Ploughshares Fund Awards $565,000 in Grants to Counter Rising Nuclear Threat

WASHINGTON, June 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ploughshares Fund, the largest foundation singularly focused on the reduction of nuclear weapons, has awarded $565,000 in emergency grants in response to the war in Ukraine and the renewed nuclear threat from Russia.

Approved in a special meeting of the Ploughshares Fund Board of Directors in May, the grants will support regional nuclear experts who have been directly impacted by Russia's actions and will inform the global public on how to take action to lower nuclear risks.

The grants were awarded to four organizations to provide immediate funding for research and analysis in Eastern Europe, as well as longer-term educational and advocacy work that promotes disarmament as a solution to rising threats:

• The Vienna Center for Nonproliferation and Disarmament/The President and Fellows of Middlebury College will provide up to six fellowships for nuclear experts and practitioners who have had their careers disrupted because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Fellows will be hosted by institutions in Europe to pursue research in nuclear arms control, nonproliferation, and related topics.
• The Odessa Center for Nonproliferation will convene an expert workshop to examine the implications of the invasion for nuclear arms control and nonproliferation.
• Games for Change will organize educational uses of On the Morning You Wake, a VR film about the 2018 false missile alert in Hawaii, at several events surrounding the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons' (TPNW) first Meeting of States Parties in June 2022.
• The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), in addition to its work promoting and advocating for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), will increase its activities in Eastern Europe and deepen its partnerships with local civil society organizations in the region. It will increase awareness of nuclear threats in the wake of the invasion by positioning disarmament as a way to prevent Russian aggression and conducting research, media outreach, and educational efforts on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons.

"People are waking up to the frightening new reality that the risk of nuclear war is growing, and the use of nuclear weapons is highly vulnerable to human emotion, miscalculation, and error," said Dr. Emma Belcher, President of Ploughshares Fund. "The magnitude of this crisis – and with it, the opportunity for change – cannot be ignored: humanity is at an inflection point in the history of arms control and nonproliferation. This moment demands renewed engagement on the nuclear issue. How we respond today will have repercussions for decades to come."

Ploughshares Fund will make additional grants to help reduce the nuclear threat later this year.

CONTACT:

Lauren Billet
Communications & Marketing Manager
Ploughshares Fund
LBillet@Plougshares.org 
(202) 783-4401

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SOURCE Ploughshares Fund