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September 1, 2010

Hiroshima, September 1st 2010 - Mayors for Peace welcomes 75 members that joined the global network of local governments to ban nuclear weapons by 2020. Mayors for Peace counts today 4,144 members in 144 countries and regions.

New members were welcomed from Argentina (1), Australia (2), Austria (1), Cameroon (1), France (1), Germany (21), Ghana (1), Italy (30), Japan (11), Mexico (1), Netherlands (1), Peru (2), Spain (1) and the USA (1) (click here for detailed list).
August 6, 2010
Hiroshima, August 6th 2010 – On the 65th anniversary of the first use of the atomic bomb, Hiroshima Mayor Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba calls for the immediate commencement of negotiations for the establishment of a nuclear weapon free world by 2020. Dr. Akiba is President of “Mayors for Peace”, a global network of over 4,000 local governments calling for complete nuclear disarmament (1).

Mayors for Peace welcomes the support for a world free of nuclear weapons by 2020 recently expressed by Ban Ki-moon.  He will be the first UN Secretary-General to participate in the Hiroshima commemoration.   Since issuing his Five Point Plan for Nuclear Disarmament in 2008, the Secretary-General provides outstanding leadership on this issue.
August 3, 2010

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon yesterday said he would seek the elimination of all nuclear weapons before the end of his life, Kyodo News reported (see GSN, July 19).

Addressing whether he wants a nuclear weapon-free world to be achieved within his lifetime, he said, "That's my goal."

August 2, 2010
MANILA, Philippines — The three-term mayor of Hiroshima who spearheaded a global campaign for nuclear disarmament and a photographer who documented river pollution in his native China are among the 2010 winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Awards.

The awards announced Monday are considered Asia's equivalent of the Nobel Prize. They are named after a popular Philippine president who died in a plane crash in 1957. The awards will be formally presented Aug. 31 in Manila.
August 1, 2010

For immediate release

Cities are Not Targets: 4,069 local governments unite to ban nuclear weapons by 2020

Hiroshima, August 1st 2010 – Mayors for Peace announces that last month 32 local governments have joined their fast-growing global network to ban nuclear weapons by 2020. With today 4,069 members in 144 countries and regions (1), Mayors for Peace repeats its urgent call upon all governments to immediately start negotiations for an international treaty to eliminate all nuclear weapons by 2020.

 

July 1, 2010
Hiroshima, July 1st 2010 - Mayors for Peace proudly announced today that 4,037 member cities in 144 countries and regions have joined the campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons by 2020. Mayors for Peace is a network of local governments headquartered in the City of Hiroshima. Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba, the Mayor of Hiroshima and President of Mayors for Peace spearheads an international campaign for nuclear weapon states to stop considering cities as targets for weapons of mass destruction.

In June 72 new members were welcomed. The previous months we see systematic growth of membership as a result of coordinated efforts in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Greece, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden and the USA, while a new effort was developed in Ethiopia last month. You can find the detailed list of the 72 new members if you click here

Mayors for Peace congratulates the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) for unanimously adopting a groundbreaking resolution last month at the conclusion of its 78th annual USCM meeting in Oklahoma City on June 14, 2010.. The resolution is Supporting U.S. Participation in Global Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and Redirection of Nuclear Weapons Spending to Meet the Needs of Cities (more details).
June 14, 2010
Mayors for Peace congratulates the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) for unanimously adopting a groundbreaking resolution, Supporting U.S. Participation in Global Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and Redirection of Nuclear Weapons Spending to Meet the Needs of Cities, at the conclusion of its 78th annual meeting in Oklahoma City on June 14, 2010.
June 1, 2010
For ten months now, membership of Mayors for Peace has sustained a growth rate of around three new members a day. With 86 new registrations during May 2010 we reached a global membership of 3,965 members in 143 countries and regions. The fast growth of Mayors for Peace stands in contrast to the mixed results of the NPT Review Conference in New York which ended without agreement to start negotiations to conclude a Nuclear Weapons Convention.
May 28, 2010
As talks come to a close on nuclear disarmament at the United Nations in New York this week, actions by local governments from around Australia open. At least 17 councils around Australia have passed resolutions calling on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to support a Nuclear Weapons Convention and reaffirm the Governments’ commitment towards a world free of nuclear weapons.
May 4, 2010
Over eighty mayors, city officials, staff and donors took part in the Mayors for Peace Reception on May 4th in New York, hosted by John and Margo Catsimatidis at their Fifth Avenue apartment near Central Parc in New York. Special guests of the reception were Michael Douglas and Yoko Ono, who endorsed Mayors for Peace and its 2020 Vision Campaign.
May 1, 2010
On May 1st 2010, membership of Mayors for Peace reached 3,880 members with 87 new registrations during April 2010. This puts us well within range of 4000 before the end of May.  Our growing membership will send a very powerful message to the NPT Review Conference.  Not only does this make Mayors for Peace by far the largest international, direct-membership association of local governments, but also the fastest growing.

In April we also welcomed Matagalpa (Nicaragua), Mora (Costa Rica) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) in our campaign leadership through Associate Membership.
April 27, 2010
The Frente Nacional de Prefeitos (FNP) joined Mayors for Peace during their 57th General Meeting held in Florianopolis, south of Brazil, on April 26 and 27th. The National Front of Mayors is composed by almost 200 Mayors of Brazil's largest cities, representing 40% of the Brazilian population. In the motion adopted by the FNP the Brazilian Association of Local Governments encourages its members to join individually. During the conference 29 Brazilian Mayors were welcomed as new members (list below). 
April 1, 2010
On April 1st 2010, membership of Mayors for Peace reached 3,793 members with 119 new registrations during March 2010. Membership in Africa is growing with the first members in 8 new countries. Nicaragua now has 100% of all Mayors on board. The Federation of Latin American Cities, Municipalities and Associations of Local Governements also formally endorsed its support for Mayors for Peace during their Executive Bureau Meeting in Puerto Rico.

In March we also welcomed Whistler as our second Canadian city in our political leadership. Both Montreal and Whistler have joined the political leadership of Mayors for Peace through Associate Membership.
March 13, 2010
Meeting on March 13th 2010 in San Juan (Puerto Rico), the Executive Bureau of the Federation of Latin American Cities, Municipalities and Associations  of Local Governments (FLACMA) adopted a motion in support of Mayors for Peace and the 2020 Vision Campaign.

The adoption of the motion signals substantial progress in Latin America. FLACMA was founded in 1981 and is the representation of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) in Latin America and the Caribbean. The UCLG is the voice of local governments at the United Nations and the international community.
March 7, 2010
From the 4th to the 7th March 2010, Mayor Daniel Tsakem of Fongo-Tongo city was invited to attend a panafrican meeting of UCLG (United Cities and Local Governments) in Abuja, (Nigeria). Mayors for Peace Associate Member Mayor Tsakem was accompanied by his Vice-Mayor, Jean Paul Nanfack, contact person for Mayors for Peace and 2020 Vision Campaign in Cameroon.

After the active participation of Mayor Daniel Tsakem and Vice-Mayor Jean-Paul Nanfack we welcomed 22 new African members. Amongst these we welcomed the first members of Mayors for Peace in 8 African nations: the Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Niger and Sao Tome and Principe.
March 1, 2010
On March 1st 2010, membership of Mayors for Peace reached 3,680 with 118 new registrations since February 1st 2010. Membership in Latin-America is growing rapidly. Nicaragua now has 98% of all Mayors on board. In February we also welcomed the first two Latin-American cities in our leadership. Both Mexico City and Montevideo joined the political leadership of Mayors for Peace through Associate Membership. They join Bastogne (Belgium), Fongo-Tongo (Cameroon) and Montreal (Canada) who also accepted very recently to join as Associate Members.

As the NPT Review Conference in New York this May grows closer, the membership is increasing considerably in Japan (42), Nicaragua (31) and Germany (22). Numbers are also steadily rising in Spain (7), Austria (2), Canada (2), USA (2), UK (2), Bosnia and Herzegovina (1), Italy (1), Kazakhstan (1), Netherlands (1), Russia (1), Seychelles (1), Sweden (1) and Switzerland (1).  Click the URL to view the detailed list of new members published on March 1st 2010
February 4, 2010
Today we have the pleasure to announce that the Mayors of Bastogne (Belgium), Montreal (Canada) and Fongo-Tongo (Cameroon) have accepted to join the international political leadership of Mayors for Peace through Associate Membership of the 2020 Vision Campaign Association, This as a first step towards eventual Vice-Presidency of the organisation which is growing very rapidly.

