Mayors for Peace starts new system with 16 leader cities to advance nuclear abolition
Apr. 23, 2015
by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer
In April, Mayors for Peace, which seeks the abolition of nuclear weapons by the year 2020, instituted a new system in which “leader cities” from around the world will spearhead regional efforts. Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui serves as president of Mayors for Peace.
Sixteen cities, including the cities of Hiroshima, and Akron in the United States and Volgograd in Russia, both nuclear superpowers, have adopted this leader city role. Mobilizing the strength of member cities, they will stress the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons and urge the international community to realize a nuclear weapons convention.
As of April 1, Mayors for Peace has a membership of 6,649 cities from 160 countries and regions. Hiroshima is the head of 1,559 municipalities in Japan; Volgograd is the leader of member cities in Russia; Malakoff is the leader city in France; and Manchester will head the United Kingdom and Ireland. The scope of Akron’s leadership role is not yet determined, while Fremantle in Australia and Santos in Brazil will supervise certain regions within their countries.
Mayors for Peace is seeking to strengthen its efforts by taking regional characteristics into account as it pursues the abolition of nuclear weapons. In August 2013, an action plan devised at the General Conference of Mayors for Peace held in Hiroshima included the idea of establishing leader cities. Weighing the efforts to date of member cities, the secretariat of Mayors for Peace, at the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, broached the possibility with each prospective leader city. Eight other cities are currently under consideration, and the number is poised to increase, to 30 cities.
In line with the action plan, this summer Mayors for Peace will begin collecting an annual membership fee of 2,000 yen per member. All member cities will be charged through a money transfer service via the Internet, but nonpayment will not be punished. The funds will be used for visits to Hiroshima and Nagasaki by reporters or diplomats from member cities and project costs to send seedlings from trees that survived the atomic bombing.
On April 29, when the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) opens, Mayors for Peace will hold its first meeting at United Nations headquarters in New York and appeal for a nuclear weapons convention. Some of the leader cities will take part. Yasuyoshi Komizo, the secretary general of Mayors for Peace and the chairperson of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, said, “I’d like to put in place our core efforts and approach the abolition of nuclear weapons with the power of civil society.”
Leader cities of Mayors for Peace
City (Country) Area(s) covered (―: not yet determined)
Hiroshima (Japan) Japan
Manchester (United Kingdom) United Kingdom, Ireland
Granollers (Spain) ―
Malakoff (France) France
Akron (United States) ―
Bangkok (Thailand) ―
Fremantle (Australia) western Australia
Semey (Kazakhstan) ―
Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Bosnia and Herzegovina Kochi (India) India,
Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka
Montreal (Canada) Canada
Wellington (New Zealand) New Zealand
Halabja (Iraq) ―
Santos (Brazil) nine cities in the vicinity
Volgograd (Russia) Russia
Fongo Tongo (Cameroon) ―
Commentary: New system seeks to strengthen efforts of Mayors for Peace by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer
Though the member cities of Mayors for Peace currently total 6,649, only a small number of these cities are active in the organization. Many are member cities in name only and have made no tangible achievements. The main objective of the new “leader city” system is to strengthen the effectiveness of the organization so that this large number of cities can produce the power to help realize the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Mayors for Peace was established in 1982, during the Cold War, as the World Conference of Mayors for Peace through Intercity Solidarity in response to a proposal from Takeshi Araki, the mayor of Hiroshima at the time. Under former mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, who actively promoted its activities overseas during his tenure of 12 years, which began in 1999, the number of member cities increased from 464 to 4,680. Today, the population of the member cities, added together, is about one billion, or roughly one-seventh of the world’s population.
Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, who became the president of Mayors for Peace in 2011, has been conscious of not only the rising membership, but has also focused on changes to the organization to strengthen its actual achievements. He dispatched Yasuyoshi Komizo, the former diplomat and the chairperson of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, to 21 cities, to persuade these cities to serve in leadership roles. Mr. Matsui was concerned about objections to the introduction of an annual fee for member cities, since no such system had existed from the beginning of the Mayors for Peace movement. But he obtained understanding for this purpose, to strengthen members’ sense of participation, by keeping the fee low.
Regarding leader cities, Manchester has begun efforts within the United Kingdom to spread the seedlings of trees which survived the atomic bombing, and Malakoff, France and Fremantle, Australia are planning to hold meetings with the member cities under their supervise on.
The international community is calling for nuclear weapons to be outlawed by focusing on their humanitarian impact. Bringing out the underlying strength of the member cities, and leading them toward the goal of nuclear abolition by 2020, is a role that only Hiroshima, the “leader city of the world,” can play.
