Приветствие президента Пагуошского движения учёных Дж. Дханапалы

Message from Jayantha Dhanapala, President, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs On the 60th Anniversary of the International Federation of Peace and Conciliation in the Russian Federation

It gives me great pleasure to send this message on the 60lb anniversary of the International Federation of Peace and Conciliation (IFPC). the successor body to the Soviet Peace Committee.

In the last 60 years, the IFPC has been active in the area of nuclear disarmament and in the settlement of regional conflicts. The IFPC's work during the Cold War period in preventing the break out of a possible nuclear war is particularly noteworthy. It played a key role in obtaining the support of approximately 115 million people in the Soviet Union to join the first Stockholm appeal for the ban on atomic weapons.

In the history of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, the support of Soviet scientists and academicians for the abolition of nuclear weapons has been significant since the first Pugwash Conference held in Nova Scotia in 1957. Soviet scientists and academicians, D.V. Skobel'tsyn, A.V. Topchiev, Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences and A.M. Kuzin. participated in this 1957 conference despite severe restrictions imposed by the Soviet Union. Their participation in this conference laid the bedrock for the establishment of friendly relations between scientists of Russia and other international scientists which exist to this day.

Since the first Pugwash Conference, the contribution of Russian scientists and academicians such as Nobel prize winning P.L Kaphsa and others have strengthened the Pugwash movement's work towards nuclear disarmament.

The Russell-Einstein Manifesto which was the basis for the first Pugwash Conference called upon all human beings to "'Remember your humanity, and forget the rest. If you can do so, the way lies open to a new Paradise; if you cannot, there lies before you the risk of universal death." The message in the Russell Einstein Manifesto remains valid nearly 55 years since.

The statement of the Pugwash Council at the 58lh Pugwash Conference held in Hague, Netherlands in April this year, concluded that: "'Genuine human security is achieved not just through the absence of conflict, but through equitable access to natural resources such as food, water, healthcare, education, and economic opportunity. For too many of the world's peoples, these basic necessities have been sorely lacking for far too long. An active role for civil society and the rule of law are essential to the promotion of human dignity and the expansion of fundamental civil and human rights.

As discussed at the 58 Pugwash Conference, the application of new technologies for human welfare, the sustainable use of resources, and greater scientific and international cooperation do offer hope for a more just and equitable world.

The Pugwash Council reaffirms its commitment to a nuclear weapon-free world and particularly recognizes the importance of engaging the younger generations on these issues. Such weapons have no role in a just and humane world and Pugwash calls for their total elimination."

The Pugwash Conferences welcomes the new international climate that is being generated and believes that the there is now space to address many issues affecting the global community. On l5t April, President Obama of the US and President Medvedev of Russia, pledged to work for the goal of a nuclear weapon-free world and enumerated a wide range of steps that would facilitate the elimination of nuclear weapons. The time has come to seize this opportunity and I believe that, together with Pugwash, the International Federation of Peace and Conciliation will play an active role towards this end.

I wish the International Federation of Peace and Conciliation many more decades of successful service to the causes of nuclear disarmament and peace for the benefit of all humankind.

Jayantha Dhanapala, President