Peaceworks KC holds rally to celebrate U.N. nuclear weapons ban
January 26, 2021
Flags for each country that ratified the Nuclear Weapons Ban fly at the Peaceworks rally.// Courtesy of Jim Hannah
51 countries including Austria, Thailand, New Zealand, and Ireland have recently signed and ratified a U.N. treaty outlawing nuclear weapons. The weapons ban is largely symbolic at this point, as none of the nuclear weapons holding powers signed the treaty, but now international law. Supporters of the ban are hoping that pressure from those 86 countries that signed the treaty and 51 that ratified it will lead to more countries joining. This added pressure, advocates contend, will pressure those countries the U.S., North Korea, the U.K., Russia, France, China, India, Pakistan, and Israel to disarm and eventually ban their weapons as well.