Associate Members are expected to take leadership in their country or region concerning capacity building, including membership recruitment, policial lobby-work, involving national association of local authorities, fundraising and joining the annual strategic meetings. The next meeting is planned during the NPT Review Conference at the UN next May.
February 1, 2010
On February 1st 2010 membership of Mayors for Peace reached 3,562 members with 168 new registrations since December 1st 2009. On average 2,7 local governments have joined the movement for the elimination of all nuclear weapons by 2020 every single day during the past two months.

As Mayors for Peace prepares for the NPT Review Conference in New York next May membership continues to grow considerably in Japan (92), Cameroon (22) and Spain (17). Efforts are also underway in Austria (6), Belgium (3), Canada (3), Costa Rica (1), Cyprus (1),  France (1), Greece (2), Iran (4), Italy (1), Marocco (1), New Zealand (1), Nicaragua (1), Portugal (4), Switzerland (1), UK (2) and USA (5). Click the URL to view the detailed list of new members published on January 1st 2010 and February 1st 2010.
December 11, 2009

Over fifty mayors and representatitives of local authorities met in Granollers to discuss the surge of the importance of local governments in the international arena. The mayors issued a final declaration establishing a new section of Mayors for Peace in Spain and endorsing the total elimination of nuclear weapons by recalling the Hiroshima - Nagasaki Protocol.

December 1, 2009
During November 156 new members joined the movement of local authorities demanding the elimination of all nuclear weapons by 2020. As of December 1st Mayors for Peace counts 3,396 member cities and municipalities in 134 countries and regions. This latest sharp increase of members is an encouragement for Mayors for Peace which is aiming to count 5,000 members during the upcoming NPT Review Conference in May 2010.
November 2, 2009
As of November 2nd Mayors for Peace counts 3,241 member cities and municipalities in 134 countries and regions. During October 94 new members joined the movement of local authorities demanding the elimination of all nuclear weapons by 2020. Especially the 48 new members from Nicaragua signal that the Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign is gathering new momentum. Mayors for Peace is aiming to count 5,000 members during the upcoming NPT Review Conference in May 2010.
October 12, 2009
October 1, 2009
As of October 1st 2009 Mayors for Peace counts 3,147 member cities and municipalities in 134 countries and regions. During September 43 new members joined the movement of local authorities demanding the elimination of all nuclear weapons by 2020.
August 6, 2009

Hiroshima, August 2009 - As ten of thousands gathered to commemorate the Hiroshima bombing on August 6th, Hiroshima Mayor Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba reiterated the urgent need to eliminate all nuclear weapons by 2020. 

Mr. Freddy Thielemans, the Mayor of City of Brussels, communicated this morning that his city has accepted to serve on the Executive Committee of Mayors for Peace. The letter addressed to Hiroshima Mayor Akiba Tadatoshi also confirms the commitment of the City of Brussels in support of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol, a protocol designed to eliminate all nuclear weapons by 2020. Brussels joining the Executive leadership of Mayors for Peace is viewed as an important political signal. 

July 17, 2009
Our Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign Progress Report 2009 is now published in English, French and Spanish. The reports give a review of 2008 and plans for 2009. 

This 32-page Progress Report 2009 illustrates that the Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign is well underway. We are sure that this report will be a very good tool to increase support for the Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign.

Download your copy here
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July 11, 2009
July 1, 2009
July 1st 2009 - Mayors for Peace now counts 2,963 members in 134 countries and regions on July 1st 2009. The first half of 2009 (January 1st 2009 - July 1st 2009) Mayors for Peace has welcomed 427 new member cities. This is the highest growth of  membership since Mayors for Peace was founded in 1982. Only in 2005 (601) and 2008 (555) did the organisation welcome as many members over a 12 month period.
June 16, 2009
Over the weekend, the President of Mayors for Peace and the Mayor of Hiroshima, Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba, expressed his concern at the recently announced plans of North Korea to build on their nuclear arsenal.  Reacting to this dangerous development, he describes the "grave challenge" this poses the international community.
June 1, 2009
With 56 new members joining us in June and 53 in May, membership has shot up to a total of 2,926 local authorities in 134 countries and regions around the world in the past months.
April 29, 2009
A growing number of City Councils pass a resolution to show concrete support of the 2020 Vision Campaign by committing to a contribution of €0,025/inhibitant/year up to and inlcuding 2020. We now count financial contributions from over 130 cities towards the elimination of nuclear weapons by 2020.
April 24, 2009
EP Strasbourg - Today the European Parliament approved with a majority of 177 votes against 130 an amendment introducing the "Model Nuclear Weapons Convention" and the "Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol" as concrete tools to achieve a nuclear weapons free world by 2020. The amendment was introduced by the Ana Gomes for the PES and Angelika Beer for the Greens/EFA. 
April 22, 2009
The 2020 Vision Campaign Secretariat was recently informed of a by the Spanish regional Catalan Parliament supporting the objectives of Mayors for Peace and promoting the abolition of nuclear weapons. The Declaration, endorsed by the plenary on the 18th December 2008, can be read in full here (Catalan only). This news follows the more recent Belgian Senate resolution endorsing the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol and the work of Mayors for Peace.
April 10, 2009
The 2020 Vision Campaign Secretariat recently learned of a landmark resolution (no. 4-1111) passed in Belgian Senate explicitly supporting the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol and Mayors for Peace's efforts to put it forward at the 2010 NPT Review Conference. The resolution was passed on January 29th 2009 by 39 votes (and 8 abstentions).
April 1, 2009
Mayors for Peace welcomed today a full 40 new members, pushing the total membership of the network to 2,817 local authorities in 134 countries and regions.
March 16, 2009
Last Friday representatives of the Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign spoke at a Seminar for the All-Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) Forum in Dundalk, Ireland.  They joined other speakers such as John Gormley TD, Irish Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and leader of the Green Party, and Dr. David Pollard, Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland. The 2020 Vision Campaign message was greeted with great enthusiasm, as the first 7 Irish signatories to the Cities Appeal in support of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol were welcomed on the day.
March 2, 2009
Today Mayors for Peace announced that during the month of February 69 new member cities and municipalities from 14 countries and regions joined the network. With these new additions, the membership count of the network now stands at 2,777 cities and municipalities in 134 countries and regions.
February 19, 2009
Yesterday, the 18th of February, three buses filled with 40 Czech Mayors from the League of Mayors against the Radar and activists from the Nonviolence Movement travelled from the Czech Republic to Brussels in protest against US plans to install a military radar base there. In Brussels, they met with with several MEPs, Belgian Senators and the Vice-president of the European Parliament Luisa Morgantini. They also attended a public rally against the radar held outside the European Parliament building. Mayors for Peace was present throughout the day, at the Senate, European Parliament and rally, in solidarity with their Czech colleagues and Mayors.
February 3, 2009
Yesterday in Volgograd (Russia), a Vice President City of Mayors for Peace, the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad was marked with events for veterans and citizens.  Previously known as Stalingrad, events in the city were attended by its Mayor, Mr. Roman Grebennikov, and various local politicans, Deputies to the State Duma, veterans, dignitaries and citizens. During one ceremony, the First Vice Mayor, Mr. Sokolov, read out a message composed specially for the occasion from the Mayor of Hiroshima and President of Mayors for Peace, Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba.  Mr. Sokolov went on to express appreciation for the support of Mayor Akiba and in a few words introduced Mayors for Peace to the audience.
February 2, 2009
Today the Mayors for Peace network grew once again, with 73 new members joining us from 13 different countries.  Mayors for Peace now counts a total membership of 2,708 Mayors around the world.
January 30, 2009
Earlier this week, 100 atomic bomb survivors (Hibakusha, in Japanese) reached Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the final stage of their 4 month voyage to 20 countries with the Global Voyage for a Nuclear-Free World - Peace Boat Hibakusha Project.  There they presented 27 new member cities from 4 countries and 25 new signatories to the Cities Appeal in support of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol to Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba and Mayor Tomihisa Taue, President and Vice-President of Mayors for Peace, respectively. Furthermore, they relayed news of the declaration of the Association of Bolivarian Mayors of Venezuela (ABODAVE), whose 250+ member cities have commited to join the Mayors for Peace and sign the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol.
January 16, 2009
In line with the "Cities Are Not Targets" Project, the leading body of Mayors for Peace, acting on behalf of its 2635 member cities, has issued a statement on the conflict in and around the Gaza Strip.  The disproportionate nature of the Israeli attack on the densely populated Palestinian cities is singled out for the harshest condemnation.  Unleashing massive explosions in the heart of a city is simply intolerable -- no better than terrorism.  The full text of the Statement can be found on the Mayors for Peace website(use link above), and is reproduced directly below with some background information.
January 6, 2009
Mayors for Peace recruited another 99 new member cities during December 2008. This brings the total to 2,635 member cities in 134 countries and regions. In 2008 Mayors for Peace welcomed 615 new member cities. This is an unexpected success as we had aimed at 365 new members for 2008, or an average of one member a day. We wish to thank all our supporters who have assisted us in the further growth of Mayors for Peace.
 
