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Welcoming United Nations Disarmament Fellows
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Trainees participating in the United Nations Programme of Fellowship on Disarmament run by the United Nations to train armament specialists were welcomed to Hiroshima for three days from September 30, last year.
The United Nations Programme of Fellowship on Disarmament is a training program that was initiated by the United Nations in 1979.
Trainees have come to Hiroshima every year since 1984, for a total of around 800 trainees who have visited Hiroshima as part of the program.
25 young diplomats from 25 countries participated this time.
After arriving in Hiroshima on the 30th, they attended a welcome reception, where they talked with atomic bomb witnesses and other local participants.
On the following day the group viewed A-bomb Dome and the Children's Peace Monument, offered flowers at the Memorial Cenotaph for the Atomic Bomb Victims,
as well as visiting Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims.
They also listened to the atomic bombing testimony of Mr. Keijiro Matsushima, and gained a deeper understanding of the actual damage that resulted from the bombing.
This Foundation's Chairperson Mr. Yasuyoshi Komizo provided an explanation of Mayors for Peace, after which there was a passionate question and answer session between Mr. Komizo and the group on initiatives to abolish nuclear weapons.
Comments from the program participants included
"Many of the things that we learned in Hiroshima will become emotional support for us as we work toward the abolition of nuclear weapons",
"I will definitely convey the message of the people of Hiroshima when I go home",
and "Every part of the program was well-planned. I love the city of Hiroshima and the people here".
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The group listens to an explanation of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum from the Museum's Deputy Director (left)
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| (Peace and International Solidarity Promotion Division) |
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