First Meeting of States Parties to Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons: NGOs’ proposal includes aid to all victims with no exceptions
Jun. 3, 2022
by Kana Kobayashi, Staff Writer
Ahead of the First Meeting of the States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), to be held in Vienna, Austria, June 21–23, leaders of Japanese nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and academicians announced a proposal at a press conference on June 2. Based on the reality of the devastation caused by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and by nuclear tests in other parts of the world, the group called on governments to provide assistance to all victims of such events, among other demands.
The proposal will be distributed at the TPNW meeting venue and elsewhere. The group indicated that the proposal had been compiled with a focus on the TPNW’s Article 6, which requires environmental remediation and assistance for victims of the use and testing of nuclear weapons, as well as its Article 7, which prescribes international cooperation with respect to the issue. The 10-point proposal calls broadly for assistance to such victims to ensure that “no one is left behind.”
The proposal also calls on the parties of the TPNW to address the principle of inclusion of the participation of victims, which would place the A-bomb survivors at the center of discussions, and to visit areas that have been affected by nuclear weapons.
The proposal was formulated by 13 people, eight of whom presented an outline of the proposal in the press conference held online on June 2. Hiroshima City Mayor Kazumi Matsui, Hiroshima Prefectural Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki, and more than 220 A-bomb survivors have expressed their approval of the proposal.
Akira Kawasaki, a member of the ICAN international steering committee and co-chair of the NGO Peace Boat, was involved in the formulation of the proposal. Mr. Kawasaki said, “The proposal also notes that nuclear damage is closely linked to discrimination based on gender, racism, colonialism, and so on. We hope that the proposal from Japan, a country with experience and knowledge of nuclear devastation, can be utilized in a concrete way.”
(Originally published on June 3, 2022)
Ahead of the First Meeting of the States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), to be held in Vienna, Austria, June 21–23, leaders of Japanese nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and academicians announced a proposal at a press conference on June 2. Based on the reality of the devastation caused by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and by nuclear tests in other parts of the world, the group called on governments to provide assistance to all victims of such events, among other demands.
The proposal will be distributed at the TPNW meeting venue and elsewhere. The group indicated that the proposal had been compiled with a focus on the TPNW’s Article 6, which requires environmental remediation and assistance for victims of the use and testing of nuclear weapons, as well as its Article 7, which prescribes international cooperation with respect to the issue. The 10-point proposal calls broadly for assistance to such victims to ensure that “no one is left behind.”
The proposal also calls on the parties of the TPNW to address the principle of inclusion of the participation of victims, which would place the A-bomb survivors at the center of discussions, and to visit areas that have been affected by nuclear weapons.
The proposal was formulated by 13 people, eight of whom presented an outline of the proposal in the press conference held online on June 2. Hiroshima City Mayor Kazumi Matsui, Hiroshima Prefectural Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki, and more than 220 A-bomb survivors have expressed their approval of the proposal.
Akira Kawasaki, a member of the ICAN international steering committee and co-chair of the NGO Peace Boat, was involved in the formulation of the proposal. Mr. Kawasaki said, “The proposal also notes that nuclear damage is closely linked to discrimination based on gender, racism, colonialism, and so on. We hope that the proposal from Japan, a country with experience and knowledge of nuclear devastation, can be utilized in a concrete way.”
(Originally published on June 3, 2022)
