Youth movements for climate action, peace and nuclear disarmament have sprung up in Europe and around the world in the past few years as young people have become concerned about existential threats to current and future generations, and increasingly frustrated at the insufficient action by governments to address these threats.
Engagement of youth in these issues is important, as highlighted in the recent UN Security Council Resolution on Youth, Peace and Security, and the UN General Assembly Resolution on Youth, disarmament and non-proliferation.
It is also important that the voices of these youth are listened to, and acted upon, by policy makers and civil society leaders, and that youth learn from the experience of those who have been active longer.
For the 75th anniversary of the United Nations this year, we invite youth, and the not-so-young, around the world to participate in the video project: UN 2020: Youth voices and inter-generational dialogue on climate, peace and nuclear disarmament.
Holding the unversal peace sign (see below to download), we invite young people to video a short statement with thoughts on peace, climate and nuclear weapons. These statements will be posted Youtube and on Facebook. See sample video at https://youtu.be/uX0cpWFkefw). Send your video message to Chaimae Sebbani at Chaimae@pnnd.org.
And we invite people who are not so young - including parliamentarians, mayors, religious leaders and other civil society leaders - to view the youth statements and respond. These videos will also be posted online.
A compilation video will be produced, posted online and shown at various UN events and other events during 2020.
Basel Peace Forum and PyeongChang Peace Forum
An initial video of European youth voices on climate, peace and nuclear disarmament was screened at the Basel Peace Forum, Switzerland on January 10. The video screening prompted a number of forum participants to do their own video statements in response. The European youth voices video will also be shown at the PyeongChang Peace Forum in Korea from February 9-11, where additional youth voices and response statements will be recorded.
Making your video statement
We invite you to send us a video message (not longer than 1 minute) addressing one or more of the questions below, while holding the attached peace/planet sign.
Please, read the instructions carefully before you start filming, as we will instruct you to do an action with the peace/planet sign which will connect you with the other video messages making it look as though the peace sign is travelling around Europe.
Questions to address in your video message:
- Why are the issues of climate, nuclear weapons and peace important for youth?
- What role can the United Nations play to address these issues?
- Should governments give more support to the United Nations in 2020 and if so why?
How to use the peace sign in the video:
- Find attached the graphic created for the event. It combines the symbols of the main issues discussed at our Pavilion event.
- Print out the sign, preferably the A3 size if you can. Otherwise, print out the A4 size which is available as two halves, and tape them together.
- Use the sign in the video: Hold your smart phone horizontally to film. At the start of the video clip, hold the nuclear disarmament symbol to your far right. Move it across to center screen. Say your lines for the video. Then move the nuclear disarmament/climate change symbol to your far left. Once the video clips are put together, it will look as though the nuclear disarmament symbol is being passed from one person to another as we go around Europe. Click here for sample videos.
Fun fact: Do you know where the peace sign came from?
The well-known nuclear disarmament symbol was designed in 1958 by Gerald Holtom, a conscientious objector, for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. It uses the semaphore for the letters N and D (nuclear disarmament) placed within a circle.
In adding the circle, Holtom wrote that the symbol was like a person standing with their arms outstretched – somewhat in despair at the tragedy of war and the impossibility of civilization surviving a nuclear war. But it can also symbolize a person holding his/her hands out to join with others around the world for peace. In this way the symbol links nuclear disarmament to the wider aspiration for global peace and an end to war. The symbol was purposefully never copyrighted – so that like peace, it is able to be spread by anyone.
Contact us if you have any queries on how to use the nuclear disarmament symbol in the video clip. Contact: Chaimae Sebbani at Chaimae@pnnd.org.