Ministry of Foreign Affairs appoints “Youth Special Communicators for a World without Nuclear Weapons”
Aug. 2, 2013
High school students to visit European Headquarters of United Nations
by Kenichiro Nozaki, Staff Writer
On July 29, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a ceremony at a hotel in Hiroshima to appoint “Youth Special Communicators for a World without Nuclear Weapons,” a program launched this fiscal year. The first high school peace ambassadors will visit the European Headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, in the second half of August and give speeches in which they appeal for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Among the 20 high school students selected as peace ambassadors, 19 attended the ceremony. Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida (elected from district one in Hiroshima) handed the students letters of appointment and offered words of encouragement. “Your efforts will give us great leverage in our pursuit of a world without nuclear weapons,” he said.
High school students can apply to be peace ambassadors though a citizens’ group based in Nagasaki Prefecture. The first 20 participants in the program are high school students from 12 prefectures. Among them are two students from Hiroshima Prefecture: Akane Matsuoka, 16, a second-year student at Hiroshima Prefectural Hiroshima Senior High School, and Chiho Kozakura, 15, a first-year student at Hiroshima University Senior High School. Ms. Kozakura is determined to convey the wishes of the A-bomb survivors and call for nuclear abolition during her visit to United Nations Headquarters.
A-bomb survivors have been serving as “Special Communicators for a World without Nuclear Weapons” in a program launched by the Foreign Ministry in 2010. “Youth Special Communicators for a World without Nuclear Weapons” is a similar program for young people. The ministry recently began accepting applications for this new program, which is intended to involve young people in the effort to convey the experiences of A-bomb survivors, who are now advancing in age.
(Originally published on July 30, 2013）
by Kenichiro Nozaki, Staff Writer
On July 29, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a ceremony at a hotel in Hiroshima to appoint “Youth Special Communicators for a World without Nuclear Weapons,” a program launched this fiscal year. The first high school peace ambassadors will visit the European Headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, in the second half of August and give speeches in which they appeal for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Among the 20 high school students selected as peace ambassadors, 19 attended the ceremony. Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida (elected from district one in Hiroshima) handed the students letters of appointment and offered words of encouragement. “Your efforts will give us great leverage in our pursuit of a world without nuclear weapons,” he said.
High school students can apply to be peace ambassadors though a citizens’ group based in Nagasaki Prefecture. The first 20 participants in the program are high school students from 12 prefectures. Among them are two students from Hiroshima Prefecture: Akane Matsuoka, 16, a second-year student at Hiroshima Prefectural Hiroshima Senior High School, and Chiho Kozakura, 15, a first-year student at Hiroshima University Senior High School. Ms. Kozakura is determined to convey the wishes of the A-bomb survivors and call for nuclear abolition during her visit to United Nations Headquarters.
A-bomb survivors have been serving as “Special Communicators for a World without Nuclear Weapons” in a program launched by the Foreign Ministry in 2010. “Youth Special Communicators for a World without Nuclear Weapons” is a similar program for young people. The ministry recently began accepting applications for this new program, which is intended to involve young people in the effort to convey the experiences of A-bomb survivors, who are now advancing in age.
(Originally published on July 30, 2013）
