nuclear-news

Japanese students submit nuclear abolition petition to UN

Students submit nuclear abolition petition to UN  https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180829_06/  A group of Japanese high school students has visited the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva to submit a petition calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

The 20 “peace messengers” met Anja Kaspersen, the director of the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, on Tuesday. Some of the students are from the atomic-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The students showed Kaspersen photos taken immediately after the 1945 bombings. They told her the bombs not only killed many people but also forced survivors to live with burns and aftereffects.

They submitted about 100,000 signatures they had collected over the past year and urged the UN to do more to create a world with no nuclear weapons.

Kaspersen said the students’ campaign is not just about hope, but it is also helping young people in many countries to promote generosity and understanding.

The UN adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons last year, but nations possessing nuclear weapons and Japan have not joined it. Riko Shitakubo from Hiroshima said she renewed her resolve to keep trying to change the situation surrounding nuclear weapons.

August 29, 2018 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, weapons and war