In December 2008 we welcomed new members from Belgium (9), Colombia (1), Israel (6), Italy (16), Japan (3), Nicaragua (32), Norway (1), Spain (16), Sri Lanka (12), UK (2) and USA (1). You find the full list of the 99 new members by clicking here
December 9, 2008
Today 100 international leaders met in Paris to show their support for a world without nuclear weapons - and their belief in the possibility of achieving it. Attendees included former US President Jimmy Carter, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, businessman Sir Richard Branson and Queen Noor of Jordan.  These dignatories join the chorus of global figures in recent times who have spoken up for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
December 1, 2008
Between November 8th and November 14th 2008 Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba, the Mayor of Hiroshima and the President of Mayors for Peace, was in Europe for the promotion of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol. Events for member cities were organized in Luxembourg, Belgium and Germany, countries with very high membership totaling 690 member cities (December 1st). There were also high-level meetings such as with Mr. Yves Leterme, Belgian Prime Minister, and Mr. Walter Momper, President of the Berlin Regional Parliament.
December 1, 2008
As of today, December 1st 2008, Mayors for Peace counts 2,536 cities and municipalities in 133 countries and regions across the world as members of our network and supporters in the struggle for universal nuclear disarmament. The most recent membership update has registered the adhesion of 68 new members.  68 more mayors have taken the decision to stand up and demand decisive action for the security of their citizens, calling for the neutralisation of the threat that nuclear weapons pose to humanity on a constant basis.

These new members hail from Belgium (5); Germany (6); Iraq (1); Italy (15); Japan (2); Luxembourg (4); Norway (18); Russia (1); Spain (14); Sweden (1) and the USA (1).
November 23, 2008
After his meeting with Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme on November 11th, the Mayor of Hiroshima, Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba,  addressed the media during an International Press Conference in Ypres. This year a special delegation has traveled to Ypres at the invitation of Mayor Luc Dehaene.  Among them are mayoral representatives from the cities of Halabja (Iraq), Hannover (Germany), Volgograd, previously Stalingrad, (Russia), Manchester (UK), North Olmsted (USA), Biograd na Moru (Croatia), Granollers (Spain), Florence (Italy), Malakoff (France) and of course Hiroshima (Japan). Together, these cities form the Executive leadership of the international organization Mayors for Peace, which counts today 2,468 members in 133 countries and regions across the world and campaigns for a complete nuclear abolition by the year 2020.
November 22, 2008
Thirty-one members of the Mayors League Against the Radar have written to President-Elect Barrack Obama asking him to reverse the course set by the Bush Adminsitration to establish facilities on Czech and Polish soil to attack objects in space.  While usually presented as a defensive capability against missiles that Iran might develop in coming years, the system can also be used to shot down low-orbit satellites, as was demonstrated earlier this year.  As the letter also mentions, the system is seen by Russia as a means of degrading its retaliatory capacity in the event it were attacked first with nuclear weapons.
Mayors have helped to lead the struggle to have Czech public opinion on this issue, which heavily opposes the deployment, respected.  Their close cooperation with civil society is reflected by the signatures on the letter of the leaders of Non-Violent Movement and Europe for Peace. 
Thanks to the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space for bringing this latest development to our attention.
November 13, 2008
On the 12th November, Alexander Davydenko, the First Vice-Mayor of Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad and Vice-President City of Mayors for Peace) addressed a symposium hosted by Brussels City Hall - "Perspectives on Nuclear Disarmament 2010/2020".  In his speech he expressed his city's decision to co-chair, along with Hiroshima and Ypres, a special advisory group of War-Scourged Cities to be launched by the 2020 Vision Campaign in the near future. All cities which have experienced the scourge of war in the last 100 years are invited to join and push for the international community to finally learn from its mistakes of the past.
 
November 9, 2008
On November 9, Luxembourg Mayor Paul Helminger hosted an academic conference at Luxembourg City Hall featuring Tadatoshi Akiba, Mayor of Hiroshima and President of Mayors for Peace. Mayor Helminger, who also serves in the Luxembourg parliament and is a member of PNND, used the occasion to join Mayor Akiba in promoting the Hiroshima-Nagasaki protocol – a proposal to the States Parties to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to adopt a plan for the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons leading to a nuclear weapons convention. Almost one third of all Luxembourg Mayors joined in the event. The Mayors for Peace was very well covered by all main-stream media in Luxembourg.
November 4, 2008
PRESS ALERT!
Invitation International Press Conference Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign
Tuesday November 11th, Hotel Regina, Grote Markt 45, Ypres, Belgium

Ypres, Belgium November 4th 2008 - This year, the 90th anniversary of the end of World War I on November 11th in Ypres will be a particularly special commemoration with an international delegation of Mayors for Peace calling for complete nuclear disarmament by 2020. Today Mayors for Peace welcomes another 46 new member cities which enrolled last month bringing total to 2468 cities in 133 countries and regions.
October 27, 2008
What promises to be a close working relationship was forged between President Akiba and President D'Escoto at their first encounter today at the United Nations, New York.
October 24, 2008
At the United Nations headquarters in New York today, the UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon made an address entitled “The United Nations and Security in a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World” to an esteemed audience that included Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed El Baradei, Russian Ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, and leaders from China, the E.U., India, Japan and Pakistan. In his speech, Mr. Ban outlined a five-point plan for nuclear disarmament, calling for "the nuclear-weapon States, to fulfil their obligation under the [nuclear Non-Proliferation] Treaty" by pursuing "a framework of separate, mutually reinforcing instruments."
October 1, 2008
Hiroshima; Ypres, October 1st 2008 - With 12 new member cities and four new Executive Cities, the international organisation Mayors for Peace continues to gather strength in its global campaign for the abolition of nuclear weapons before 2020. Today the organisation announced global membership has reached 2,422 member cities in 131 countries. With over 400 cities already having joined Mayors for Peace in 2008, the organisation continues to gain support from local authorities around the world for the elimination of nuclear arms.

Mayors for Peace also announced that the cities of Biograd (Croatia), Granollers (Spain), Halabja (Iraq) and Waitakere (New Zealand) have accepted appointment as Executive Cities back-ground on new Executive Cities
September 24, 2008
In a two day period, at least 39 civilians have been killed in southern part of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, adding to a civilian toll of over 6000 nationwide within the past year.  In a continuation of a global pattern condemned by the Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign, all the recent casualties resulted from the use of explosive force, in this case mortar and artillery bombardment. 
Last year the Islamic Courts Movement, which had establish control over most of Somalia, was replaced by a pro-Western government through Ethiopian force of arms.  The African Union has since, with the UN Security Council's blessings, backed the new government.  But the Government's control over the country and even the capital is tenuous at best.  
By all accounts, it was Government forces and their foreign reinforcements that were responsibile for the recent shellings, including, yesterday, direct hits on the Bakara market place that killed 30 and wounded twice that number.  It is particularly disappointing that African Union peacekeeping troops from Uganda were apparent responsible for several of the earlier casualties.
Here are links to three accounts of the incidents and the events leading up to them.
http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/4384
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gyQQtpcNXAsK4tUFsJxynytlp5yA
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g7OaI4_kjeHA-o4UhlmP7vlWmrrwD93BQ3OO0
The last one is printed below.  Note the following one sentence paragraph:
"In the past, government officials have suspected insurgents use Bakara market as a base."
As if that could ever serve as justification for shelling a crowded public space!
September 19, 2008
Responding to the urging of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the 2020 Vision Campaign, Mayor Luc Dehaene of Ypres, Belgium, mayors from around the world helped to push the signature total for the  Cities Appeal in support of the Hiroshima Nagasaki Protocol past the 300 mark.  For the latest listing of signatories to the Cities Appeal click here.

