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Trip to Kochi City, India, for Peace Boat Event at Port of Call
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In April 2015, the Mayors for Peace secretariat dispatched staffs to Kochi City in India, which is one of the Mayors for Peace member cities, to attend a series of peace-related events held in line with the arrival of the Peace Boat
－ a chartered passenger ship of Japan-based international NGO Peace Boat, that travels the world on peace voyages － at that city.
The main activities are described below.
April 27
An event was held at Kochi City Hall, jointly organized by the Peace Boat, Mayors for Peace, Kochi City and local NGOs.
The Mayors for Peace staff member read out a message from the Mayor of Hiroshima (President of Mayors for Peace).
Approximately one hundred people attended the event, where messages were read by the Mayor of Kochi and others, and there were testimonials by hibakusha, A-bomb survivors, who are traveling around the world on the Peace Boat, as part of the Global Voyage for a Nuclear-Free World: Peace Boat Hibakusha Project.
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Event at Kochi City Hall
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This was followed by an event at YMCA CAMP SITE organized by the local YMCA and NGOs, which the Mayors for Peace staff member also participated in.
The event was attended by around one hundred people － mainly young people from YMCA － and there were speeches and A-bomb testimonies.
At the end was a discussion between hibakusha and the young people.
Video messages by Kochi Mayor Tony Chammany and the young people were recorded, to show at the Mayors for Peace side event that was held at the same time as the 2015 NPT Review Conference at United Nations headquarters in New York from April 27.
The message from the Mayor of Kochi was shown at the Mayors for Peace New York Gathering on April 29, and the young peoples' message was shown on April 30 at the 2015 Mayors for Peace Youth Forum.
On that same night, as hibakusha and Peace Boat members watched, the Flame of Peace that had been lit in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and carried from Japan to Kochi, was lit on a lamp.
In the future, a structure for the Flame of Peace will be constructed in the park in front of Kochi City Hall.
Kochi City and the local NGOs are extremely enthusiastic about peace-related activities, and thanks to their thorough preparations for the recording of the video messages and the lighting of the Flame of Peace, all expected aims were achieved.
This series of events was covered by many of the local media and reported in almost all newspapers the following day.
In this way, the events helped to spread information about Mayors for Peace activities to the people of Kochi, and develop an awareness of peace.
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| (Peace and International Solidarity Promotion Division) |
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