Membership of Mayors for Peace tops 2,500 cities
Dec. 4, 2008
by Hiromi Morita, Staff Member
On December 1, the number of member cities of Mayors for Peace, with Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba serving as president, surpassed 2,500, their membership target for 2008. The Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, which serves as the secretariat, called it “a faster pace than expected.”
Membership exceeded 2,000 cities in January and continued to increase steadily, reaching 2,536 cities from 133 countries and regions as of December 1. A new office was established in Belgium in November 2007 to promote the campaign of Mayors for Peace seeking the abolition of nuclear weapons. Also, since February, Japanese cities besides Hiroshima and Nagasaki, both of which are original members, have been asked to join the organization. These are some of the reasons for the spike in membership.
Another reason for the increase is that the mayors of new executive cities of the organization, such as Granollers in Spain and Halabja in Iraq, are actively encouraging other cities in their countries to become members of Mayors for Peace.
(Originally published on December 2, 2008)
Related articles
Mayors for Peace to send letter to President-elect Obama (Nov. 20, 2008)
U.N. General Assembly President expresses support for Mayors for Peace (Nov. 7, 2008)
On December 1, the number of member cities of Mayors for Peace, with Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba serving as president, surpassed 2,500, their membership target for 2008. The Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, which serves as the secretariat, called it “a faster pace than expected.”
Membership exceeded 2,000 cities in January and continued to increase steadily, reaching 2,536 cities from 133 countries and regions as of December 1. A new office was established in Belgium in November 2007 to promote the campaign of Mayors for Peace seeking the abolition of nuclear weapons. Also, since February, Japanese cities besides Hiroshima and Nagasaki, both of which are original members, have been asked to join the organization. These are some of the reasons for the spike in membership.
Another reason for the increase is that the mayors of new executive cities of the organization, such as Granollers in Spain and Halabja in Iraq, are actively encouraging other cities in their countries to become members of Mayors for Peace.
(Originally published on December 2, 2008)
Related articles
Mayors for Peace to send letter to President-elect Obama (Nov. 20, 2008)
U.N. General Assembly President expresses support for Mayors for Peace (Nov. 7, 2008)