The President of Mayors for Peace, Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba, Mayor of Hiroshima, Japan, has issued a message for the International Day of Peace.   Please feel free to disseminate this Message in any appropriate manner on International Peace Day, or thereafter.
September 8, 2008
Further investigation of the Azizabad aerial bombardment lends support to the Cities Are Not Targets! stance that the use of explosive force in populated areas is inherently inhumane and, more often than not, counterproductive.
September 3, 2008
In the 10 August 2020 Vision Campaign press release on the conflict in Georgia, I reported that, in a major escalation, the South Ossetian capital came under heavy bombardment by the Georgian army.  Remarkably this triggering incident has received no in-depth reporting in the Western press.  Three weeks later, buried in an IHT article on re-building the Georgian army, we find these short paragraphs:
"In the field, there is evidence from an extensive set of witnesses that within 30 minutes of Saakashvili's order, Georgia's military began pounding civilian sections of the city of Tskhinvali, as well as a Russian peacekeeping base there, with heavy barrages of rocket and artillery fire.
"The barrages all but ensured a Russian military response, several diplomats, military officers and witnesses said."
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September 2, 2008
Today, a group of top legislators from the G8 countries paid their respects to the victims of nuclear warfare in a moving ceremony at the Hiroshima memorial in Japan.  The attendees were Nancy Pelosi, U.S. House Speaker, Peter Milliken, speaker of the House of Commons in Canada, Michael Martin, speaker of the British House of Commons, Gianfranco Fini, president of Italy's Chamber of Deputies, Bernard Accoyer, president of the French National Assembly, Norbert Lammert, president of the German Bundestag, Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou, vice president of the European Parliament, Yohei Kono, speaker of Japan's House of Representatives, and Boris Gryzlov, chairman of the State Duma in Russia.
September 1, 2008
As the G8 Speakers started their first round of meetings in Hiroshima this morning, Mayors for Peace announced that in the past month (August 1st - September 1st) another 42 Cities have joined the network. This brings total membership to 2,410 members in 131 countries and regions. New members are from Australia (1), Brazil (1), Netherlands (1), Spain (7), Iran (2), Japan (5) and Nicaragua (25).
August 30, 2008
The Cities Are Not Targets! project does not, unfortunately, have the capacity to respond to every attack on cities and towns, much less villages.  But occasionally an attack on a small populated area is so horrific that we would be delerict not to speak out.  Tragically, Azizabad, Afghanistan, is just such a case.  AT

This press release was used by an Italian Internet news service; for those who speak Italian click here.

NOTE: The AC-130 is no ordinary warplane.  This UTube link provides a portrait of the gunship accompanied by stirring music.  There you will find further links to AC-130s in operation.  This one shows things from the gunners perspective.  The 'god-like' power of the crew as they methodically blast away at buildings, vehicles, and individuals, who have no means of either resisting or surrendering, is very disturbing to watch; be forewarned.  
The video shows an attack against an isolated area around a mosque, in which the mosque is spared but little else.  It strongly resembles a war-game video, and the repeated cries of "Bang! Bang!" by the gunner only heighten that impression.  Note also that any moving figure is automatically a "guy" although the infra-red image resolution gives no basis for distinguishing men and women, or for that matter armed and unarmed.  The video provides no background on what gave the gunship commanders and crew confidence that they were attacking a Taliban target.  Obviously, someone gave them clearance to kill anything that moved.  This makes it quite clear how, when the intelligence is faulty, an AC-130 is capable of causing huge civilian casualties; and even if it is reliable, how many civilians could easily get caught up in the carnage.   
August 29, 2008
This is the second piece written by me on the US-India nuclear deal that has run in The Hindu, which has a readership of around 5 million.  The proposal for India to enter the NPT "through the front door" is meant to challenge the readers to treat seriously the NPT as the keystone of the world's nuclear nonproliferation regime.  The distain in Indai for the NPT, which dates back to over 40 years ago, is totally anachronistic today when only Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea stand outside the regime.  It would be in India's best interest to take a fresh look at the NPT.  The Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol provides such a fresh persepctive.  In point fact, India could participate in the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol without using the 'front door.'  Unrestricted peaceful trade could resume in 2015, since under Article II of the Protocol the non-acquisition of nuclear-weapon would be fully verified at that conjunture.
AT
August 10, 2008
Please make wide use of this press release.  If you know of a paper that might wish to pick up on it, please forward it to them.  Thank you.  AT
August 9, 2008
Today Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue , Vice President of Mayors for Peace , marked the 63rd anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki with a solemn ceremony. In the Nagasaki Peace Declaration the Mayor of Nagasaki calls for world powers to abandon their nuclear weapons.

The Mayor declared that "Next year, the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima will join together to host in Nagasaki the General Conference of Mayors for Peace, which has a membership of more than 2,300 cities worldwide. Banding together with cities around the world, we will undertake activities to promote nuclear disarmament in the run up to the 2010 NPT Review Conference". The next General Conference of Mayors for Peace is planned August 8 - 10th 2009.
August 6, 2008
As Japan marked the 63rd anniversary of the atomic blast that obliterated the city and killed 140,000 people, Hiroshima’s mayor Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba urged the next U.S. president to support a proposed ban on nuclear weapons.

With the 2008 Hiroshima Peace Declaration Mayor Akiba stated that Mayors for Peace seeks to realize a nuclear-free world by 2020. Mayors for Peace proposed a Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol in April to supplement the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, calling for an immediate halt to all efforts to obtain or deploy nuclear weapons by nuclear-weapon states.
August 1, 2008
The past month, between June 30th and August 1st, another 51 Cities have joined Mayors for Peace bringing total membership to 2368 members in 131 countries and regions. New members are from Australia (1), Andorra (1), Belgium (3), Denmark (1), France (1), Netherlands (6), Spain (15), Iraq (6), Japan (15) and USA (2). With La Massana we welcome our first member in Andorra.
July 25, 2008
Please find here the first Annual Report for the Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign. This 28-page Annual Report 2008 with a review of 2007 and plans for 2008 will show you that the Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign is well underway.

The report includes Background and Plans; Structure; Activities and Membership (Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and Caribbean, North America and Oceania); International Campaign; Financial Statements; Fundraising and Visibility.

Download here the light version (1,7 MB) or the HighPrintQuality version (38,4 MB) Annual Report MfP 2020VC 2008
July 24, 2008
Closely following the call from four prominent British politicians carried in 'The Times' (UK) on the 30th of June, today Italy's major daily newspaper, Corriere della Sera, published a groundbreaking Op-ed signed by five leading figures in Italian politics.  Their statement adds further momentum to the ongoing international debate on the nuclear issue, underlining the urgent need for a safe and peaceful end to the nuclear age.  Already, the Op-ed has invited reponse from the peace community, as Lisa Clark of the Italian NGO Beati i Costruttori di Pace adds: "A group of NGOs and associations responded immediately to the call by the four former Ministers. We welcomed the open letter, but added that if Italy were truly serious about working towards nuclear abolition, there were several actions that could be taken right away...". They hope to have their reply published in Corriere della Sera.
July 9, 2008
James Goodby joins a growing list of former Republican Adminsitration officials speaking out for the elimination of nuclear weapons.  Mayors for Peace is pleased to see that the concept of having a strong vision of a nuclear-weapon-free world, which has been at the core of the 2020 Vision Campaign since tis inception, is gain traction.  In Geneva, last May we upped the ante, by backing the vision with a plan for realizing it: the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol.  James E. Goodby, by calling for "the nuclear weapons states, led by the United States and Russia, [to] join in removing nuclear weapons from their war plans..." echoes the Protocol's Article I provision: "Cease forthwith ... all activities which incorporate nuclear weapons into their military doctrines and practices..."  This provision is meant to end threats to use nuclear weapons. 
Particularly notable is that this piece has appeared in one of the nations more conservative newspapers, the Washington Times. 
July 4, 2008
In a letter from Mayor Patrick Moenaert we learned that on June 6th 2007 the Council of the historic Belgian City of Bruges decided to make a firm annual commitment to the Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign. 
July 2, 2008
Pictures here

UPDATE, 29th August 2008: Marianne Thyssen (PPE-DE), new President of the CD&V (Christian Democrats) of Flanders, Belgium, has just lent her support to a Nuclear Weapons Convention by signing the Parliamentary endorsement.

Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign co-organizes the launch of  a "Parliamentary endorsement of the Nuclear Weapons Convention" (NWC) during an International Conference in the European Parliament in Brussels where several of its members are scheduled to speak. A cross-party group of 83 members of the European Parliament from 19 EU member states have signed the statement in support of the NWC. Amongst the first endorsers we find Ms. Frieda Brepoels and Mr. Raymond Langendries (PPE-DE, Belgium). Mr. Langendries is also a Mayor of Tubize and member of Mayors for Peace.

Ms. Frieda Brepoels member of the conservative group declared during the signing ceremony: "After 40 years it is also for the US, Russia, China, Great-Britain and France the highest time to keep their promises and destroy their entire nuclear arsenal. Nuclear weapons add nothing to a better and more secure world. A majority of people all over the world want a total ban on nuclear weapons. The non proliferation Treaty looses its credibility if the Heads of Government of those countries refuse to negotiate. They carry an enormous responsibility for all the following generations."
June 30, 2008
The past four weeks and as of June 30th 2008,  40 new member cities have joined Mayors for Peace . The fast growing network now counts 2,317 member cities in up to 130 countries.

We welcome new members from Australia (1),  Belgium (1), Bulgaria (1), Bosnia and Herzegovina (1), Haiti (2), Iraq (16), Israel (1), Italy (1), Japan (4), Spain (8), Switzerland (1) UK (2) and USA (1).
June 30, 2008
After the Kissinger, Shultz, Perry and Nunn initiative, we now have a remarkable statement from British counter-parts published today in "The Times". The following call was launched by Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Lord Hurd of Westwell and Lord Owen. They are all former foreign secretaries. Also Lord Robertson of Port Ellen signed. He is a former Nato secretary-general
June 29, 2008
An Inter Press Service newswire draws attention to the recent advance of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol at the US Conference of Mayors last week.  The IPS newsstory also covers the efforts of Hibakusha (survivors of the atomic bomb) to the G8 Summit leaders to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. The G8 leaders will be meeting in Hokkaido, Japan on July 7th - 9th.

Nearly 150 mayors and local assembly leaders in Hokkaido (northern Japan) urged earlier this month the Japanese Government to raise the total abolition of nuclear weapons as a priority issue for the coming G8 Summit.
June 28, 2008
In a letter of June 15th Mr. Akiba Tadatoshi, Mayor of Hiroshima, and Mr. Tomihisa Taue, Mayor of Nagasaki, invited all members of Mayors for Peace to sign the Cities Appeal in support of the Hiroshima Nagasaki Protocol towards the next NPT Review Conference in 2010 where the Cities Appeal will be formally presented.
June 28, 2008
On June 23, 2008, the US Conference of Mayors (USCM), at its 76th annual meeting in Miami, Florida, unanimously adopted a far-reaching resolution entitled “Support for the Elimination of All Nuclear Weapons by the Year 2020.”  See full text below.

 The resolution, submitted by Mayors for Peace Vice-President Donald Plusquellic (Akron, Ohio) and 9 co-sponsors, recommends that the U.S. government “urgently consider” an agreement - the “Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol” - as a means of “fulfilling the promise of the NPT by the year 2020, thereby meeting the obligation found by the International Court of Justice in 1996 to ‘conclude negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control.’” 
June 22, 2008
We are happy to announce that the Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign website is now also available in Spanish. We wish to thank EVS volunteer Jaira Valenzuela who dedicates a lot of her time to translate the Spanish 2020 Vision Campaign website. We also wish to thank the Mayor of Madrid, who has kindly offered to assist us in translating important documents into Spanish, an official language of the UN.
June 12, 2008
Europa Press in Spain reported that the Catalan association of municipalities is calling its members to register its support for the Mayors for Peace. Here is the translation of the story they carried.
June 10, 2008
HIROSHIMA, Japan - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called Monday for an end to nuclear weapons as he toured a memorial to the horror of the world's first atomic bombing.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced plans for an International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, to be co-chaired by former Foreign Minister Gareth Evans.
June 10, 2008
Stockholm, June 9th 2008 - World military spending grew 45 percent in the past decade, with the United States accounting for nearly half of all expenditures, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said on Monday. Military spending grew 6 percent last year alone, according to SIPRI's annual report.

In 2007, $1.338 trillion was spent on arms and other military expenditure, corresponding to 2.5 percent of global gross domestic product, or GDP - or $202 for each of the world's 6.6 billion people.

The United States spends by far the most toward military aims, officially dishing out $547 billion last year, or 45 percent of global expenditure. Britain, China, France and Japan, the next in line of big spenders, lag far behind, accounting for just 4 to 5 percent of world military costs each.

June 2, 2008
The past 3 weeks and as of June 2nd 2008,  51 new member cities have joined Mayors for Peace and now counts 2,277 member cities in 129 countries. We welcome new members from Austria (1), Belgium (1), Chile (2), Croatia (1), Iraq (27), Japan (7), Spain (2), Switzerland (3) and USA (7).

Click here for the list of the new 51 member cities.
June 1, 2008
On Saturday 31th May 2008, Luc Dehaene (Mayor of Ypres), Pol Dhuyvetter and myself took part in Commemoration of the Bombardment of Granollers. The commemoration started in the cemetery at 9:05 am , exactly 70 years after the first bombs exploded in the city of Granollers. It was a moving ceremony where we learned that in 1938, in just one minute, 224 civilians died as the Italian air-force released 30 explosive bombs and 10 incendiary bombs in support of  the fascists troops of General Franco.
May 31, 2008
Nearly 150 mayors and local assembly leaders in Hokkaido (northern Japan) urge the Japanese Government to raise the total abolition of nuclear weapons as a priority issue for the coming G8 Summit.
May 26, 2008
Help us publish the membership of your city to Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision campaign. You can download this banner from our website here and ask the City webmaster to put it on a very good visible place on the indexpage of your city website.
May 21, 2008
Brussels, May 21st 2008 - The Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign sends its solidarity and support to the two young Czechs, Jan Tamas and Jan Bednar, who have been without food for 9 days in an effort to draw attention to the imposition of a US "National Missile Defense" radar on the Czech people.
May 12, 2008
As of May 12th 2008,  32 new member cities have joined Mayors for Peace and Mayors for Peace now count 2,226 member cities in 129.

We welcome the Mayor of Hargeisa as the first member from Somaliland, Africa. We also count new members in Australia (1), Belgium (4), Czech Republic (1), Denmark (2), Italy (1), Japan (14), Mali (1), South Africa (1), Spain (2), Sweden (2), Switzerland (1) and Venezuela (1).
May 6, 2008
Today 317 of a total of 589 Belgian Mayors have joined Mayors for Peace. With 53,82% of Belgian Mayors supporting the 2020 Vision Campaign Belgium has highest membership worldwide. The previous weeks we welcomed Saint-Léger, Virton, Liedekerke, Schaarbeek and Faimes as new members.

Furthermore already 65 Belgian Cities and Municipalities have committed financial support for the 2020 Vision Campaign. The Citiy Council of Amay, Hamois, Middelkerke, Waasmunster and Waregem were the latest Belgian councils to approve financial support (full list below). An appeal for financial support has been mailed recently to the entire membership in 127 countries.

* Support us now! We encourage all member cities to make financial contributions to the campaign.We can provide you with the resolution in Dutch, French, German and Spanish. Click here for sample City Council resolution

* Individual donations are welcome on our account.  Click here for account information
April 29, 2008
UN Geneva - Today the Mayors for Peace launched the "Hiroshima/Nagasaki Protocol" during the NPT PrepCom in Geneva. With the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol Mayors for Peace challenges the NPT diplomats to prepare for a decisive decade for nuclear disarmament. Mayor Akiba Tadatoshi, President of Mayors for Peace, launched the Protocol in his address to the second Preparatory Committee meeting (PrepCom) for the 2010 NPT Review Conference.

