of doctors, medical students, other health workers, and concerned citizens who share the common goal of creating a more peaceful and secure world freed from the threat of nuclear annihilation...

, the World Federation of United Nations Associations

World Federation of United Nations Associations

The World Federation of United Nations Associations was created in 1946, inspired by the opening words of the United Nations Charter "We the Peoples". Today it is a global network of people linked together through United Nations Associations in over 100 member states of the United Nations...

, Mayors for Peace

Mayors for Peace

Mayors for Peace is an international organization of cities, dedicated for the promotion of peace that was established in 1982 at the initiative of then mayor of Hiroshima Takeshi Araki....

, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom was established in the United States in January 1915 as the Woman's Peace Party...

, the Mouvement de la Paix

Mouvement de la Paix

The Mouvement de la Paix is an organisation which promotes a culture of peace initiated by the United Nations. The movement was created in the aftermath of the Second World War by the large resistance movements, particularly those associated with communists, Christians and free-thinkers, and was...

, and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is an anti-nuclear organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...

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Among its high-profile individual supporters are His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...

, former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix

Hans Blix

is a Swedish diplomat and politician for the Liberal People's Party. He was Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs . Blix was also the head of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission from March 2000 to June 2003, when he was succeeded by Dimitris Perrikos...

, Nobel laureate Jody Williams

Jody Williams

Jody Williams is an American teacher and aid worker who received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the campaign she worked for, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines...

, mayor of Hiroshima Tadatoshi Akiba

Tadatoshi Akiba

is a Japanese politician and served as the mayor of the city of Hiroshima, Japan from 1999 to 2011.- Early life :He studied mathematics at the University of Tokyo, receiving a B.S. in 1966 and an M.S. in 1968. He continued his studies under John Milnor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,...

, former World Court judge Christopher Weeramantry

Christopher Weeramantry

Sri Lankabhimanya Christopher Gregory Weeramantry was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka from 1967 to 1972. He was a Judge of the International Court of Justice from 1991 to 2000, and was Vice-President of the ICJ from 1997 to 2000...

, former Australian prime minister Malcolm Fraser

Malcolm Fraser

John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role...

, former UN under-secretary-general for disarmament Jayantha Dhanapala

Jayantha Dhanapala

Professor Jayantha Dhanapala is a member of the Board of Sponsors of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and a governing board member of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Dr. Dhanapala was Sri Lanka's official candidate for the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations,...

, and former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans

Gareth Evans (politician)

Gareth John Evans, AO, QC , is a former Australian politician from 1978 to 1999 representing the Australian Labor Party, serving in a number of ministries including Attorney-General and Foreign Minister from 1983 to 1996 in the Hawke and Keating governments. He was president and chief executive...

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External links

• International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
• Model Nuclear Weapons Convention