The 11^th Executive Conference of Mayors for Peace (President: Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui), was held over two days from November 11, 2019, in Hanover City, Germany, which is the Mayors for Peace Vice-President City. Attending the conference were Mayor Matsui, Secretary-General Mr. Takashi Koizumi (Chairperson of this Foundation), and members from ten Executive Cities in Europe, North America and Asia.
　In his opening speech, Mayor Matsui stated that it is necessary to increase the number of member cities in order to strengthen the network that has been built so far, and in particular, to encourage a policy shift among political leaders by developing an awareness of the importance of peace among citizens in nuclear-weapon states and states that are allied with them.
　At the conference, there was first a discussion on the status of achievement of the 2020 Vision and initiatives that are under way as part of the current action plan. Attendees reaffirmed the fact that, under the 2020 Vision, many member cities implemented independent activities together with peace-related NGOs and other organizations with the aim of making progress in nuclear disarmament.
　This was followed by a discussion on how to develop the next vision and action plan for 2021 and beyond.
　For the next vision, it was agreed that the basic direction is “Realizing a world without nuclear weapons”. Based on this, with the target of “Realization of safe and resilient cities”, the philosophy will be “Promoting a culture of peace”, where individual citizens are encouraged to consider and take actions for peace as part of their day to day lives. It was also agreed that there will be further discussions with a view to developing the next vision at the 10^th General Conference of Mayors for Peace, to be held in August, 2020.
　Next there were reports on initiatives that have produced results: from Manchester City, UK, on the peace education using A-bomb trees; from Muntinlupa City, the Philippines, on the International Day of Peace event to raise peace consciousness; and from Hanover City on membership recruitment efforts as a lead city.
　There was also a discussion on priority actions for 2020, the final year of the 2020 Vision, to ensure that there is a smooth and steady transition to the next vision and action plan. The three items decided on were: the expansion of membership to achieve the target of bringing into force the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and other targets; the implementation of peace education that aims to develop awareness among the young generations who will be leaders in the future; and the enhancement of support for programs to accept young people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, such as the support program for the Youth Exchange for Peace. 　In addition to the items above, there was a proposal from Granollers City, Spain, and other European executive cities to launch the European Chapter of Mayors for Peace in January 2020. The proposal was approved.
　As the plan of the 2020 initiatives, the secretariat also gave an explanation on participation in the PEACE ORIZURU Project (where peace messages are written on paper cranes and sent out on social media) that is run by the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee in the lead up to the Olympic Games, and various activities being held in line with the 2020 NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) Review Conference.
　On the second day of the conference, participants deliberated on the Summary Notes that summarized the conference based on the previous day’s discussions. The document was approved.
　As the proposal from the first day to establish a branch in Europe was approved, when the European executive city members held their first preparatory meeting, Mayor Matsui opened the session by stating that it is extremely meaningful that leader cities take the lead to work together to create a peaceful world, and expressed his hope that they will work in solidarity to build peace not only in Europe but throughout the world.
　Mayors for Peace will continue to strengthen the network that has been built to date and expand activities. In order to do so, we will increase the number of member cities throughout the world, including nuclear-weapon states and countries allied with them, and create great momentum for peace in civic society. By doing so, we want to help to create an environment that strongly pushes political leaders to change their policies, to aim for a world that is free of nuclear weapons.