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ICAN Academy starts in Hiroshima: 29 young people from 20 countries learn about reality of A-bombing

by Yumie Kubo, Staff Writer

On November 9, Hiroshima Prefecture and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a non-governmental organization (NGO), began “ICAN Academy,” a course to learn about the reality of the atomic-bombing and to think about what security should be like in the city’s Naka Ward. Twenty-nine young people from 20 countries are taking part in the four-day course, which will last until November 12. It will also include talks with A-bomb survivors and a tour of the Peace Memorial Museum.

Twenty-four people from 15 nuclear weapons states, including the United States, China, and France, are participating in person, while five people from five countries, including Russia and the United Kingdom, are participating online. At the opening event, Akira Kawasaki, a member of the ICAN international steering committee, called on participants to converse widely with people from Hiroshima, as well as the other participants, and to think about what they could do for a sustainable future.

Since 2019, the prefecture and ICAN have held the annual course for young people around the world to deepen discussions on the abolition of nuclear weapons. Patrick Muhirwa, 22, a university student from Rwanda in central Africa, said it was the first time he had come to Hiroshima and met with A-bomb survivors and that he wanted to understand what had happened in the city.

(Originally published on November 10, 2022)

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