Mayors for Peace membership increases sharply after Ukraine invasion as more cities approve of group’s aims — 70 new cities join on April 1
Apr. 2, 2022
by Kana Kobayashi, Staff Writer
Membership in the Mayors for Peace organization, for which Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui serves as president, has increased sharply against the backdrop of the tense situation in Ukraine. Mayors for Peace is an organization of about 8,000 member cities around the world that work in solidarity to achieve such goals as the elimination of nuclear weapons. Hannover, Germany, one of the organization’s vice president cities, raised the Mayors for Peace flag at its government buildings in an expression of its wish for peace in Ukraine and communicated that message through social media. Since then, the circle of solidarity has expanded greatly, with 70 new, like-minded cities and regions joining the organization on April 1.
Of the 70 new member cities, 58, or more than 80 percent, are located in Germany. The new membership includes Germany’s northwestern district of Recklinghausen and the city of Heiden, which is located in Recklinghausen. According to the operations division of Mayors for Peace in the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, which is based in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward, Hannover City began displaying the Mayors for Peace flag at its city hall buildings in late February, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began. The city began calling on other member cities in the country to do the same, resulting in about 30 cities following suit. The images of the flag raised in those cities went viral on social media and elsewhere, resulting in the rise in applications from non-member cities.
Since the organization’s establishment in 1982, the largest number of new members in a one-year period was more than 1,000 cities. By 2021, however, the number of new members had decreased to 88 cities as local governments faced pressure to carry out measures to counter the coronavirus pandemic. Mayors for Peace calculates the number of new members to the organization on the first day of each month. In January, five cities had joined, with one city joining at the beginning of each of February and March. The increase of 70 cities in one month as of April 1 stands out as an exceptional number over the past several years.
Besides German cities, the 70 new members include eight cities in the Netherlands, and one each in Argentina, Colombia, Spain, and Switzerland. The total number of member cities has risen to 8,134 in 166 countries and regions.
In its action plan announced last summer, Mayors for Peace established the membership of 10,000 cities as an organization goal. The Hiroshima City division commented about how encouraging it was that more and more cities share the desire for peace and the elimination of nuclear weapons. “It is cities, after all, that are attacked in war. The circle of solidarity should be further expanded to protect the safety and security of citizens.”
Mayors for Peace
Mayors for Peace is an organization linking cities together to achieve the goals of eliminating nuclear weapons and promoting lasting peace. Hiroshima’s mayor acts as president of the organization, and the mayors of 14 cities from around the world, including Nagasaki, serve as vice presidents. Mayors for Peace was founded as the “World Conference of Mayors for Peace through Inter-city Solidarity” in response to a joint proposal at the U.N. Special Session of Disarmament in 1982 from the then Hiroshima Mayor Takeshi Araki and the Nagasaki City mayor. The organization changed its name to “Mayors for Peace” in 2001. In 2013, the Japanese name of the organization was changed to expand the idea of ‘mayors’ to also include the ‘heads of local governments.’
(Originally published on April 2, 2022)
Membership in the Mayors for Peace organization, for which Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui serves as president, has increased sharply against the backdrop of the tense situation in Ukraine. Mayors for Peace is an organization of about 8,000 member cities around the world that work in solidarity to achieve such goals as the elimination of nuclear weapons. Hannover, Germany, one of the organization’s vice president cities, raised the Mayors for Peace flag at its government buildings in an expression of its wish for peace in Ukraine and communicated that message through social media. Since then, the circle of solidarity has expanded greatly, with 70 new, like-minded cities and regions joining the organization on April 1.
Of the 70 new member cities, 58, or more than 80 percent, are located in Germany. The new membership includes Germany’s northwestern district of Recklinghausen and the city of Heiden, which is located in Recklinghausen. According to the operations division of Mayors for Peace in the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, which is based in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward, Hannover City began displaying the Mayors for Peace flag at its city hall buildings in late February, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began. The city began calling on other member cities in the country to do the same, resulting in about 30 cities following suit. The images of the flag raised in those cities went viral on social media and elsewhere, resulting in the rise in applications from non-member cities.
Since the organization’s establishment in 1982, the largest number of new members in a one-year period was more than 1,000 cities. By 2021, however, the number of new members had decreased to 88 cities as local governments faced pressure to carry out measures to counter the coronavirus pandemic. Mayors for Peace calculates the number of new members to the organization on the first day of each month. In January, five cities had joined, with one city joining at the beginning of each of February and March. The increase of 70 cities in one month as of April 1 stands out as an exceptional number over the past several years.
Besides German cities, the 70 new members include eight cities in the Netherlands, and one each in Argentina, Colombia, Spain, and Switzerland. The total number of member cities has risen to 8,134 in 166 countries and regions.
In its action plan announced last summer, Mayors for Peace established the membership of 10,000 cities as an organization goal. The Hiroshima City division commented about how encouraging it was that more and more cities share the desire for peace and the elimination of nuclear weapons. “It is cities, after all, that are attacked in war. The circle of solidarity should be further expanded to protect the safety and security of citizens.”
Keywords
Mayors for Peace
Mayors for Peace is an organization linking cities together to achieve the goals of eliminating nuclear weapons and promoting lasting peace. Hiroshima’s mayor acts as president of the organization, and the mayors of 14 cities from around the world, including Nagasaki, serve as vice presidents. Mayors for Peace was founded as the “World Conference of Mayors for Peace through Inter-city Solidarity” in response to a joint proposal at the U.N. Special Session of Disarmament in 1982 from the then Hiroshima Mayor Takeshi Araki and the Nagasaki City mayor. The organization changed its name to “Mayors for Peace” in 2001. In 2013, the Japanese name of the organization was changed to expand the idea of ‘mayors’ to also include the ‘heads of local governments.’
(Originally published on April 2, 2022)
