PNND nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize

Nomination of PNND by Senator Bakhit

In his nomination letter to the Nobel Peace Committee Senator Bakhit, Deputy-Speaker of the Jordanian Senate, highlights a range of national, regional and international initiatives in which PNND has taken leadership.

These include promoting nuclear-weapon-free zones (especially in the Middle East), engaging with governments to eliminate the role of nuclear weapons in security doctrines, and publicizing United Nations initiatives such as the UN Open Ended Working Group, UN International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and negotiations for a nuclear weapons convention.

Bakhit also notes the impact PNND has had with parliaments globally, especially by working in cooperation with the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU), the global organization of over 160 parliaments. The co-founders of IPU, Frédéric Passy and Charles Albert Gobat, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901 and 1902. PNND and the Jordan delegation to the IPU cooperated in the achievement of a ground-breaking IPU resolution on nuclear disarmament in 2014.

PNND has also worked with the Jordan Senate to produce the Arabic edition of the IPU Handbook for Parliamentarians Supporting Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (to be released soon), and to hold special events in the Jordan senate including a Wave goodbye to nuclear weapons and a screening of ‘The Man Who Saved the World’.  These were organised by Senator Salwa al Damen Masri, a Co-President of PNND.

Bakhit commends PNND for building strong partnerships or cooperation with virtually all the international organisations working for nuclear disarmament. He mentions, as an example, the partnership between PNND, Mayors for Peace and Religions for Peace which has built cooperation between mayors, parliamentarians and religious leaders for a nuclear-weapon-free world.

The nomination also highlights a number of PNND leaders who have made – or are making – a significant impact for nuclear disarmament. These include PNND Council Member Federica Mogherini (now the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs), PNND Co-President Senator Ed Markey (United States), PNND Council Member Jeremy Corbyn (Leader of the UK Labour Party), PNND Member Mogens Lykettoft (former Foreign Minister of Denmark and now the President of the UN General Assembly) and PNND Council Member Tony de Brum (Foreign Minister of the Marshall Islands).

Nomination of PNND by Aytug Atici, supported by Prof Andenæs

The nomination of PNND by Aytug Atici and by Prof. Kristian Andenæs goes into additional detail, highlighting PNND activities and initiatives such as UNFOLD ZERO, the Framework Forum, cooperation with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, joint actions with Global Zero, and promotion of the UN Secretary-General’s Five Point Proposal.

The nomination highlights the actions and impact of additional PNND leaders, including Uta Zapf (former Chair of the German Parliament Sub-committee on Disarmament and Arms Control), Mani Shankar Aiyar (former Personal Adviser to Rajiv Gandhi and drafter of the 1998 Rajiv Gandhi Plan for a Nuclear-Weapon-Free and Non-violent World Order), Senator Aitimova (Kazakhstan) who was responsible for the establishment by the United Nations of the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, Ui Hwa Chung (President of the South Korea National Assembly) and Katsuya Okada (former Japan Foreign Minister) who have built cross-party support for a 3+3 North east Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone, Saber Chowhdury who is also the IPU President, Christine Muttonen (Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly) and Bill Kidd (Scotland) who has moved the Scottish Parliament to vote overwhelmingly in favour of banning the UK nuclear weapons from Scotland.

Scottish Parliament motion supporting the nomination

On February 4, 2016,  Scottish Parliament member Stewart Stevenson submitted Motion S4M-15574: 2016 Nobel Peace nomination for PNND, stressing 'the important role that parliamentarians play in peace and disarmament to ensure that governments implement international disarmament obligations', applauding the work of PNND to achieve a safer world free from nuclear weapons and supporting the Nobel Peace nomination. The motion includes 13 co-sponsors.

Nobel Peace Prize Watch

Approximately 200 people/organisations are nominated annually for the Prize. The Nobel Peace Committee does not announce the list of nominations nor make the nomination letters public.

However, a number of nominations are made public by those making the nominations.   Nobel Peace Prize Watch, which promotes greater transparency and accountability for the selection process, has announced a list of nominations – including PNND – which they believe are deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize according to the will of Alfred Nobel.

These include, amongst others, Arundhati Roy & Edward Snowden, Benjamin Ferencz & Bill Pace, Daniel Ellsberg, Kathy Kelly, Malalai Joya, Mayors for Peace, Nihon Hidankyo (atomic bomb survivors) and Tony de Brum and the Marshall Islands legal team.

PNND is also aware that Karipbek Kuyukov (Ambassador for the ATOM Project) and President Nazarbayev (Kazakhstan) have been nominated for their leadership for nuclear disarmament.