The French delegation at the United Nations, along with the UK, Russia, and the US, has been particularly difficult at this Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference. The P-4, as they’re being called, has been reluctant to allow any firm language regarding disarmament, dates, and setting an institutional international phase-out plan for nuclear weapons.

But that’s only one of the French delegations in New York this week. Like many countries, France is also represented by a civil society delegation, including 9 members of the Mouvement de lax Paix, the French peace movement. One of these members was Guillaume du Souich, who attended the Youth Messaging and Lobbying workshop and took time out of the hectic schedule of the Riverside Conference to speak with us.

He came to New York, he explained, “ to meet with members of other organizations who want to build a world of peace, a world that is nuclear weapons free, a world where we can make the dream of a world united real.” He noted that while his country was a nuclear weapons state, the people were largely in support of peace. “There is about 86% of our population who is for disarmament and who want to make peace a reality.” Of the nuclear-weapons states, this is the highest percentage of people who say they are in favor of nuclear disarmament.

“The world is in a position of social and ecological emergency because we put too much money into [the military] and that is not the way to have real security,” du Souich explained. “Now, the first budget on the planet is military and arms selling. We can change that by asking for an international tax on these types of activities and to include this in the Millennium Development Goals. [Real] security comes with rules and education and healthcare, not military.”

du Souich first became involved in the French peace movement when he was a university student. With them, he helped develop an idea and a campaign called One Euro for Peace: “We know people are for peace but it is difficult to give time and commitment to this huge idea. There is a way to make a difference. We call it One Euro for Peace, or you can do One Dollar for Peace or One Yen for Peace. It is a symbolic motion for peace. If 86% of people in France believe in peace, then that is 55 million people who give a euro. 55 million euros. 55 million emails to spread information and make actions around the country to make a concrete reality of peace. This is an alternative to the difficulties of the industry and the government to change their old ways. There is a new way to handle conflict around the world. We can do a world of justice and a world of peace. All the possibilities are now ready to make it real. We can do it.”

How did you get involved with nuclear disarmament? Do you think One Dollar for Peace could work here?

Transcription of the interview and some word changes made for fluency made by Katie Locke, Bang-USA

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