High School Student Peace Ambassadors leave for Switzerland with determination to convey message from Hiroshima
Aug. 20, 2014
by Eriko Shintani, Staff Writer
On August 16, two high school students from Hiroshima, who were chosen to serve as High School Student Peace Ambassadors for this year, left Japan for the European Headquarters of the United Nations, located in Geneva, Switzerland. There, they will pursue their mission of appealing to the world for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
The two students are Yuuri Nakamura, 17, a third-year student at Daimon High School and a resident of Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, and Misaki Katayama 15, a first-year student at Hiroshima Prefectural Hiroshima High School and a resident of Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture. At the send-off gathering held at Hiroshima Station in Naka Ward, Yuuri said that she will do her best to convey Hiroshima’s message of peace, and Misaki expressed her determination to bring back what she learns through her experience and share this with others.
Twenty-one high school students from 13 prefectures have been designated High School Student Peace Ambassadors for this year. Citizens’ groups in the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima made a public call for student ambassadors and chose them from about 500 applicants. The student ambassadors also serve as Youth Special Communicators for a World without Nuclear Weapons, a title assigned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Twenty student ambassadors, with the exception of one currently ailing, will make the trip to Switzerland.
After departing from Fukuoka Airport on August 17, they will address senior U.N. officials, including the head of the United Nations Office for Disarmament, at the European Headquarters. They will also submit about 130,000 signatures which appeal for the realization of world peace. One student ambassador, on behalf of the group, will convey their thoughts at a disarmament conference with ambassadors of various nations. The students will return to Japan on August 22.
(Originally published on August 17)
On August 16, two high school students from Hiroshima, who were chosen to serve as High School Student Peace Ambassadors for this year, left Japan for the European Headquarters of the United Nations, located in Geneva, Switzerland. There, they will pursue their mission of appealing to the world for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
The two students are Yuuri Nakamura, 17, a third-year student at Daimon High School and a resident of Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, and Misaki Katayama 15, a first-year student at Hiroshima Prefectural Hiroshima High School and a resident of Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture. At the send-off gathering held at Hiroshima Station in Naka Ward, Yuuri said that she will do her best to convey Hiroshima’s message of peace, and Misaki expressed her determination to bring back what she learns through her experience and share this with others.
Twenty-one high school students from 13 prefectures have been designated High School Student Peace Ambassadors for this year. Citizens’ groups in the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima made a public call for student ambassadors and chose them from about 500 applicants. The student ambassadors also serve as Youth Special Communicators for a World without Nuclear Weapons, a title assigned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Twenty student ambassadors, with the exception of one currently ailing, will make the trip to Switzerland.
After departing from Fukuoka Airport on August 17, they will address senior U.N. officials, including the head of the United Nations Office for Disarmament, at the European Headquarters. They will also submit about 130,000 signatures which appeal for the realization of world peace. One student ambassador, on behalf of the group, will convey their thoughts at a disarmament conference with ambassadors of various nations. The students will return to Japan on August 22.
(Originally published on August 17)
