News

by Rie Nii, Staff Writer

A Youth Summit will be held as part of the 20th World Congress of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) slated for August 24-26 in Hiroshima. At the summit, which is being organized by the Japanese affiliate of the IPPNW, high school students from around the world will discuss the abolition of nuclear weapons. This is the first time the World Congress will feature a meeting for teenagers.

The summit will be held during the World Congress on August 25 at the International Conference Center Hiroshima. Participants will debate the topic: “Why Haven’t Nuclear Weapons Been Done Away With? Considering the Issue in Hiroshima.” Students from countries including India, Brazil and Sweden as well as Japan and the United States are scheduled to attend.

At a June 7 press conference at Hiroshima City Hall, Jitsuro Yanagida, president of the Organizing Committee for the World Congress, said, “Few high school students can talk knowledgeably about the effects of the atomic bombings. I would like the Youth Summit to provide an opportunity for us to exercise leadership and see that as many young people as possible take an interest in the issue.”

Several high schools students from Japan will be selected to attend through a seminar and other events to be held prior to the summit. Arthur Binard, a Hiroshima-based poet who has called for an end to Japan’s dependence on nuclear energy, will serve as an adviser for the seminar.

(Originally published on June 8, 2012)