PN Member Uta Zapf to Receive Senator Alan Cranston Award

Uta Zapf, PN Member and PNND Co-President, to receive the prestigious Senator Alan Cranston Award. Extract from the Basel Peace Office website.

Jonathan Granoff, President of the Global Security Institute, announced the 2014 recipients of the prestiguous Senator Alan Cranston Award at a high-level, cross-party reception at the historic Kennedy Caucus Room of the U.S. Senate on February 27. The reception, held on the eve of Nuclear Remembrance Day, was organised as part of the annual assembly of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND). The award will be formally presented to the recipients at a special event in June.

The Award was established by the Global Security Institute in memory of Senator Alan Cranston, a long-time peace, disarmament and civil rights advocate who is remembered for, among other things, fighting a law suit against Hitler in 1939, serving as President of the World Federalist Association, serving in the senate for 24 years – including 14 years as the Democratic Party Whip, and setting a world record for the senior 100-yard dash at 55 years old. […]

In announcing the 2014 Award Mr Granoff noted that Uta Zapf and Senator Markey were shining examples of the value of good leadership in key legislatures - Zapf in Germany and Markey in the United States.

"As Chair of the Bundestag Subcommittee on Disarmament and Arms Control from 1998 until her retirement in 2013, under both Conservative and Social Democrat governments, Uta Zapf facilitated active cross-party debate in the German parliament on core security issues, helping to shape and shift German policy towards disarmament and multi-lateralism," said Mr Granoff.  "She has also advanced nuclear disarmament initiatives in regional bodies, with leadership positions in the Parliamentary Assemblies of NATO and the OSCE, as well as participating in international forums such as the United Nations General Assembly and Non-Proliferation Treaty meetings."

Despite retiring from parliament at the 2013 German elections, Zapf continues to be active in the issue taking on the new position of PNND Adviser on Inter-parliamentary organisations. Later this month she will be the keynote speaker at a PNND panel held at the 130th Assembly of the Inter Parliamentary Union. Nearly 800 parliamentarians from the 160 member parliaments will attend the Assembly in Geneva March 16-20, where they will be considering a draft resolution submitted by PNND members on Toward a Nuclear Weapon Free World: The Contribution of Parliaments.

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To read the entire article on the Basel Peace Office website, please click here.

Photo by Basel Peace Office website.