Basel Peace Office congratulates Youth Fusion for winning the Gorbachev/Shultz Legacy Youth Award, announced yesterday (August 6) by Voices for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons.
Youth Fusion, the youth wing of the Abolition 2000 global network to eliminate nuclear weapons, is led by Marzhan Nurzhan (Deputy-Director of Basel Peace Office), along with Vanda Proskova (Czech Republic), Michaela Sørensen (Mozambique/Denmark), Nico Edwards (Sweden/UK) and Aigerim Seitenova (Kazakhstan).
The award continues the nuclear disarmament legacy of Mikhail Gorbachev, Nobel Peace Laureate and former U.S.S.R. President; and George Shultz, former U.S. Secretary of State and co-founder of Voices for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons.
Youth Fusion has been given the 2022 award for their leadership in advancing inter-generational cooperation on peace and disarmament, human rights aspects of the nuclear arms race, innovative and interactive methods to engage youth in nuclear disarmament issues, and for building connections and cooperation between peace, nuclear disarmament, climate action and public health.
"As the world faces the horrors of climate change, poverty, inequality, degradation and violence around the world, Youth Fusion is organising and amplifying the voices of youth, that need to be heard and heeded if the world is to survive.” says Ela Gandhi, Co-President of Religions for Peace and grand-daughter of Mahatma Gandhi.
Youth Fusion has established a number of programs/initiatives such Youth Fusion Elders, Youth Fusion Experts Podcast series and Nuclear Collateral Damage: Conversations with Survivors and Experts.
And they take leadership in joint initiatives with others including #StepUp4Disarmament Youth Campaign, Move the Nuclear Weapons Money, Nuclear Games, the 3D Nuclear Missile interactive art initiative, NoFirstUse Global, Don’t even THINK about starting a nuclear war, Inter-generational forums on peace, nuclear disarmament and climate action, nuclear weapons & human rights, the Climate/Nuclear Disarmament Nexus, intergenerational events for the International Women’s Day for Peace and Disarmament (see 2022 event) and much more.
"As an enthusiastic Youth Fusion Elder, I applaud Youth Fusion for the honour of winning the 2022 Gorbatchev/Shultz Voices Youth Award," says Prof Andreas Nidecker MD, Past president and board member of IPPNW Switzerland and President of the Basel Peace Office.
"I consider it highly relevant today for young people to be aware of the need for and engage in efforts to promote nuclear abolition. In this regard, the 2022 Grimme award winning Social Media Project „Nuclear Games“ (now "Nuclear Fear“) was significantly supported by Youth Fusion. By its content and design, Nuclear Games will add efforts further by informing young people on nuclear issues over the Internet,” says Prof Nidecker.
Above: Two of the Youth Fusion leaders Nico Edwards and Marzhan Nurzhan. Marzhan is pictured with the #3dNukeMissile outside Buchel airforce base in Germany where US nuclear weapons are deployed.
Youth Fusion members are from Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa the Middle East and the Pacific - including some from countries impacted by the catastrophic human and environmental consequences of nuclear weapons. In addition, Youth Fusion has built strong partnerships with key constituencies including the United Nations, parliamentarians & mayors, scientists/academics, religious leaders and civil society organizations such as the Basel Peace Office.
“The contribution of Youth Fusion to the nuclear-disarmament movement is invaluable," says Prof. Ana María Cetto, Research professor of the Institute of Physics, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. and Mexico’s 2003 Woman of the Year. "Through fruitful dialogue with people from across a spectrum of ages, disciplines, cultures and geopolitical contexts, Youth Fusion leaders have brought to the fore the interconnectedness of the nuclear threat with other major challenges facing humanity. The fresh, critical voices of the youth are badly needed to get rid once and for all of the cold-war mentality that still prevails and takes new and dangerous turns.”
This is the third time that the award has been given. The first Voices Youth Award was bestowed in 2020 upon Kehkashan Basu (now 22 years old), President and Founder of Green Hope Foundation, a UN Human Rights Champion who has been named as one of the Top100 SDG Leaders in the world. The second award was given in 2021 to Sahil Shah a Policy Fellow at the European Leadership Network and former Policy and Outreach Consultant to the Office of the Executive Secretary at the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO).
Voices for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons, which is giving the award to Youth Fusion, is part of United Religions Initiative (URI) the largest grassroots interfaith network in the world: building bridges through working together on practical projects that enhance civil communities and understanding between people of different religious and cultural traditions.
Three of the Youth Fusion leaders: Aigerim Seitenova (Kazakhstan), Michaela Sørensen (Denmark) and Vanda Proskova (Czech Republic).
Some more tributes to Youth Fusion
“Youth Fusion’s aim and intension is to inform, educate, connect and engage their fellow young citizens across the globe has been a success, but further through their innovation, hard work, determination and intelligence they’ve achieved a growing influence across the age ranges and the international body politic. As a parliamentarian it has been my privilege to interact with, and yes to learn from, the membership of Youth Fusion. My colleagues and I in PNND are delighted that Youth Fusion has been recognised as winners of the 2022 Gorbachev/Shultz, Voices Youth Award.”
Bill Kidd MSP, Convenor of the Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group on Nuclear Disarmament; Co-President of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND).
“As a ‘founding mother’ of the Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons, it is gratifying and hopeful to see Youth Fusion emerge as the next generation of leaders working for a world free of nuclear weapons. Importantly, they recognize the interconnected nature of the many crises facing humanity and value inter-generational dialogue through which youth and those more experienced can listen and learn from each other. Congratulations to Youth Fusion on receiving the 2022 Gorbachev/Shultz Voices Youth Award!”
Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation
“The contribution of Youth Fusion to the nuclear-disarmament movement in invaluable. Through fruitful dialogue with people from across a spectrum of ages, disciplines, cultures and geopolitical contexts, Youth Fusion leaders have brought to the fore the interconnectedness of the nuclear threat with other major challenges facing humanity. The fresh, critical voices of the youth are badly needed to get rid once and for all of the cold-war mentality that still prevails and takes new and dangerous turns. Let me congratulate Voices for the wise selection of this year’s award, and wish Youth Fusion a promising, successful future!”
Prof. Ana María Cetto. Research professor of the Institute of Physics, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Mexico’s Woman of the Year in 2003. Member, World Future Council.
“Youth Fusion’s passion for a sustainable future is expressed in a level of professionalism and moral clarity lacking in the conduct of the world’s most powerful nations. They persist in producing more weaponry and failing to fulfill their disarmament commitments. Youth Fusion supports and produces practical proposals that increase global security and inspire.”
Jonathan Granoff, President of Global Security Institute
“In the sea of cynicism, pessimism, and stale debates in the nuclear field, Youth Fusion’s optimism, can-do approach, and the sense of agency is beyond refreshing. If our collective future looks like Youth Fusion, we are in good hands. In this moment in history, when the risk of nuclear war is as high as ever, we need a conduit between different generations, communities, expert fields to fasten nuclear disarmament. Youth Fusion fits the role.”
Togzhan Kassenova, author of Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up the Bomb
“Youth Fusion leaders combine the passion of youth for key issues of today with the power of story-telling – including in the digital realm - to connect with and engage others. And they provide a sharp focus on effective policy action for youth to promote. It has been a pleasure to cooperate with them on Nuclear Games, and I congratulate them on receiving this well-earned award.”
Patrick M. Mueller, Founder and CEO of DOCMINE, award winning digital content company.
.