Day #7: A Safer Future

At Ploughshares Fund, we are determined to focus not only on the immediate issues of today but also on a longer-term goal: making sure we leave the best possible future for coming generations. The spread of nuclear weapons around the world poses an existential threat to life as we know it. If even one were to be used, it would have devastating consequences. By accident, malice or miscalculation, the use of nuclear weapons poses a constant threat to the future of our children and grandchildren. It’s a burden that we shouldn’t pass on.

To help us reduce and ultimately eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons, we formed the Women’s Security Network, a group of 12 inspirational mothers, grandmothers, and daughters who fund grants specifically designed to educate and train other women to take the lead in the nuclear security field and peace-building projects, nationally and globally.

These women also represent Ploughshares Fund’s annual Mother’s Day for Peace campaign, which evokes the original meaning of Mother’s Day created by activist Julie Ward Howe to spread a declaration of peace and disarmament. After the American Civil War Howe spoke out for all mothers who lost children during war in calling for an end to violence, a message that continues to bear relevance all over the world today. And where better to start than with nuclear weapons, the most dangerous and potentially devastating devices on the planet?

Each member of the Women’s Security Network has their own reasons for supporting the elimination of nuclear weapons. But for all of them, it’s something they want to see happen for their families and loved ones. As WSN member Jill Troy Werner puts it, “As the mother of three and the grandmother of four, I can’t think of a more important and lasting legacy than a world of peace”. Neither can we.
 

photo by Matito on Flickr