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Mayors For Peace 2020 Vision Campaign Newsletter |
October 2008 |
This
monthly newsletter is your source for the latest developments with the 2020
Vision Campaign. Please mail us any relevant stories you might have. If you
have problems reading this newsletter properly, please access it here.
Thanks
to our volunteer Véronique Herbeuval, you can now also find the French
version of our campaign website.
NOTE:
Due to an unfortunate oversight, a very important news story was left out of
previous newsletters. On June 24th, the US Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution in
support of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol. As part of the effort to
secure support for this essential document, we strongly encourage all of our
member cities to table a similar
resolution with
their own national mayoral associations.
In
this issue:
- New Executive
Officials inject energy into the 2020 Vision Campaign Association
- International
Day of Peace draws renewed call for support of the
Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol
- Membership
reaches 2,422 cities in 131 countries and regions as we welcome 105 new
supporters
- 2020 Vision Campaign
reaches financial solidarity milestone with 100 contributing cities around
the world
- 2020 Vision Campaign
condemns outright inhumane military assualts on populated areas
- Mayors across the
world mark the 63rd anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima &
Nagasaki
- More latest news stories on our
website
Mayors
for Peace has expanded its leadership to keep pace with its expanding
membership. Mayor Akiba, President of the organization, has appointed the
Mayors of Biograd na Moru (
They
join the Campaign leadership already including the Mayors of the cities of
Hiroshima (Secretariat of Mayors for Peace, Japan), Ypres (Secretariat of the
2020 Vision Campaign, Belgium), Nagasaki (Japan), Akron (Ohio, USA), Florence (Italy), Hannover
(Germany), Laakdal (Belgium), Malakoff (France), Manchester (UK), Christchurch
(New Zealand), Muntinlupa (the Philippines) and Volgograd (Russia).
Altogether that makes sixteen cities in all, spearheading the effort for
a nuclear-weapon-free world by the year 2020.
The four new cities have all demonstrated exemplary commitment to
the goals of Mayors for Peace and to peace work in general. They have
also, most importantly, taken the lead in
initiating fundraising appeals in their own countries and, along with many other
member cities,
in signing the Cities Appeal in support of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol (see
below).
Please click here for more information
Responding
to the urging of Mayor Luc Dehaene of Ypres, the Chairman of the Board of
Directors of the 2020 Vision Campaign, Mayors and Councilors from around the
world helped to push the signature total for the Cities Appeal in support
of the Hiroshima Nagasaki 
Protocol to 384 signatories from 37 countries.
In a statement to mark the UN International
Day of Peace on the 21st of September, Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba, President of Mayors
for Peace and Mayor of Hiroshima (Japan), stressed the importance of the
initiative which will culminate with all signed Cities Appeals being officially
presented at the 2010 NPT Review Conference as a sign of the global demand for
decisive action on the issue of nuclear disarmament. He said:
"The
Protocol is geared to fulfilling the promise of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty to end the discrimination between nuclear haves and have-nots; no nation
should retain this means of incinerating a city in a single blast.
Already over 300 cities are on board the Appeal; I believe every mayor and city
councilor should sign on!"
Pictured:
International Day of Peace 'Peace Vigil' held in
Please
find the latest list of signatories to the Cities Appeal on
our website and
a copy of the Cities Appeal here.
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Membership
reaches 2,422 cities in 131 countries and regions as we welcome 105 new
supporters |
In the past three months, another 105 cities have joined Mayors
for Peace, bringing total membership to 2,422 in 131 countries and regions. Our
new members hail from Australia (2), Brazil (1), Andorra (2), Belgium (3),
Denmark (1),France (1), Netherlands (8), Spain (28), Iran (2), Iraq (7), Japan
(21), Nicaragua (25), Cameroon (1), Norway (1) and USA (2). 
With
La Massana we welcomed our first member in
For
the 21 new members in
The remarkable growth in
For
more information, click here for our recent press release
For a full list of our new members, click here
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2020 Vision Campaign passes
financial solidarity milestone with 101 contributing cities around the world |
In
recent weeks more dedicated members have demonstrated a tangible commitment to
the 2020 Vision for a nuclear-weapon-free world, bringing the total number of financial
contributors to 101 cities.
On
October 14th, the Spanish city of 
beforehand, both the famous Spanish city of
We
learned that
In
Counting
our new contributors, the number of cities that have shown tangible financial
support for the 2020 Vision Campaign in its struggle for the abolition of
nuclear weapons has now risen to 97. We greatly appreciate all the generous
financial support that we receive from our members and cannot stress enough the
essential role it plays in the success of the 2020 Vision Campaign
For
more information on all our contributors, please see the 2020 Vision Campaign
website.
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2020 Vision Campaign condemns
outright inhumane military assaults on populated areas |
Once again, the 2020 Vision Campaign call, Cities
Are Not Targets!, seems to fall on deaf ears.
On the 24th of September we reported that at least 39 civilians were killed
in
Furthermore, we reported on a NY Times investigative article on the
In a
press release on the 10th of August, the 2020 Vision Campaign was one of the
few sources to draw attention to the "intense, massive and seemingly
indiscriminate" bombardment of the city of
Please
find the full text of the Georgian press release here
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Mayors across the world mark
the 63rd anniversary of the atomic bombings of |
On
the 6th and the 9th of August this year, Mayors and citizens across the world
took the opportunity to remember the victims of the world's first and thus-far
only nuclear attacks: the US bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki on those dates 63 years ago. Here we can acknowledge just a few of the
many ceremonies and commemorations that took place to mark this sad
anniversary.
In 
fiercely defend our Constitution, press all governments to adopt
the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol, and play a leading role in the effort to
abolish nuclear weapons."
He spoke to a crowd of 45,000 that included survivors, local residents and
dignitaries from around the world. Among nuclear-power nations,
U.N.
Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said in a message read by High Representative for
Disarmament Sergio de Queiroz
In
Please
find the full text of the 2008 Hiroshima Peace Declaration here and
the 2008 Nagasaki Peace Declaration here.
Editor
of this issue Jennie Corbett (EVS) © Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign
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Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision
Campaign International secretariat
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Phone + 32-57-38 89 57 E-mail: 2020visioncampaign@ieper.be Website:http://www.2020visioncampaign.org/ Office open : |
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IBAN nr.:
BE48-0882-3710-0327 |
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Ypres is
a Peace City and was the first city where chemical weapons were used during the
First World War.
Find pictures
and more information here