Luc Dehaene, Mayor of Ypres and Chair of the Mayors for Peace 2020 VIsion Campaign and Senator Patrik Vankrunklesven went into detail to explain the significance of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki Protocol to the review process in which the ambassadors are engaged.
April 1, 2008
Click on the link above for details

Between March 18 and April 1st, 2008 another 25 cities have joined Mayors for Peace. Thus, the Conference involves 2,195 cities in 128 countries and regions around the world.  New members are from  Australia (1), Belgium (2), Canada (2), Denmark (1),  Italy (1),  Japan (16), Venezuela (1) and US (1). The Mayor of Sucre is our first member in Venezuela bringing our membership up to Mayors in 128 countries..

Remarkable is the surge of new members from Japan in 2008 where we now count 118 members. For the past 25 years membership had been limited to the founding cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Asia today counts 333 members of Mayors for Peace.

We welcome the Mayor of Chicago, the third largest US city, for joining Mayors for Peace. With another 2 Canadian members North-America now counts 188 members.
March 27, 2008
On Thursday March 27th a delegation presented to the Italian Parliament 67.248 certified signatures of Italian citizens asking the Republic of Italy to be declared a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone. For six months almost 100 local committees of concerned citizens, assisted by mayors and councillors, collected signatures for a law in order to declare Italy a "Nuclear Weapon Free Zone". The platform of local authorities and social movements grew steadily following the first official signatures of the Mayors of Ghedi and Aviano during a ceremony on 30 September 2007. The airforce bases of Ghedi and Aviano in northern Italy host a total of 90 US nuclear weapons against the will of the Italian people.

Lisa Clark, the coordinator of the campaign for a Nuclear Free Future declared: "If the will of the People is upheld and the draft law is approved, Italy could become the second European state that declares itself Nuclear Weapon Free. At present, Austria is the only European country with a Nuclear Free Constitution. Today already 113 States in the world outlawed nuclear weapons and declared regional Nuclear Weapon Free Zones: Central and Southern America, Africa, the Pacific and Oceania, Central- and South-East Asia and also Mongolia."
March 26, 2008
In August 2006, the US Defense Logistics Agency packaged and sent four nose-cone fuel assemblies to Taiwan instead of the four replacement Huey helicopter battery packs they had requested. The nose-cones, which trigger the nuclear warheads on Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles, were not noticed as missing until 18 months later. 
March 18, 2008
More details about all the 45 new member cities when you click on the link above

Between February 28th and March 18, 2008 another 45 cities have joined Mayors for Peace. Thus, the Conference involves 2,170 cities in 127 countries and regions around the world.  New members are from Belgium (5), Canada (1), Czech Republic  (1),  Denmark (1),  Italy (2),  Japan (32), Luxembourg (2) and Spain (1). In February already 97 cities had joined the network.

With an average of 2 to 3 new member cities a day it is clear that the 2020 Vision campaign continuous to attract strong support. It doubled our expectation as we had hoped to attract at least one new member per day for the 2008 - 2010 period where we prepare the Decisive Decade for Nuclear Disarmament. We wish to thank all the Mayors, their staff  and civil society for their ongoing support.

Further support needed
March 18, 2008
Picture report: click on link above

Mayors for Peace participated in a 3-day event "From Genocide into Peace" at the invitation of the Governerate of Sulymanyah, the Mayor of Halabja and the Regional Government of Kurdistan, Iraq. All events took place in the Region of Kurdistan, Iraq and marked the 20th anniversary of the gas attacks on the city of Halabja. The gas attack on the City of Halabja in March 1988 killed around 5,000 civilians.
March 10, 2008
NEW DELHI: India aspires for a non-violent, atomic weapons-free world and believes that the international community should conclude “universal, non-discriminatory and verifiable prohibitions on nuclear weapons” leading to their complete elimination, Indian Vice-President Hamid Ansari said here on Sunday.
March 5, 2008
Arab countries will walk away from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty if Israel ever officially acknowledges it has nuclear weapons, the Arab League announced in a statement Wednesday.
March 5, 2008
WASHINGTON: The commander of US strategic forces said on Tuesday the United States will need nuclear weapons as a deterrent for the rest of the 21st century and should move now to field more modern weapons.

Air Force General Kevin Chilton said new, more reliable nuclear weapons would enable the United States to reduce the large inventory of non-deployed weapons it keeps as a hedge.
February 28, 2008
BREAKING NEWS - 68 Japanese cities join Mayors for Peace - more details about all new member cities when you click on the link above

Mayors for Peace now counts 2,125 members which means there are 97 new members since last month January 28th. An average of 3 new cities joined every single day, which brings us well up to speed to reach the goal of one average city a day for the 2008 - 2010 preparations for the Decisive Decade on Nuclear Disarmament. This is very positive and empowering news for all of us and we hope that more people will get involved with the 2020 Vision Campaign of the Mayors for Peace today. Contact us today if you would like to help in your region or country.
January 28, 2008
Hiroshima - Ypres, January 28th 2008 – At a press conference in Hiroshima, Japan, Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba announced that the 2020 Vision Campaign of Mayors for Peace is successful in preparing for the Decisive Decade for Nuclear Disarmament. Mayor Akiba, also President of Mayors for Peace, declared, “An ambitious membership drive which begun last January has come to fruition: we now have 2,028 Mayors in 127 countries rallying for the 2020 Vision!”. Over 400 new members joined Mayors for Peace during 2007 (1).
January 22, 2008
A small group of warlords promote the first use of nuclear weapons as a core element for NATO's future security policies. Here is a worrying report published in the Guardian.
January 19, 2008
January 15, 2008

Mayor Luc Dehaene, chair of the Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign, welcomes today's statement by Kissinger et al in today's Wall Street Journal (1). However he urges nuclear weapons states not to hesitate any longer and keep the focus on the final goal. “We see these proposals as part of global preparations for a decisive decade for nuclear disarmament starting in 2010. The mountain this new commentary describes is not obscured in clouds. We can see it clearly,” said Mayor Dehaene, “It is not high at all compared to the many other challenges humanity faces such as climate change. We need to engage on the path towards complete nuclear disarmament immediately.”

January 10, 2008
Click URL above for latest list of Belgian members.
More positive news from Belgium to start 2008 with good faith.
December 17, 2007
The past 2 weeks another 45 cities have joined Mayors for Peace. Thus, the Conference involves 1,982 cities in 126 countries and regions around the world. The aim to have 2,020 members before the New Year is realistic and within reach. Click the URL above for details of new members accounted for on December 17th 2007.
December 12, 2007
Details new members October 2007  http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/english/topic/list/43.htm

Details new members November 2007 http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/english/topic/list/44.htm
December 8, 2007
Below is a reaction of NATO-boss De Hoop-Scheffer and Dutch Minister of
Foreign Affairs to the Op-ed of the Mayors for Peace marking the 20th
anniversary of the INF treaty.

Free translation of front page article in "Reformatorisch Dagblad", The
Netherlands, Saturday December 8th 2007
December 6, 2007
Full text of Op-ed below. With link you can access news item with Belgian Mayor Theo Kelchtermans asking for withdrawal US nukes from his territory
December 3, 2007
A new assessment by American intelligence agencies released Monday concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains frozen, contradicting a judgment two years ago that Tehran was working relentlessly toward building a nuclear bomb.
November 24, 2007
Meeting November 21 -22, 2007 in the historic Palazzo Vecchio as guests of the Mayor of Florence, Leonardo Domenici, the 7th Executive Conference of Mayors for Peace vowed to provide global leadership in preparing for the Disarmament Decade called for by the UN General Assembly.  This third phase of the 2020 Vision Campaign will be launched in Geneva in May 2008, on the fifth anniversary of the speech made there by Mayors for Peace President, Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba of Hiroshima, in which he proposed a mayors campaign against nuclear weapons.
November 23, 2007
November 22, 2007
It was the Association’s first General Meeting and it had the responsibility to approve the Statutes of the Association in conformity with Belgian law; to nominate and elect members of the Association’s Board of Directors, and designate Secretariat officials.
November 9, 2007
Click the link above for more information and full report
October 31, 2007
Click link above for full speech of Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba during UCLG conference

