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9th General Conference of Mayors for Peace
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The General Conference of Mayors for Peace, held once every four years, was held in Nagasaki City from August 7 to 10, 2017.
This year marks the 9th time that the conference has been held.
The keynote theme this year was "Toward a World without Nuclear Weapons－What We Can Do Toward 2020－".
There were 314 participants from governments, NGOs and other organizations from 157 cities in 35 countries.
Participants discussed specific measures to abolish nuclear weapons by 2020.
Opening ceremony
Hiroshima Mayor (and President of Mayors for Peace) Kazumi Matsui was unable to attend initially because of a typhoon, so the Chairperson of this Foundation (and Secretary-General of Mayors for Peace) Yasuyoshi Komizo gave a speech in his place on behalf of the conference organizers.
In order to make the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons adopted in July 2017 at the United Nations legally viable, he urged civic society to unite to call for nuclear-weapon states and nations under the nuclear umbrella who did not participate in the treaty's adoption to conclude the treaty as soon as possible.
Next was a speech by Nagasaki Governor Hodo Nakamura, representing the invited guests.
There were also video messages from those who were not able to attend the conference, including the mayors of overseas member cities and Costa Rica's Ambassador Whyte, who was the chairperson of the negotiation conference for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Keynote speech
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Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, gave the keynote speech on the topic
"The Imperatives for Disarmament in the 21st Century".
Ms. Nakamitsu stated that for future disarmament, it will be essential to take into consideration security, a humanitarian viewpoint, development and the environment.
She also expressed her view that in order to put an end to unlawful and unstable activities such as terrorism, the outflow of weapons in illegal transactions, and the illegal use of chemical and other weapons, we should first create standards and deal with these issues with global solidarity.
A-bomb testimony
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Keynote speech by Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu
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Ms. Sachiko Matsuo, who experienced the atomic bombing in Nagasaki, looked back on her own experience, and said
"I do not want anyone to have that experience."
Session I
Mayor Matsui joined the conference from this session, where he was MC.
There was discussion on resolutions such as the selection of executive cities and the action plan from 2017 to 2020.
The resolutions were passed without amendment.
A new initiative objective, "Realization of safe and resilient cities", was added to the previous objective of "Realization of a world without nuclear weapons" in the action plan.
The new initiative objective is to work on the construction of a peace culture, and to revitalize proactive activities in each region to address diverse issues such as terrorism, refugees, and environmental destruction.
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General Conference
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Session II
Mr. Tatsujiro Suzuki, director of the Nagasaki University Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition, acted as moderator for this session on the topic of The Role of Cities.
There were presentations from Hanover City, Germany;
Muntinlupa City, the Philippines; Malakoff City and Grigny City, France;
and Ayabe City, Kyoto Prefecture.
Each city spoke about the active initiatives in each region, and there was a discussion on future prospects for peace and disarmament activities.
Session III
At the start of the session, the recently-appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Taro Kono gave a speech, where he said that as the only nation to have been bombed by nuclear weapons in war, Japan must become a bridge between nuclear-weapon states and non-nuclear weapon states.
The session was then held on the topic of The Role of Young People, moderated by Ms. Keiko Nakamura, associate professor at the Nagasaki University Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition.
There were group works by students from Nagasaki and Hiroshima and the mayors of member cities, where participants held discussions on topics such as progress on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, peace education and peace activities, and developed peace activity plans that can be executed in each city.
7th Japanese Member Cities Meeting
In Session (1), Yao City, Osaka Prefecture and Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture gave presentations on examples of their activities.
In Session (2), a resolution was passed to implement activities to recruit new member municipalities and to submit a request to the Japanese government to put efforts into promoting activities for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
In Session (3), the summary document of the meeting was adopted, and Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue (Vice President of Mayors for Peace) closed the meeting with a speech.
Participants were also told that the 8th Mayors for Peace Japanese Member Cities General Meeting in 2018 will be held in Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture.
Session IV
This session was moderated by Mr. Masao Tomonaga, Chairperson of the Nagasaki Global Citizen's Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
The topic was The Role of NGOs, Civic Organizations, and Survivors' Organizations, and there were activity presentations by Hanover City, Germany, Jeju Special Administrative Province, Korea, and Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors' Council, as well as discussions.
Session V
With Mayor Taue as chairperson, the moderators from each of the sessions gave reports on the sessions.
Next, Mayor Matsui summed up the conference by reading out the Nagasaki Appeal and the Special Resolution Requesting the Early Bringing into Effect of the Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons.
The resolution was passed with a round of applause and all conference items were completed.
Closing ceremony
The mayor of Manchester City, UK, Mr. Eddy Newman (Vice President of Mayors for Peace) and Mayor Taue made speeches, and the General Conference concluded with a speech by Mayor Matsui.
He thanked participants for their participation and support for the conference, and stated his determination for all members to work together and do their best to make definite progress towards a nuclear weapon free world by the time the next General Conference is held in Hiroshima in 2020.
The Nagasaki Appeal and Special Resolution Calling for the Early Validation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons were sent to the UN Secretary-General and national governments at the end of August.
These documents and the agendas can be viewed on the Mayors for Peace homepage>>.
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| (Peace and International Solidarity Promotion Division) |
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