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Attendance at UN Open-Ended Working Group Taking Forward Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament Negotiations
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At the United Nations General Assembly in December 2015, it was decided to establish the UN Open-ended Working Group Taking Forward Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament Negotiations (OEWG).
The aim of the group is to discuss legal measures among all member nations, including nuclear weapon states.
Sessions of OEWG were held in February and May, 2016, at the United Nations office in Geneva, Switzerland.
Mayors for Peace participated as members of civic society in both session.
【February Session】
Mr. Yasuyoshi Komizo, Secretary-General of Mayors for Peace (and Chairperson of this Foundation) attended the meeting, and as the representative of Mayors for Peace, strongly appealed for understanding of the need for legal prohibition of nuclear weapons.
He also met and held discussions with national representatives attending the OEWG and people from NGOs and the UN.
February 21
Mr. Komizo participated a meeting held by peace NGOs, and asked for cooperation from civic society in the abolition of nuclear weapons.
February 22
Prior to the opening of the OEWG, Mr. Komizo met with Mr. Thani Thongphakdi (Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Thailand to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva), who served as the Chair of the OEWG, and presented him with an open letter from Mayors for Peace calling for nations to participate proactively in the OEWG discussions and start constructive deliberations.
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Chairperson Komizo makes a speech as the Secretary-General of Mayors for Peace on the first day of the OEWG February Session.
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Next, Mr. Komizo gave a speech at the opening session of the OEWG.
In the speech, he reconfirmed his support for discussions on a nuclear weapons convention, and expressed his hope that the discussions would result in the identification of effective legal measures to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons, based on the participants' awareness of the importance of making progress on nuclear disarmament.
In addition to his speech, Mr. Komizo met with national government representatives and made requests to proactively participate in the discussions and hold constructive deliberations.
There was also a discussion with members of NGOs on enhancing connections with those organizations.
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February 23
Besides attending the OEWG session, Mr. Komizo also visited the permanent A-bomb Exhibition set up at the United Nations office in Geneva by Hiroshima City, Nagasaki City and the UN, and met with government officials.
February 24
Mr. Komizo attended the OEWG session and made a speech as representative of Mayors for Peace.
In his speech, he called strongly for all signatories, including non-nuclear weapon states, to sincerely fulfill their obligations to negotiate on nuclear disarmament based on Article 6 of the NPT.
He also called on the policymakers of the world to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as an initiative to build peace and security, as a way to exercise their political leadership on disarmament, and as a way to understand the truth of the inhumane damage caused by the atomic bombing.
Mr. Komizo also held discussions with members of the UN on connections between the UN and Mayors for Peace.
February 25
In addition to attending the OEWG session, Mr. Komizo presented the Chair Mr. Thongphakdi with the joint statement issued in Hiroshima On August 6, 2015, by Mayors for Peace, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, and World Religions for Peace.
【May Session】
Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, President of Mayors for Peace (and President of this Foundation), attended the OEWG together with Mr. Komizo, Secretary-General of Mayors for Peace, and called for policymakers to exert their leadership for the further acceleration of efforts for the legal prohibition of nuclear weapons.
He also called for world leaders to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Mayor Matsui presented to the United Nations a sapling of a tree that survived the atomic bombing, and communicated the message of Hiroshima, a wish for a peaceful world without nuclear weapons.
He also held discussions with members of national governments and NGOs.
May 1
Mayor Matsui attended a conference held by peace NGOs, and called for cooperation to achieve a peaceful world free of nuclear weapons.
He also met with peace ambassadors Ms. Setsuko Thurlow and Dr. Kathleen Sullivan, who were attending the conference.
May 2
Prior to the start of the OEWG session, there was a ceremony to present the sapling of a tree that survived the atomic bombing in Hiroshima to Michael Moller, Director-General of the United Nations office in Geneva.
The aim was to communicate to the attendees the message of Hiroshima to create a peaceful world without nuclear weapons, and to heighten awareness of the need to abolish nuclear weapons.
With around 60 people in attendance, including those from the UN, national governments and NGOs, Mr. Moller said that as the sapling grows at the UN Geneva office, it will remind people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and will become a symbol of hope for a world without nuclear weapons.
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At the OEWG session, Mayor Matsui gave a speech as representative of Mayors for Peace.
He spoke about how US Secretary of State Mr. Kelly had seen the actual damage from the atomic bombing when he was in Hiroshima in April for the G7 Hiroshima Foreign Ministers' Meeting, and had said
"This has reminded me of our responsibility to make efforts to build a peaceful world with no nuclear weapons."
Mayor Matsui stated that he wants to fully support such intentions together with a wide range of partners in civic society.
He also called for the world's policymakers to exercise decisive leadership to change the mindset of nuclear deterrence, and to work together under a shared awareness that we all belong to the same human family to conclude a nuclear
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Mayor Matsui makes a speech as the president of Mayors for Peace on the first day of the OEWG May Session.
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weapons convention.
In addition, he called on them to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki so that they can further strengthen their resolve.
May 3
There was a meeting with members of peace NGOs, to explain the Mayors for Peace activity policy and further strengthen mutual connections.
May 4
Mayor Matsui met with Mr. Moller, the Director-General of the United Nations office in Geneva, and presented him with a request to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asking for the promotion to achieve the prompt conclusion of a nuclear weapons convention, in which Mayor Matsui asked that the participating national governments hold realistic and productive discussions on achieving the common goal of abolishing nuclear weapons, without adopting a structure of opposition between nuclear weapon states and non-nuclear weapon states.
Based on that, Mayor Matsui also asked the UN to exercise further leadership and provide support for policymakers to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with a view to realizing the 5 items for nuclear disarmament proposed by the UN Secretary-General in 2008.
Mayor Matsui also met with the chairperson of the OEWG Mr. Thongphakdi, and requested that he runs the sessions to ensure that the discussions on legal measures are concrete and realistic.
He also explained how important it is for policymakers to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki to understand the truth of the atomic bombing and the earnest wishes of hibakusha that
"no one else shall ever again suffer as we have."
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| (Peace and International Solidarity Promotion Division) |
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