NTI Congratulates 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Winner ICAN

The Nuclear Threat Initiative congratulates the International
Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and its leader Beatrice Fihn on
receiving the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.

ICAN engaged in an extraordinary multi-year effort to raise
awareness about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapon
use and launched a successful campaign for negotiation of the 2017 Treaty on
the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

The 122 non-nuclear weapon states that adopted the
international treaty at the United Nations on July 7, 2017 sent a strong moral
and ethical message to states with nuclear weapons, none of whom supported
adoption of the treaty. The difficult and essential task ahead must be to
develop a joint enterprise between nuclear and non-nuclear states to focus on
the steps needed to achieve the goals set forth in the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation
of Nuclear Weapons. Priority number one for all states must be preventing the
use of a nuclear weapon anywhere in the world.

We all owe ICAN a debt of
gratitude for their ambition and perseverance in the global effort to reduce
and eliminate the risks posed by nuclear weapons. The organization is a model
for the importance of civil society engagement in this arena, and we are
delighted that their work has been recognized by the Nobel Prize Committee.