Fourth annual #CranesForOurFuture Campaign takes flight with
entertainers, prominent organizations, and public figures sharing
paper cranes on social media.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 9, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- People around the world–from artists and
cultural icons to Nobel laureates, members of Congress, and global
leaders and organizations–are marking 79 years since the
Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings by taking part in
#CranesforOurFuture, the largest digital demonstration of support
for a world without nuclear weapons.
To participate in the campaign between
August 6 and 9, the dates of the 1945 atomic bombings of
Japan, people fold and share paper
cranes on social media with a message about why moving closer to a
world without nuclear weapons is important to them. Now in its
fourth year, #CranesForOurFuture reaches and inspires millions.
Below is a partial list of notable participants as of Friday
morning, August 9. The complete,
updated list is available here.
- Artists and cultural icons like Yoko Ono, George
Takei, Ted
Turner, the Indigo Girls, and Graham Nash.
- Global security leaders, including Director-General
of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Mariano Grossi, former Vice
President of Egypt Mohamed
ElBaradei, former NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller, U.N. General Assembly
President Dennis Francis, U.N.
Under-Secretary General Izumi
Nakamitsu, and former Vice-President of the European
Commission Federica Mogherini.
- Current and former U.S. officials, including U.S.
Representatives John Garamendi,
Robin Kelly, Jim McGovern, Eleanor
Holmes Norton and Dina
Titus, former U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor
Ben Rhodes, U.S.
Ambassador Laura Holgate,
former U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest J.
Moniz, former U.S. Senator Sam
Nunn, former Governor of California Jerry
Brown, and the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.
- Cranes Collection creators and fashion
designers Isla
Read, Gigi
Murakami, Dauphinette, Claire Griffith, Zero Waste Daniel,
Jordy Arthur, Christopher Jay Heller, and Laurén
Bienvenue.
- Scores of organizations and institutions, including
the U.N. Office of Disarmament Affairs, Nobel Peace-prize-winning
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Bulletin
of the Atomic Scientists, Union of Concerned Scientists, Physicians
for Social Responsibility, Arms Control
Association, United Nations Foundation, Center for
Nonproliferation Studies, Korematsu Institute, International
Crane Foundation, and the Friends Committee on National
Legislation.
This year, as part of #CranesForOurFuture, a diverse group of
cutting-edge fashion designers and artists created custom designs
inspired by the origami crane—renewing its cultural resonance as a
symbol of hope and peace. The Cranes
Collection represents humanity's capacity to craft something
beautiful and give people an opportunity to live and wear their
values.
In an article in Sourcing Journal about the
campaign's fashion initiative, designer Olivia Cheng, whose Dauphinette-brand designs
have graced runways during New
York's famed Fashion Week, talked about creating a dress
made with paper cranes. "The mission behind #CranesForOurFuture is
something that really resonated with me on a personal level," she
said.
#CranesForOurFuture was established by the Hiroshima Prefecture, Nagasaki Prefecture, the Nuclear Threat
Initiative (NTI), and Hiroshima Organization for Global Peace. The
effort is joined by a broad coalition of institutions and public
figures committed to a safer future for all, with support and
participation growing each year. Hidehiko Yuzaki, the Governor of
Hiroshima Prefecture and President
of Hiroshima Organization for Global Peace (HOPe) shared a call for
peace and a world without nuclear weapons in a recent op-ed in
the Seattle Times.
In 2023, #CranesForOurFuture reached millions online and off.
This year, a new nuclear arms race is underway, wars are raging in
two regions with nuclear weapons, and technology is adding risks to
an already-fragile system that's based on the threat of mass
destruction. That leaves the world just one mistake,
miscalculation, or blunder away from a disaster.
In addition to online activism, local organizations are also
holding more than 45 in-person events around the country
calling for a world free from the threat of nuclear weapons.
"As we mark the anniversaries of the atomic bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world faces the biggest risk of
nuclear conflict since the Cold War," said former U.S.
Secretary of Energy Ernest J. Moniz,
who is co-chair and CEO of NTI. "It doesn't need to be this way. A
single girl inspired a global movement with her story and the
symbol of the paper crane. And when the last nuclear arms race was
spinning out of control, people joined forces to call for a safer
world, leading to the elimination of 80 percent of global nuclear
arsenals. We can finish the job."
The paper crane is a universal symbol of peace which first
gained global attention thanks to a young girl named Sadako
Sasaki. Sadako was just two years old when she survived the atomic
bombing of Hiroshima, only to
succumb to the long-term effects of radiation poisoning a decade
later. Guided by a tradition dating back centuries in Japan, Sadako folded 1,000 paper cranes in the
hope that her wish to live would be granted. While Sadako did not
survive, her legacy of paper cranes did, inspiring her classmates,
and then the world, with a message of peace, hope, and resilience.
Sadako's story serves as a reminder that every action, no matter
how small, can contribute to creating a safer world for all.
More information about #CranesforOurFuture, including campaign
highlights can be found at CranesforOurFuture.org.
The Nuclear Threat Initiative is a nonprofit, nonpartisan
global security organization focused on reducing nuclear,
biological, and emerging technology threats imperiling
humanity.
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SOURCE Nuclear Threat Initiative