To illustrate the value of partnership between the youth movement and the anti-nuclear movement.

I'm 26 years old. I first learned about AIDS in 1987 when I was 12. I watched researchers struggle for many years to develop a cure. It is now a cocktail of 14 different drugs. 

Nuclear threat first struck me when I was 8.  I felt paralyzed and powerless. I watched leaders and activists talk about abolition for years, before and after the Berlin wall fell. I believe nuclear abolition will require a cocktail of solutions reaching many years into the future. An investment in youth is an investment in the future and an opportunity to inspire new leadership that is dedicated to nuclear abolition, AIDS prevention, and other issues.

In September I joined 6,000 others at the UN World Peace Summit for Religious and Spiritual Leaders. The final document, crafted from the collective interest, called for nuclear abolition. Religions depend on grassroots youth action to meet the vision of their leadership.

Young people have more access and power today than ever before.  Their leadership is transparent, democratic, and progressive.  Their high energy and idealism is high impact and high-tech.  The fast paced, adaptive, effective activity of youth, today, positions them to reshape power structures and implement new solutions.

Fragmentation is the greatest challenge to the youth movement.  Too many people are operating in isolation.  The best ideas and resources already exist; they simply need to be connected and coordinated.

I work with the Global Youth ACTION Network (GYAN).  Our reach is enormous.  We facilitate collaboration between organizations, network in more than 120 countries, and can mobilize hundreds of millions of youth.  One of our current programs, for example, Global Youth Service Day - April 21st, will mobilize more than four million youth in 105 countries to lead service projects and improve their communities. 

The anti-nuclear movement and the youth movement seek critical mass and cohesion.  Collaboration and connection permit cohesion.  GYAN organizes groups to collaborate and survey youth in order to build National Youth Platforms that are presented to country leaders.  The process engages youth voice, motivates democracy, and impacts national agenda.  Partnership between movements is essential in order to achieve critical mass and impact global agenda.

Imagine a global movement of young people tackling issues with nuclear abolition as a priority. Imagine a global conference celebrating the peak. Imagine religious and spiritual leaders coming together with youth, government and business.  Imagine a dialogue supported by the global community.  This is our vision.