Learning program of the Youth Leader Fund for a World without Nuclear Weapons launched by U.N.—young people encouraged to visit Hiroshima, Nagasaki
Dec. 20, 2023
by Koji Higuchi, Staff Writer
The Youth Leader Fund for a World without Nuclear Weapons learning program has been launched. This fund was advanced by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and established last year with more than \1 billion contributed to the United Nations for encouraging young people throughout the world to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The U.N. held an online event the evening of Dec. 18 to start the learning program. Prime Minister Kishida delivered a message that “the power of young people, the bearers of our future” was needed to realize a world without nuclear weapons.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the first cohort of participants is comprised of 100 people between the ages of 18 and 29 from 63 countries, both nuclear-weapon states and non-nuclear-weapon states. They are officials of national governments or international organizations and students, and were selected by the U.N. Secretariat from more than 2,000 applicants. The U.N. will conduct the learning program until the end of fiscal 2024. The participants will visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki by next summer.
Members of the first cohort participated in the opening event. In a video message, Prime Minister Kishida said, “No matter how difficult the path to a world without nuclear weapons may be, we should not stop our steps.” He also said, “I also hope that those who visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the future will see and feel the realities of nuclear weapons use with their own eyes and hearts, and convey this to the world.”
Prime Minister Kishida announced the launch of the fund at the Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in August last year. The Japanese government has contributed about \1.08 billion to the U.N. This program is planned to continue with the second and subsequent cohorts until 2030, the 85th year of the atomic bombings.
(Originally published on December 20, 2023)
The Youth Leader Fund for a World without Nuclear Weapons learning program has been launched. This fund was advanced by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and established last year with more than \1 billion contributed to the United Nations for encouraging young people throughout the world to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The U.N. held an online event the evening of Dec. 18 to start the learning program. Prime Minister Kishida delivered a message that “the power of young people, the bearers of our future” was needed to realize a world without nuclear weapons.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the first cohort of participants is comprised of 100 people between the ages of 18 and 29 from 63 countries, both nuclear-weapon states and non-nuclear-weapon states. They are officials of national governments or international organizations and students, and were selected by the U.N. Secretariat from more than 2,000 applicants. The U.N. will conduct the learning program until the end of fiscal 2024. The participants will visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki by next summer.
Members of the first cohort participated in the opening event. In a video message, Prime Minister Kishida said, “No matter how difficult the path to a world without nuclear weapons may be, we should not stop our steps.” He also said, “I also hope that those who visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the future will see and feel the realities of nuclear weapons use with their own eyes and hearts, and convey this to the world.”
Prime Minister Kishida announced the launch of the fund at the Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in August last year. The Japanese government has contributed about \1.08 billion to the U.N. This program is planned to continue with the second and subsequent cohorts until 2030, the 85th year of the atomic bombings.
(Originally published on December 20, 2023)
