Hiroshima mayor to speak at NPT conference, appeal for nuclear weapons convention
Apr. 28, 2015
by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer
On April 20, the City of Hiroshima announced that Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui will deliver a speech at the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), which opens on April 27 at United Nations headquarters in New York. In his speech, Mr. Matsui will urge world leaders to start negotiations for a nuclear weapons convention in a timely fashion.
Mr. Matsui will travel to the United States for nine days, from April 25 to May 3. At the session for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on May 1, one of the official events of the NPT review conference, the mayor will speak about the inhumanity of the atomic bombings as the president of Mayors for Peace. He will then ask the leaders of all participating nations to exercise leadership for the abolition of nuclear weapons. At a press conference on April 20, Mr. Matsui said, “Many countries now have a better understanding of the inhumanity of nuclear weapons. I believe the time has come to begin negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention.”
Also, to help encourage discussion on “a world free of nuclear weapons,” Mayors for Peace will hold a series of events in New York during this period. On April 27, the “Hiroshima and Nagasaki Appeal Rally” will take place for the first time, which will include the testimony of an A-bomb survivor. At the rally, signatures calling for a nuclear weapons convention will be delivered to officials at the United Nations, and the appeal will be adopted.
Mayors for Peace will hold a gathering of member cities on April 29 and a Youth Forum on April 30. At the Youth Forum, high school students and university students from Hiroshima and Nagasaki will make presentations on their peace activities. A poster exhibition will also be held to convey the horrific conditions of the atomic bombings. Mr. Matsui will attend these events. In addition, Mr. Matsui and Tomihisa Taue, the mayor of Nagasaki, will meet with Cynthia Kelly, the president of the Atomic Heritage Foundation (AHF). AHF is an organization which seeks to preserve the facilities involved in the Manhattan Project, the U.S. effort to develop the atomic bombs.
(Originally published on April 21, 2015)
On April 20, the City of Hiroshima announced that Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui will deliver a speech at the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), which opens on April 27 at United Nations headquarters in New York. In his speech, Mr. Matsui will urge world leaders to start negotiations for a nuclear weapons convention in a timely fashion.
Mr. Matsui will travel to the United States for nine days, from April 25 to May 3. At the session for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on May 1, one of the official events of the NPT review conference, the mayor will speak about the inhumanity of the atomic bombings as the president of Mayors for Peace. He will then ask the leaders of all participating nations to exercise leadership for the abolition of nuclear weapons. At a press conference on April 20, Mr. Matsui said, “Many countries now have a better understanding of the inhumanity of nuclear weapons. I believe the time has come to begin negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention.”
Also, to help encourage discussion on “a world free of nuclear weapons,” Mayors for Peace will hold a series of events in New York during this period. On April 27, the “Hiroshima and Nagasaki Appeal Rally” will take place for the first time, which will include the testimony of an A-bomb survivor. At the rally, signatures calling for a nuclear weapons convention will be delivered to officials at the United Nations, and the appeal will be adopted.
Mayors for Peace will hold a gathering of member cities on April 29 and a Youth Forum on April 30. At the Youth Forum, high school students and university students from Hiroshima and Nagasaki will make presentations on their peace activities. A poster exhibition will also be held to convey the horrific conditions of the atomic bombings. Mr. Matsui will attend these events. In addition, Mr. Matsui and Tomihisa Taue, the mayor of Nagasaki, will meet with Cynthia Kelly, the president of the Atomic Heritage Foundation (AHF). AHF is an organization which seeks to preserve the facilities involved in the Manhattan Project, the U.S. effort to develop the atomic bombs.
(Originally published on April 21, 2015)
