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Mayors for Peace conference adopts action plan to advance nuclear abolition

by Kohei Okata, Staff Writer

On August 4, the General Conference of Mayors for Peace, now in session at the International Conference Center Hiroshima, adopted a new action plan for the next four years to advance the abolition of nuclear weapons by the year 2020. The action plan consists of 30 items, including pressing the governments of the world to conclude a nuclear weapons convention as early as possible and building a global network of pacifist organizations.

The first priority in the action plan is to urge national leaders to conclude a nuclear weapons convention. Prior to the 2015 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, the members of Mayors for Peace will seek out opportunities to contact high-level government officials.

In addition, cooperation will be strengthened not only with peace advocacy organizations but also with individuals and groups engaged in nuclear abolition efforts in such fields as sports, culture, and art. Journalists and students of member cities will be invited to Hiroshima and Nagasaki so they can disseminate information on the atomic bombings after returning home.

The conference also adopted a new “leader cities” system, under which leader cities will head up regional networks and activities. This measure is designed to strengthen the administration of Mayors for Peace, whose membership currently totals 5,712 cities in 157 countries and regions. Also adopted was the introduction of an annual membership fee of 2,000 yen per member, starting in 2015. Another decision involves changing the organization’s name in Japanese, on August 6, to reflect all types of municipalities, not just cities.

After this session, the participants held a meeting with A-bomb survivors and citizens. Three students from Hiroshima Jogakuin High School attended the gathering and said that peace education will help raise the awareness of more people to the idea of a world without nuclear weapons, and such people will then support the movement. The conference will close on August 5 after adopting the “Hiroshima Appeal,” a joint statement.

(Originally published on August 5, 2013)

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