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Attendance at the UN Conference to Negotiate Legally Binding Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons
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Representatives of Mayors for Peace attended the conferences to negotiate a treaty banning nuclear weapons held in New York in March, June and July 2017, where they appealed through constructive and open discussions for the realization of a effective legal ban on nuclear weapons.
Open letter issued
On March 14, prior to the first negotiation conference, Mayors for Peace issued an open letter to all United Nations member states.
In this letter, Mayors for Peace expressed once again their support for this historic initiative that represent a significant and essential turning point for a world free of nuclear weapons, and also requested that all nations, including nuclear weapon states and those under the nuclear umbrella, participate actively in the conferences.
This open letter was also sent to the United Nations Secretary-General and the president of the negotiation conference and others, asking for support for the Mayors for Peace activities.
A request was also sent to the Mayors for Peace member cities, asking that they broadly communicate the message of the open letter to national governments and the general public.
Attendance at the first Negotiation Conference
Mayors for Peace Secretary-General Mr. Kazuyosi Komizo (Chairperson of this Foundation) visited New York and other locations from March 24 to April 2.
During the session on March 29, Mr. Komizo made a speech on behalf of Mayors for Peace.
In his speech, he stated that the legal ban of nuclear weapons would be the first crucial step towards achieving a world free of nuclear weapons.
He expressed his support for the initiative, and made a recommendation about how to involve nuclear weapon states and those under the nuclear umbrella to form an effective treaty for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
His recommendation received a certain level of appraisal from the participating UN member states and NGOs as an idea that could give the treaty future potential to enable participation in the treaty by nuclear weapon states, and this was a major achievement.
The United States government was absent from this conference, but it was attended by Mayor T.M. Cownie of Des Moines City, Iowa, which is a Mayors for Peace leader city in America, as well as two Executive Advisers of this Foundation in America.
The three attended as members of the Mayors for Peace delegation.
Mayor Cownie stated to the Japanese media that he would like to implement proactive measures to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons, while at the same time expanding the Mayors for Peace network in the United States.
This statement demonstrated the fact that Mayors for Peace members are working together beyond national borders and the different positions of members.
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Mr. Komizo also met with the President of the conference, Ambassador Elayne Whyte Gomez of Costa Rica;
Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva Ambassador Thomas Hajnoczi of Austria, one of the countries promoting the treaty;
Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations Office in Geneva Ambassador Patricia O'Brien;
Mr. Kim Won-Soo the UN Under Secretary General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, and others.
The open letter from Mayors for Peace and speech by Mr. Komizo were uploaded to the website as official UN documents, and Mayors for Peace materials were distributed at the
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Mr. Komizo meets with Conference President Ms. Whyte (right)
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conference venue.
These all show that there is now greater awareness of Mayors for Peace activities, and this has resulted in closer ties with the United Nations and other organizations at the first Preparatory Committees for the 2020 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference and the second negotiation conference held in May.
On March 31, Mr. Komizo met with members of the Obama Foundation in Washington.
He spoke about the future cooperation between the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation and the Obama Foundation, and made a request for former President Obama to give the keynote speech at the 9th Mayors for Peace General Conference held in August.
Although former President Obama was not available for the keynote speech, the two organizations have similarities, including a common awareness of the importance of nurturing young people who will be the leaders of the future, and they had a discussion on future possibilities for cooperation.
It was a meaningful meeting.
Attendance at the second Negotiation Conference
Mayors for Peace President Kazumi Matsui (Mayor of Hiroshima) and Mr. Komizo visited New York from June 13-18, and attended the second Negotiation Conference.
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Mayor Matsui giving a speech at the second Negotiation Conference
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On June 15, the first day of the conference, Mayor Matsui had the opportunity to make a speech as the first speaker of the participating NGOs, prior to substantial discussions.
In his speech, he stated that hibakusha have appealed for the abolition of nuclear weapons for many long years, and requested that a legal ban on nuclear weapons be achieved while they are still alive.
He also expressed his hope that a draft treaty would be adopted during this session through constructive and open discussions by state governments.
Government representatives from each country listened intently to his speech, and many applauded him when he finished, showing that Mayor Matsui's intentions were well communicated.
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Mayor Matsui met with Conference President Ms. Whyte, Ambassador Hajnoczi, and other representatives of the United Nations and state governments during this trip, and properly communicated the wishes of hibakusha to all he met.
Moreover, he stated that Mayors for Peace and it's member cities, with cooperation of other civic organizations, would call for nuclear weapon states and those under the nuclear umbrella to join the treaty after a draft treaty had been adopted, and would create an environment that enable the world's policymakers to muster their courage and use their insight to take action for that, by raising awareness among civic society and cultivating broad global opinion toward the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Mayor Matsui also met with Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu, the United Nations Under Secretary General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.
At that meeting, he stated that he had heard that she would be attending the Peace Memorial Ceremony and Mayors for Peace General Conference in August, and that it was very pleasing for hibakusha that the head of the United Nations' Office for Disarmament Affairs would be visiting the two cities hit by atomic bombs so quickly, in the year that she was appointed to the position.
They also had a frank discussion about the negotiation conferences held this time.
Ms. Nakamitsu's opinion that there should be a strong focus on dialogue to involve nuclear weapon states aligned with the thoughts of Mayors for Peace on the subject, and there are expectations that Mayors for Peace will be able to forge even stronger links with the United Nations moving forward.
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Through the efforts of Mayor Cownie of Des Moines City, Mayor Matsui also met with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, and requested that New York joins Mayors for Peace.
Mayor de Blasio stated that while he believes that it is extremely meaningful for mayors throughout the United States to share common policy issues and work together, he would like a little more time to consider possibly joining Mayors for Peace.
As of June 1, 210 cities in the United States are members of Mayors for Peace.
We would like to increase the number of member cities in the US by having influential cities such as New York and Washington DC become members.
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New York Mayor de Blasio (left) and Mayor Matsui
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Adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
On July 7, the final day of the second Negotiation Conference, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons that legally prohibits the use and possession of nuclear weapons was adopted.
Mayors for Peace will continue to work together with various partners around the world to urge national policymakers to exercise bold leadership for the abolition of nuclear weapons, to encourage all nations, including nuclear weapon states and those under the nuclear umbrella, to become signatories to the treaty.
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| (Peace and International Solidarity Promotion Division) |
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