(Originally published on April 17, 2015)
In April, Mayors for Peace, which seeks the abolition of nuclear weapons by the year 2020, instituted a new system in which “leader cities” from around the world will spearhead regional efforts. Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui serves as president of Mayors for Peace.
Sixteen cities, including the cities of Hiroshima, and Akron in the United States and Volgograd in Russia, both nuclear superpowers, have adopted this leader city role. Mobilizing the strength of member cities, they will stress the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons and urge the international community to realize a nuclear weapons convention.
As of April 1, Mayors for Peace has a membership of 6,649 cities from 160 countries and regions. Hiroshima is the head of 1,559 municipalities in Japan; Volgograd is the leader of member cities in Russia; Malakoff is the leader city in France; and Manchester will head the United Kingdom and Ireland. The scope of Akron’s leadership role is not yet determined, while Fremantle in Australia and Santos in Brazil will supervise certain regions within their countries.
Mayors for Peace is seeking to strengthen its efforts by taking regional characteristics into account as it pursues the abolition of nuclear weapons. In August 2013, an action plan devised at the General Conference of Mayors for Peace held in Hiroshima included the idea of establishing leader cities. Weighing the efforts to date of member cities, the secretariat of Mayors for Peace, at the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, broached the possibility with each prospective leader city. Eight other cities are currently under consideration, and the number is poised to increase, to 30 cities.
In line with the action plan, this summer Mayors for Peace will begin collecting an annual membership fee of 2,000 yen per member. All member cities will be charged through a money transfer service via the Internet, but nonpayment will not be punished. The funds will be used for visits to Hiroshima and Nagasaki by reporters or diplomats from member cities and project costs to send seedlings from trees that survived the atomic bombing.
On April 29, when the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) opens, Mayors for Peace will hold its first meeting at United Nations headquarters in New York and appeal for a nuclear weapons convention. Some of the leader cities will take part. Yasuyoshi Komizo, the secretary general of Mayors for Peace and the chairperson of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, said, “I’d like to put in place our core efforts and approach the abolition of nuclear weapons with the power of civil society.”
Leader cities of Mayors for Peace
City (Country) Area(s) covered (―: not yet determined)
Hiroshima (Japan) Japan
Manchester (United Kingdom) United Kingdom, Ireland
Granollers (Spain) ―
Malakoff (France) France
Akron (United States) ―
Bangkok (Thailand) ―
Fremantle (Australia) western Australia
Semey (Kazakhstan) ―
Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Bosnia and Herzegovina Kochi (India) India,
Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka
Montreal (Canada) Canada
Wellington (New Zealand) New Zealand
Halabja (Iraq) ―
Santos (Brazil) nine cities in the vicinity
Volgograd (Russia) Russia
Fongo Tongo (Cameroon) ―
Commentary: New system seeks to strengthen efforts of Mayors for Peace by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer
Though the member cities of Mayors for Peace currently total 6,649, only a small number of these cities are active in the organization. Many are member cities in name only and have made no tangible achievements. The main objective of the new “leader city” system is to strengthen the effectiveness of the organization so that this large number of cities can produce the power to help realize the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Mayors for Peace was established in 1982, during the Cold War, as the World Conference of Mayors for Peace through Intercity Solidarity in response to a proposal from Takeshi Araki, the mayor of Hiroshima at the time. Under former mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, who actively promoted its activities overseas during his tenure of 12 years, which began in 1999, the number of member cities increased from 464 to 4,680. Today, the population of the member cities, added together, is about one billion, or roughly one-seventh of the world’s population.
Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, who became the president of Mayors for Peace in 2011, has been conscious of not only the rising membership, but has also focused on changes to the organization to strengthen its actual achievements. He dispatched Yasuyoshi Komizo, the former diplomat and the chairperson of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, to 21 cities, to persuade these cities to serve in leadership roles. Mr. Matsui was concerned about objections to the introduction of an annual fee for member cities, since no such system had existed from the beginning of the Mayors for Peace movement. But he obtained understanding for this purpose, to strengthen members’ sense of participation, by keeping the fee low.
Regarding leader cities, Manchester has begun efforts within the United Kingdom to spread the seedlings of trees which survived the atomic bombing, and Malakoff, France and Fremantle, Australia are planning to hold meetings with the member cities under their supervise on.
The international community is calling for nuclear weapons to be outlawed by focusing on their humanitarian impact. Bringing out the underlying strength of the member cities, and leading them toward the goal of nuclear abolition by 2020, is a role that only Hiroshima, the “leader city of the world,” can play.
(Originally published on April 17, 2015)
