Mayors for Peace has been implementing the Mayors for Peace Internship Program in which we invite young officials from international and domestic member cities to the City of Hiroshima. The purpose of this internship is for interns to gain a deep understanding of the reality of the atomic bombing, and then, after returning to their home city, to promote efforts for peace while strengthening collaboration with the secretariat and other cities.

《Overseas Member Cities》

For two weeks from January 17^th to 31^st, the Mayors for Peace Secretariat hosted two interns, Ms. Montserrat Cata Llado from Granollers (Spain), a Vice President City and the Chair of the European Chapter, and Ms. Phoebe Lockett from Wellington (New Zealand), an Executive City. They also interacted with students at Hiroshima Municipal Funairi High School, which is passionate about peace activities.
　　Ms. Cata Llado said, "The European branch's 10 executive cities hold monthly web conferences to exchange opinions. In the future, I would like to move forward with initiatives for Peace Culture Month," and Ms. Lockett said, "In Wellington, a 'Peace Walk' has been established. I would like to hold an atomic bomb poster exhibition in the future."
　　We hope that they will continue to enhance their cooperative relationships with other cities in the future.

《Japanese Member Cities》

For three days from January 31^st to February 2^nd, we accepted 19 interns from 19 member cities in Japan, from Hokkaido to Kagoshima Prefecture.
　　In addition to learning about the reality of the atomic bombing and the humanitarian approach toward nuclear abolition, they also had a Q&A session and exchanged opinions about the efforts of their home cities.
　　Group work was also conducted on the theme of "peace promotion projects that member cities should carry out in the future." Each group expressed their opinions such as "We want to train the junior high school students we sent to Hiroshima and Nagasaki to become peace leaders in the region. Therefore, could we consider continuing interaction with children of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?" and "Is it possible to relive the war using VR and AR?"
　　Through this program, we have received comments such as "Working in groups and exchanging opinions with officials of other cities was a very valuable experience," and "We would like to carry out various efforts to foster peace awareness among citizens," from participants.