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Mayors for Peace delegation dispatched for the 2nd Preparatory Committee for the 2020 NPT Review Conference
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Mayors for Peace (President: Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui) dispatched a delegation to the Second Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) Review Conference held in Geneva, Switzerland in April, 2018.
The delegation called on the representatives of the United Nations and national governments to sincerely exercise their duty to negotiate on nuclear disarmament in accordance with Article VI of the NPT and to implement the TPNW (Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons) in the future, as well as asking for understanding and cooperation in Mayors for Peace activities.
The Youth Forum and A-Bomb Poster Exhibition were also held.
The delegation also attended the presentation and planting ceremonies in Paris, France and Guernica-Lumo, Spain, of saplings from trees that survived the atomic bombing, where they communicated to participants the message from the A-bombed cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and shared their desire for peace.
April 23
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Mr. Adam Bugajski (Poland), the chairperson of the 2nd Preparatory Committee for the 2020 NPT Review Conference, in his opening remarks encouraged the representatives from national governments to express their opinions, listen to each other's opinions, and think about solutions that unite all countries.
After observing the Committee, the delegation viewed the second-generation A-bomb surviving gingko trees that had been presented as saplings by Mayors for Peace in 2016 and were planted on the grounds of the United Nations European Headquarters, noting that they are growing well.
After this, Mayor Matsui attended a luncheon with Mr. Alex Mejia, the Manager of UNITAR's
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Mayors for Peace President Matsui and Secretary-General Komizo observe the Preparatory Committee
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(United Nations Institute for Training and Research) Decentralized Cooperation Programme, where he explained how Mayors for Peace are cooperating in the Green Legacy Hiroshima Initiative, which the UNITAR Hiroshima office is also involved in, to distribute atomic bomb survivor tree seeds and saplings to member cities in Japan and overseas.
Mayor Matsui also met with Mayor Remy Pagani of Geneva, which is a Mayors for Peace member city, accompanied by Tomihisa Taue, Vice-President of Mayors for Peace and Mayor of Nagasaki.
They made a request for Geneva to become a leader city for Switzerland, and asked Mayor Pagani to promote activities to expand Mayors for Peace membership and build connections with influential cities in Switzerland.
Mayor Pagani said that he will support the Mayors for Peace activities as he places importance on the friendly ties with the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
This was followed by a meeting with Mr. Gilles Carbonnier, the Vice-President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
At the meeting it was confirmed that Mayors for Peace and the ICRC are partners working towards the same goal of abolishing nuclear weapons for Human Security, and that the two organizations with continue to cooperate with one another in the future.
April 24
First was a meeting with Mr. Bugajski, the chairperson of the Preparatory Committee.
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Mr. Bugajski, chairperson of the Preparatory Committee, receiving a thousand paper cranes
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Mr. Bugajski expressed his opinion that all nations and their peoples, though they may have differing positions, must work together to communicate the dangers of possessing and using nuclear weapons, and make progress towards the objectives stipulated in the NPT.
Mayor Matsui stated that he would like to ask nuclear-weapon states as well as the nations under the nuclear umbrella to take measures that align with the wishes of those in the cities hit by nuclear bombs.
Mayors for Peace Vice-President Taue said that he would like the committee attendees to see the Mayors for Peace Atomic Bombing poster exhibition, being held at the committee
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venue, prior to the Preparatory Committee, so that they can see the reality of the damage from the bombing.
After this, they visited Elayne Whyte Gomez, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Costa Rica
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to the United Nations in Geneva (and former President of the United Nations Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons), together with eight high school students from Hiroshima and Okinawa cooperating in Mayors for Peace activities by participating in the
"No nuclear weapons from Hiroshima / petition campaign".
When the high school students handed Ambassador Whyte a petition calling for the prompt conclusion of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the ambassador gave the students a heartfelt message of encouragement.
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High school students handing the petition to Ambassador Whyte
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Following on from the handing over of the petition, Mayor Matsui had a discussion with the ambassador together with Mayor Taue, where he stated that he would like to properly communicate the sincere wish of the hibakusha
"No one shall ever suffer again as we have."
They next had a meeting with United States Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nuclear Nonproliferation Dr. Christopher Ford.
In response to the Mayors for Peace approach that we should pursue nuclear disarmament by promoting dialogue, including with nuclear-weapon states, Dr. Ford stated that he would like to pursue nuclear disarmament through effective and constructive dialogue with all nations.
April 25
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Mayor Matsui and Mayor Taue were the final speakers at the NGO session of the Preparatory Committee.
Mayor Matsui stated that we must work towards comprehensive, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization, and appealed for the global community to pursue cooperative security through rational dialogue.
Mayor Taue asked the leaders of all nations to visit the cities affected by the atomic bombs so that they can understand the actual damage done by the bombings, and to pursue security policies that are not dependent on nuclear deterrence.
This was followed by a meeting with Ambassador Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger,
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Mayor Matsui giving a speech at the NGO session
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Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva.
Mayor Matsui said that he would like to expand Mayors for Peace membership even in nuclear-weapon states, stating that if cities supporting the nation express their agreement with the TPNW, it would become possible to change the mindset of policymakers.
Mayor Matsui then attended the reception of a workshop on nuclear weapons held by the ICRC.
In front of an audience of people involved in the ICRC, he explained the Mayors for Peace activities, and said that Mayors for Peace would like to continue to work with the ICRC and other peace-related international organizations in the future.
