Mayors for Peace to make joint appeal on final day of NPT Preparatory Committee
May 11, 2019
by Kanako Noda, Staff Writer
On May 10, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui held a press conference after returning from the United States and said that Mayors for Peace, the organization for which he serves as president, will release a joint appeal in New York. He visited there to take part in the third session of the Preparatory Committee for next year’s Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. With hopes for the success of the Review Conference in 2020, the written appeal will be issued on the final day of the committee session and also sent to all member states of the United Nations.
Mr. Matsui said, “The international benefits embodied by the NPT are in the interest of all nations and all people. So we would like to request that all the delegates from the nations participating in the NPT come up with creative solutions so that concrete measures for nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation can move forward with certainty.”
As for the debate among the participating nations that took place at the Preparatory Committee, Mr. Matsui said that it was far more confrontational than he had expected, and that the road ahead to advance nuclear disarmament initiatives will be challenging. He then stressed the importance of civil society around the world standing in solidarity, saying that the public has a large role to play in promoting a wave of support for the abolition of nuclear arms and persuading policy makers to change their policies.
Mr. Matsui’s trip to the United States began on April 28 and lasted eight days. During his stay there, he conveyed the wish of the A-bomb survivors for nuclear abolition to the participants of the Preparatory Committee. He also spoke about the inhumane nature of the atomic bomb to high school students at the United Nations International School.
(Originally published on May 11, 2019)
On May 10, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui held a press conference after returning from the United States and said that Mayors for Peace, the organization for which he serves as president, will release a joint appeal in New York. He visited there to take part in the third session of the Preparatory Committee for next year’s Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. With hopes for the success of the Review Conference in 2020, the written appeal will be issued on the final day of the committee session and also sent to all member states of the United Nations.
Mr. Matsui said, “The international benefits embodied by the NPT are in the interest of all nations and all people. So we would like to request that all the delegates from the nations participating in the NPT come up with creative solutions so that concrete measures for nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation can move forward with certainty.”
As for the debate among the participating nations that took place at the Preparatory Committee, Mr. Matsui said that it was far more confrontational than he had expected, and that the road ahead to advance nuclear disarmament initiatives will be challenging. He then stressed the importance of civil society around the world standing in solidarity, saying that the public has a large role to play in promoting a wave of support for the abolition of nuclear arms and persuading policy makers to change their policies.
Mr. Matsui’s trip to the United States began on April 28 and lasted eight days. During his stay there, he conveyed the wish of the A-bomb survivors for nuclear abolition to the participants of the Preparatory Committee. He also spoke about the inhumane nature of the atomic bomb to high school students at the United Nations International School.
(Originally published on May 11, 2019)
