Mayors for Peace discusses establishing regional chapters and sharing operating expenses
May 10, 2012
by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer (dispatched from Vienna, Austria)
Mayors for Peace, for which Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui serves as president, held an executive meeting on May 5 in Vienna, Austria to discuss the idea of members of the organization contributing financial support to help cover the body’s operating expenses, an issue that has remained unresolved. The idea involves grouping the over 5,200 member cities into regional chapters and asking them to contribute a fixed amount. At the meeting, it was agreed that a concrete plan will be discussed at working-level talks scheduled for July.
At the executive conference of Mayors for Peace held in Spain last November, Mr. Matsui first proposed that member cities contribute to the organization’s operating expenses.
About 20 people attended the meeting in Vienna including Mr. Matsui; Tomihisa Taue, the mayor of Nagasaki and the vice president of the organization; and representatives of executive cities. An agreement was reached for member cities to be grouped into regional chapters based on area, such as continent, and that the method of collection will be left to each chapter’s discretion. Further discussion will be held on specific monetary amounts, and a proposal on this aspect of the plan will be made at a general conference to be held in Hiroshima in 2013.
Mr. Matsui also proposed supporting the Green Legacy Hiroshima initiative, an effort promoted by the Hiroshima Office of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and Hiroshima citizens, and sending seeds and seedlings of A-bombed trees to different parts of the world. His appeal to spread hopes for peace in this way was met with approval.
The executive meeting of Mayors for Peace was held on the sidelines of the First Preparatory Committee for the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference.
(Originally published on May 6, 2012)
Mayors for Peace, for which Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui serves as president, held an executive meeting on May 5 in Vienna, Austria to discuss the idea of members of the organization contributing financial support to help cover the body’s operating expenses, an issue that has remained unresolved. The idea involves grouping the over 5,200 member cities into regional chapters and asking them to contribute a fixed amount. At the meeting, it was agreed that a concrete plan will be discussed at working-level talks scheduled for July.
At the executive conference of Mayors for Peace held in Spain last November, Mr. Matsui first proposed that member cities contribute to the organization’s operating expenses.
About 20 people attended the meeting in Vienna including Mr. Matsui; Tomihisa Taue, the mayor of Nagasaki and the vice president of the organization; and representatives of executive cities. An agreement was reached for member cities to be grouped into regional chapters based on area, such as continent, and that the method of collection will be left to each chapter’s discretion. Further discussion will be held on specific monetary amounts, and a proposal on this aspect of the plan will be made at a general conference to be held in Hiroshima in 2013.
Mr. Matsui also proposed supporting the Green Legacy Hiroshima initiative, an effort promoted by the Hiroshima Office of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and Hiroshima citizens, and sending seeds and seedlings of A-bombed trees to different parts of the world. His appeal to spread hopes for peace in this way was met with approval.
The executive meeting of Mayors for Peace was held on the sidelines of the First Preparatory Committee for the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference.
(Originally published on May 6, 2012)