April 26
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Mayors for Peace Youth Forum
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The Mayors for Peace Youth Forum was held as a side event of the Preparatory Committee.
At this event, the high school students from Hiroshima and Okinawa, as well as a youth group from Nagasaki and young people from Granollers City, Spain, and other Mayors for Peace member cities, gave presentations on their respective activities and thoughts about peace, and held discussions.
After the Forum, the 10th Mayors for Peace Executive Conference was held.
Representatives of ten executive cities attended the conference, which was chaired by Mayors for Peace Secretary-General
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Yasuyoshi Komizo (chairperson of this Foundation).
The attendees discussed measures to implement the Mayors for Peace action plan that was developed in 2017.
They held active discussions on the enhancement of activities and expansion of membership, centered on the leader cities.
Next was a dinner held by Geneva City, which the representatives of executive cities also attended, and discussions were held on future Mayors for Peace activities in Switzerland.
April 23－26
The Mayors for Peace Atomic Bombing Poster Exhibition was held at the Headquarters of the United Nations in Europe, which was the venue of the Preparatory Committee.
The aim of the exhibition was to further understanding about the reality of the atomic bombing among the committee participants.
April 27
Mayor Matsui and Mr. Komizo traveled to Paris, and participated in a lunch held by Masato Kitera, Japan's ambassador to France.
The ambassador said that he observed the atomic bombing exhibition held at a public archive on the outskirts of Paris in 2017, and said that Hiroshima is definitely a place that everyone should visit at least once.
This was followed by a meeting with Michel Cibot, who is the Secretary-general of the Association Francaise des Communes Departements et Regions pour la Paix (AFCDRP), and his wife Miho Cibot, who is a Hiroshima peace ambassador.
Mrs. Cibot said that it is very meaningful to hold a presentation ceremony of a sapling of an atomic bomb survivor tree in France's capital Paris, at this time when France is trying to develop and enhance its nuclear arsenal.
April 28
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Prior to the planting ceremony of the sapling of an atomic bomb survivor tree, Mayor Matsui met with the deputy mayor of Paris, Mao Peninou.
He said that he hopes that by having the sapling looked after and grown in Paris, many people will develop a wish to achieve peace, which will then lead to a heightening of public opinion supporting the abolition of nuclear weapons.
At the presentation ceremony of the sapling of the atomic bomb survivor tree, Deputy Mayor Peninou said that he sees the gingko sapling as the symbol of the long cooperative relationship between the two cities, and that he wants to continue to conduct activities together in the future.
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Deputy Mayor Peninou receiving the sapling of an atomic bomb survivor tree
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After this, Mayor Matsui and Mr. Komizo travelled to Guernica-Lumo City, Spain, which was the site of indiscriminate bombing in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War.
After visiting the Peace Museum and listening to the experience of a person who is involved in activities to give testimonies of the Guernica bombings, they attended a dinner with Guernica-Lumo's Deputy Mayor Maria Uribe and others, and were welcomed as visitors from Hiroshima, a city that shares with Guernica the same desire for peace.
April 29
Mayor Matsui attended a welcome event hosted by the mayor of Guernica-Lumo City, Jose Maria Gorrono.
Mayor Matsui said that both cities have experienced the same horror of being subject to indiscriminate attacks on their people, and that he would like to work together in the future, sharing the same desire for perpetual world peace.
After this, Mayor Gorrono led a tour of old buildings and air raid shelters that escaped the bombings, and the Tree of Guernika which is a symbol of hope and the future just like Hiroshima's atomic bomb survivor trees.
At the welcome event held after this, which was hosted by Ana Otadui, the chairperson of the provincial assembly of the province of Biscay, where Guernica-Lumo is located, Ms. Otadui gave a heart-warming speech, saying that we should continue to pay our respect to and remember those who lost their lives, as our two cities take the first step together towards peace.
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Planting ceremony of a sapling of an atomic bomb survivor tree in Guernica-Lumo City
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The planting ceremony of the sapling of an atomic bomb survivor tree was held in the European park that spreads out behind the assembly hall.
Josep Mayoral, the mayor of Granollers City, also attended.
Granollers is the Vice-President city in Spain, which provided the sapling.
The ceremony was a good opportunity for connection between Mayors for Peace members.
Looking back over the trip
When attending the Preparatory Committee in Geneva this time, there were opportunities to meet with the Committee chairperson Mr. Bugajski, as well as ambassadors from
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countries that support the TPNW such as Austria and Costa Rica, and a government representative from the United States, which is a nuclear-weapon state.
We were able to emphasize the importance of firstly promoting the NPT, then implementing initiatives that have as their ultimate aim the TPNW, respecting rational dialogue and aiming to achieve the objective that is common to all nations－a world free of nuclear weapons.
Mayors for Peace will work on creating an environment in civic society that allows policymakers to exercise leadership from a long-term perspective to resolve security issues.
We asked for cooperation so that we can further increase our membership even among nuclear-weapon states and other nations under the nuclear umbrella.
Following on from activities in Geneva, there were also presentation and planting ceremonies of saplings of atomic bomb survivor trees in Paris, France and Guernica-Lumo, Spain, brought about through the support of neighboring executive cities.
As the saplings grow, we hope that the desire for perpetual world peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons will also take root firmly in the hearts of the citizens of both cities.
We would like to thank both cities for their sincere efforts, and continue in the future to maintain the cooperative relationships that were developed during this visit.
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| (Peace and International Solidarity Promotion Division) |
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