Beatrice Fihn
Beatrice Fihn is the Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
Ms. Fihn has over a decade of experience in disarmament diplomacy and civil society mobilization, through her work with ICAN, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. She has delivered keynote lectures and written extensively on weapons law, humanitarian law, civil society engagement in diplomacy and multilateral institutions, as well as the gender perspective on disarmament work. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Financial Times, The Atlantic, Le Monde and many others.
A coveted expert and campaigner on nuclear disarmament, international law, and activism around the world, Beatrice Fihn highlights the urgency for people and governments alike to focus on the humanitarian and catastrophic consequences of the use of nuclear weapons and the imminent threat of nuclear war, exacerbated by heightened tensions and rhetoric between the United States and North Korea.
Ms. Fihn calls on rationality over fear, convincingly making the case for the need of a complete ban on nuclear weapons. She has delivered critical presentations at high-level meetings of the United Nations, in parliaments around the world, at universities such as Harvard and Notre Dame, and at major global conferences such as World Economic Forum, Munich Security Conference, and at the Royal Institute of International Affairs’ Chatham House.
Ms. Fihn inspires others to follow the example set forth by her and her colleagues. They strive to bring “democracy to disarmament,” and she carries the message that every person has both a right and a responsibility to use their unique skills and passion to create change.
Beatrice Fihn holds a Masters in Law from the University of London and a Bachelors degree in International Relations from Stockholm University. She has been recently listed as one of the 50 innovators who changed the global landscape in 2017 by Bloomberg Media. Ms. Fihn is also Executive Producer of the film “The Day the World Changed”, the first-ever interactive virtual reality memorial experience to pay tribute to those affected directly by nuclear warfare spanning back to 1945. In April 2018, Beatrice Fihn was presented with the Special Lifetime Achievement Award at the ninth annual Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards. In December 2018, Ms. Fihn received the Honorary Citizen of the Year Award, granted by the city of Gothenburg, Sweden, Beatrice’s hometown.
Beatrice Fihn
Nuclear Security
Diplomacy and Geopolitics