Jeju final declaration http://www.cities-localgovernments.org/uclg/upload/template/templatedocs/UCLG_Final_Declaration_ENG.pdf
October 30, 2007
Please find below the speech of Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba during a plenarary session on "City Diplomacy: Local Governments Building Peace" of the 2nd World Conference of the Union of Cities and Local Governments, Jeju, South Korea. More news about the Conference will be posted here soon.
October 21, 2007
ALEX SALMOND has made a major bid to win international backing for his government's campaign to rid Scotland of nuclear weapons, the Sunday Herald can reveal.
October 20, 2007
October 18, 2007
October 12, 2007
On Friday the 12 the German members  of the Mayors for Peace held their third annual national conference in Hannover.
October 11, 2007
October 3, 2007
Click link for more information about the IPPNW Conference

Here is a message of support from the Mayor of London, a member of Mayors for Peace, for the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) conference ‘The Final Epidemic: Preventing Proliferation and Achieving Abolition’, 3 and 4 October 2007
October 1, 2007
Click the link to see new member cities
October 1, 2007

On 1 October 200 people gathered at the main square of the Italian town Ghedi, to launch a new campaign to declare Italy a NWFZ through a legal initiative. The Mayors of Aviano, Castenedolo and Ghedi were the first to sign the new law proposal declaring Italy a nuclear-weapon-free country. A very  significant event, as Aviano and Ghedi are the two Italian cities where US nuclear weapons are stationed.

High resolution pictures on our website: http://www.2020visioncampaign.org/pages/287

September 29, 2007

Please find here a report of our presence at the General Conference of the Union of Baltic Cities in Pärnu, Estonia. Mayors for Peace was especially welcomed and encouraged by the new membership of Mr. Mart Viisitamm, Mayor of Pärnu. An event which was well-covered in local media.

The UBC Conference was excellent, and showed a very active involvement of its members. It was especially encouraging to see how Climate Change received a prominent place on the agenda. An excellent example how Cities have to tackle global problems on a local level.
September 8, 2007
High resolution pictures on http://www.2020visioncampaign.org/pages/296
September 4, 2007
Scientists are secretly working on the design of a revamped British nuclear warhead.
September 3, 2007
During the CND Conference "US Missile Defence: towards a new cold war?" Mr. Jan Neoral, the Czech Mayor of Trokavec, announced the creation of a new mayoral association opposing the deployment of the US NMD radar in the Czech Republic.  On Saturday September 1st already 85 Czech mayors  had joined the new association. Mr. Jan Neoral was the first Czech mayor who organised a referendum in the Czech Republic concerning NMD. A large majority of Czech citizens are opposed to the NMD system.

Mr. Jan Neoral was one of the first Czech Mayors to join with the Mayors for Peace last month. He will encourage the other Czech mayors of the new association to register their membership for Mayors for Peace. This new initiative demonstrates how local authorities can effectively make a difference in decision-making on international issues.

Speech by Mayor Neoral at end of this story
August 31, 2007
August 16, 2007
August 9, 2007
August 6, 2007
In an Op-ed published in two quality papers, Belgian members of Mayors for Peace marked Hiroshima Day by calling on their government to withdraw US nuclear weapons from Europe and end NATO's reliance on nuclear deterrent.
August 6, 2007
The Czech Mayors Mr. Josef Hála, mayor of Jince, and Mr. Jan Neoral, mayor of Trokavec, published an Op-ed today in two Belgian quality papers - De Morgen & La Libre Belgique-  in co-operation with Abolition 2000 Belgium. Both mayors have taken the lead in opposing NMD and were the first to organise referenda where the inhabitants overwhelmingly rejected NMD to be deployed in their area.

In the Peace Declaration Mr. Tadatoshi Akiba, the mayor of Hiroshima, praised the leadership of Czech mayors opposing NMD during his speech this morning marking the 62nd anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing.

Also the inhabitants of nine other Czech municipalities in central and west Bohemia area overwhelmingly rejected the construction of a U.S. radar base on Czech territory in local referenda and one village in a poll. In these referenda seven towns and villages in Rozmital pod Tremsinem, Bezdekov pod Tremsinem, Vesin, Sedlice, Volenice, Vranovice and Vsevily, in central Bohemia area, bordering on the Brdy grounds, where the planned U.S. base is to be located.  An absolute majority of voters participated in referenda in most of municipalities. A majority of inhabitants expressed disagreement with the radar base.  In west Bohemia area, most inhabitants of villages Hurky and Stitov said no to the U.S. base in referenda, while in Mesno the radar base was rejected in a poll.  
August 6, 2007
Hiroshima, Augusts 6th 2007 - Please find here the speech of Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba which he gave during the 62nd anniversary ceremony of the bombing of Hiroshima. 
August 5, 2007
The following article was published in the Observor.  In 1967, while  the public was being given useless advice on how to "survive" a nuclear war, the British Government struggled to come to grips with the truth that little would remain of the country other than a large group of bureaucrats in a massive bunker.

The article ends with the following sentence:
 
"The financial cost is touched on: 'It is not yet possible to give overseas posts any clear guidance on how the operations described in the memorandum [to ship vital imports] would be paid for, largely because it is impossible to say what any country's money would be worth after global nuclear conflagration.'"

Much the same could be said of a SINGLE well-targetted nuclear terrorist attack, as was found by the Rand study on a terrorist attack on Long Beach / Los Angeles Harbor. 
AT
July 30, 2007
July 13, 2007
Nuclear forces stood at an estimated 26,000 nuclear warheads in 2006 according to SIPRI.  World Military Expenditures rose to US $1204 billion, or over US $2,000,000 every single minute last year according to the annual report released in Stockholm last month..
July 3, 2007
Mayor Akiba Tadatoshi was one of the special guests joining nuclear experts from around the world marking the 50th anniversary of the first meeting of nuclear scientists in Pugwash, Nova Scotia in Canada in 1957.
June 26, 2007
The picture shows Mayors of municipalities around the Ghedi nuclear airforce base in northern Italy asking for the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons, on August 6th 2005 in front of the base. On June 26th 2007 five Mayors from municipalities surrounding Ghedi published an open-letter seeking withdrawal of US nuclear weapons from Italy.
June 26, 2007
This speech was delivered by Minister Margaret Beckett at the annual Carnegie Endowment Non-Proliferation Conference in Washington DC.  News reports say that it was cleared with Gordon Brown who will soon be the new UK Prime Minister. 
While many very positive points are made in this speech, they are undermined by the Minister's refusal to entertain the possibility of achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world "in my lifetime," saying, "My sadness at such a thought is real."  She does not provide a case for this pessimism, while using it to justify the decision to proceed with Trident replacement. In the 1980s, most people thought that they would have to live under Cold War circumstances the rest of their lives.  Within a decade, all that changed.  So cheer up Margaret, there is still hope for you in 2020!
AT
June 25, 2007
Los Angeles, June 25th 2007 - A resolution proposed by the Mayors from Ohio, Nevada, California and Florida calls upon the nations to spurn the use of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons and work for their elimination.  The new resolution concludes:

“Be it further resolved that the United States Conference of Mayors stands united in opposition to the initiation of nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare under any circumstances and regardless of the target.

“Be it further resolved the United States Conference of Mayors shall remain engaged in this matter until our cities and citizens, and the cities and citizens located throughout the world, are no longer under the threat of nuclear, biological, and chemical devastation.”
June 25, 2007
The following news article gives a good account of the last-minute decision taken by the U.S. Conference of Mayors calling for a "swift and prudent redeployment" of US forces in Iraq.  (The complete resolution is appended at the end.) 
I would like to add this personal note.  On June 23rd, a "Defining Moment" video dealing with the USCM's response to the Vietnam War was shown during lunch.  I happened to be sitting at the same table as Providence, RI, Mayor David Cicilline.  After the video ended, he turned to the others at the table and asked no one in particular, "Why don't we have a resolution on the War in Iraq?"  To which, I responded, "That's a very good question."  The exchange ended there, but obviously, the thought had taken hold in the Mayor's mind.  (Mayor Cicilline is a member of Mayors for Peace, and will host the 2009 US Conference of Mayors summer meeting.)
AT
June 25, 2007
Click the link above to see the US CM video on Mayors for Peace
June 15, 2007
June 5, 2007
Our Live Earth International NGO Partners
May 16, 2007

Mayors for Peace has endorsed the Live Earth concerts.  The concerts will be held in nine major cities this summer, July 7th (07/07/07).  In a letter about Live Earth, Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba says that the event and campaign will make many more people aware of the capacity of humans to fundamentally alter the global climate, and that awareness should be raised not only about global warming, but also nuclear winter.

