Junior writers from Hiroshima pose questions at panel discussion held at U.N. headquarters
May 11, 2015
by Rie Nii, Staff Writer
Junior writers from the Chugoku Shimbun are now in New York to cover the NPT Review Conference. During a panel discussion held by Hiroshima Prefecture at United Nations headquarters on April 29, they posed questions on Japan’s role and what young people can do to advance the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Nozomi Mizoue, 15, a first-year student in high school, said, “I’m not convinced that Japan will take action to abolish nuclear weapons as long as it remains under the U.S. nuclear umbrella. What do you think Japan should do?” John Burroughs, from the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA), responded by saying, “I think Japan can implement various measures, such as pursuing a treaty which would establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Northeast Asia.”
Shiori Niitani, 16, a second-year student in high school, raised another question. “A-bomb survivors and high school students in Hiroshima want nuclear weapons to be abolished and have been making efforts toward this goal, but it still has not been realized. What more can we do?” she asked. Responding to Ms. Niitani’s question, Angela Kane, the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs at the United Nations, shared her hopes by saying, “I would like civil society to put more pressure on the four countries that are not currently part of the NPT regime (India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea) so they would participate, too.”
As “Youth Communicators for a World without Nuclear Weapons,” a designation given by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two junior writers will continue their news gathering efforts in the United States until May 2.
(Originally published on May 1, 2015)
Junior writers from the Chugoku Shimbun are now in New York to cover the NPT Review Conference. During a panel discussion held by Hiroshima Prefecture at United Nations headquarters on April 29, they posed questions on Japan’s role and what young people can do to advance the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Nozomi Mizoue, 15, a first-year student in high school, said, “I’m not convinced that Japan will take action to abolish nuclear weapons as long as it remains under the U.S. nuclear umbrella. What do you think Japan should do?” John Burroughs, from the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA), responded by saying, “I think Japan can implement various measures, such as pursuing a treaty which would establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Northeast Asia.”
Shiori Niitani, 16, a second-year student in high school, raised another question. “A-bomb survivors and high school students in Hiroshima want nuclear weapons to be abolished and have been making efforts toward this goal, but it still has not been realized. What more can we do?” she asked. Responding to Ms. Niitani’s question, Angela Kane, the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs at the United Nations, shared her hopes by saying, “I would like civil society to put more pressure on the four countries that are not currently part of the NPT regime (India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea) so they would participate, too.”
As “Youth Communicators for a World without Nuclear Weapons,” a designation given by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two junior writers will continue their news gathering efforts in the United States until May 2.
(Originally published on May 1, 2015)
