It’s 70 years since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Mr Robert Tickner, CEO of Australian Red Cross,hascalled for a ban on nuclear weapons once and for all.
Mr Tickner delivered a free public lecture at Griffith University’s South Bank campus entitled, Seventy years since Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Why the elimination of nuclear weapons is more important than ever before.
“In the last few years, new evidence has emerged of the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, and the high risk of an accidental or deliberate nuclear detonation,” Mr Tickner said.
“For The International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, banning nuclear weapons under international law has now become a humanitarian imperative.
“Nuclear weapons are one of the greatest existential threats that face humanity they are of deep and enduring humanitarian concern.
“The International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement brought relief to the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, and has advocated for the prohibition of nuclear weapons ever since. 70 years later, the global community is still struggling to achieve a world free from nuclear weapons.”
Mt Tickner also reflected on the significance of the June 2015 ‘humanitarian pledge’ by 107 states, to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons in light of their unacceptable humanitarian consequences. He says this humanitarian pledge’ should give us all hope for a fundamental transformation in progress towards nuclear disarmament in 2015.
Robert Tickner was appointed as Secretary General — Chief Executive Officer in February 2005.
In 2012, Robert was seconded to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva to act as Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Values and Diplomacy. Robert is focused on building a collaborative and innovative organisation to increase the impact and effectiveness of Australian Red Cross in addressing disadvantage among the most vulnerable people.