In line with the endorsement, Live Earth and Mayors for Peace have established mutual links.  Please use the link to Live Earth under Links to find out more about the concerts. To see the link that Live Earth has established to Mayors for Peace click here.

 
May 11, 2007
May 4, 2007
May 3, 2007
Please note the following speeches by Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba are appended at the end of this article:

Address of the President to the Preparatory Committee meeting for the 2010 NPT Review Conference

“Needed: an over-arching approach to nuclear disarmament talks.”  presented at the Mayors for Peace workshop on Launching Talks on Achieving a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World.

May 1, 2007
April 30, 2007
April 24, 2007
The Conference on Disarmament has before it a proposal jointly crafted by the six ambassadors who have presided or will preside over its 2007 sessions.  The 'P6' proposal has very broad support, but a few countries have asked for additional time to consider it.  Are they simply stalling?  To give them an opportunity to demonstrate their good faith, the CD concluded its winter session without a decision, but empowered the current president to convene a 'special session' so that the proposal could be adopted before its spring session begins (14 May). 
On 13 April, the President of Mayors for Peace, seeing this as a moment of truth for the Conference on Disarmament which has done no productive work in over ten years, called upon Heads of Government to urgently communicate directly with each other in the coming weeks to ensure a breakthrough is achieved.  This, below, is a generic version of that letter.  The 2020 Vision Campaign urges other groups to make similar appeals for leadership.
April 19, 2007
Abolition 2000 Europe, ISIS Europe, Mayors for Peace, Olof Palme International Center and Parliamentary Network for Nuclear Disarmament organized a succesfull International Conference today in the European Parliament on "A Comprehensive Approach towards Nuclear Disarmament".

During this conference we explored the possibilities and opportunities for the EU to become increasingly involved in promoting non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament. The timing of this conference worked well with the run-up to the next Non-Proliferation Treaty PrepCom from April 30 to May 11 2007.

High-resolution pictures of the conference can be found on  http://fme.sincerethought.org/gallery/v/2007/EP
April 18, 2007
Mayor Iccho Itoh was brutal shot and killed while campaigning for a fourth term as Mayor of Nagasaki. Condolences on his death have been streaming into Mayors for Peace from all corners of the world.  We anticipate that a website will be created to memorialize this leader in the fight to abolish nuclear weapons, meanwhile condolences should be sent to this email address: hisho@city.nagasaki.lg.jp .  We publish below the messages from the President of Mayors for Peace and the UN Secretary General.
April 10, 2007
April 8, 2007
March 26, 2007
Comment from the Campaign Manager: 
It is important that the public -- and their leaders -- fully appreciate the monstrousness of nuclear weapons.  This study does not really break any new ground; IPPNW warned the world about the medical consequences of nuclear weapons in the 1980s.  But, in a world that quickly forgets, it never hurts to be reminded.
The main weakness of this report is its fatalistic attitude.  Rather than aiming to prevent use of nuclear weapons, it seems to accept that use will occur and works to mitigate the impact at the margins.  Mayors for Peace has launched the 2020 Vision Campaign to achieve a world freed from the nuclear threat by 2020 and the Cities Are Not Targets project challenges the notion that cities are legitimate targets for military bombardment of any sort.
The study appears to incorrectly assume that a 20 kiloton explosion would not create a firestorm.  Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were consumed by firestorms, and the bombs used against them had yields less than 20 kilotons.
Finally,  I will state the obvious: the effects of cities burning and people being irradiated are the same whether they are in the United States or anywhere else in the world.
March 17, 2007

Report on CEMR and UCLG meetings, Paris, 14-16 March


Large strides were made over three days in Paris in establishing cooperative relationships between Mayors for Peace and the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, on the one hand, and the Union of Cities and Local Governments, on the other. 

March 14, 2007

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament that calls for a delegation of MEPs to attend the first meeting of Preparatory Committee for the 2010 NPT Review Conference.  Mayors for Peace will also have a delegation in Vienna for the 'PrepCom.'  (See left column for more details.)

Among other recent important documents, the resolution cites the Rome Declaration of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates convened by Mayor Walter Veltroni and former USSR President, Mikhail Gorbachev; a meeting addressed by the President of Mayors for Peace who also participated in the drafting of the Declaration.

Previous EU Parliament resolutions on the NPT have cited the "Mayors Campaign" as a positive new development; this year, the resolution adopts the vision perspective of the 2020 Vision Campaign.  Operative paragraph 5 reads :"[The parliament] Affirms that, for multilateral efforts to be effective, they must be set within a well-developed vision of achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world at the earliest possible date."  (Perhaps next year it will explicitly adopt the target date 2020!)

Paragraph 7 underscores the importance of the "Principles and Objectives for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament" agreed upon at the 1995 NPT Review Conference and the "13 Practical Steps" agreed unanimously at the Year 2000 NPT Review Conference, asserting that they must be "improved upon and implemented in order to make progress and to avoid regress or standstill."

As is customary, the resolution concludes with instructions to the the Council President on the distribution of the resolution to other bodies.  Mayors for Peace is grateful for being among the three non-governmental bodies explicitly mentioned, the other two being the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Parliamentary Network for Nuclear Disarmament.

The full text of the resolution follows.  The 'tinyurl' above will take you to the document on the European Parliament's website.

March 12, 2007
Three Vice Presidents of Mayors for Peace have written to their colleagues in Europe urging them to mobilize in support of the Cities Are Not Targets project. The letter has gone to the over 1000 members of Mayors for Peace in Europe. Mayors, whether or not their cities are affiliated yet with Mayors for Peace, and Campaigners everywhere in Europe are ask to follow up on the proposed course of action; please see the left-hand column for more details.
March 12, 2007
Every year, the Mayors for Peace Secretariat in Hiroshima produces a Newletter that covers some of the previous year's highlights and points to future activities.  The 2020 Vision Campaign, of course, features prominantly in the report.  The Newsletter can be accessed in PDF format by going to:


http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/english/library/newsletterpdf/25.pdf





Please feel free to print up copies and use it in your Campaign work! 
March 8, 2007
March 8, 2007
Following on the massive public rallies in the UK against the replacement of the Trident nuclear-weapon system, the former President of the Soviet Union and Nobel Peace Prize winner, has written to the London Times to express his dismay with the course of action proposed by the Government of Tony Blair. See also (February 24) the text of Mayor Akiba's video message to the Trafalgar Square rally.
March 3, 2007
March 2, 2007
INTRODUCTION by the Campaign Manager:
Two decades ago, the state-of-the-art climate modeling programs showed that an all-out nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union, involving up to 10,000 nuclear weapons, would trigger a 'Nuclear Winter.'  Since then, major advances have been made in climate modeling.   What does the most up-to-date model tell us about Nuclear Winter?  The news is not good.  It is now clear that even a limited nuclear war, involving less than 100 low-yield weapons could trigger a decade of cold climate with drastically reduced growing seasons in key bread-baskets of the world.
Not only would up to 21 million people die locally as a direct result of attacks on cities, but several hundreds of millions would die globally from starvation.
To a nuclear explosion, a city is just an immense tinder box.  It is the extreme heat of the resulting firestorm that sends soot particles so high into the upper atmosphere that they cannot be washed out by rain.  Yet another reason why nuclear-armed states must accept that 'Cities Are Not Targets!'
A.T.
February 24, 2007
The organizers of the anti-Trident, anti-war rally in London arranged for one message to be shown on the screen above the stage in Trafalgar Square, that pre-recorded message was from Hiroshima by its Mayor on behalf of the international network of Mayor for Peace. The 2020 Vision Campaign thanks especially the leadership of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament for making this possible.
February 24, 2007
This article by icliverpool.co.uk will have to serve as a preliminary report on the anti-Trident protests in the UK. It does not mention Mayors for Peace participation which took two forms: at Trafalgar Square, London's Mayor Ken Livingstone (member) spoke and a video message from Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba (President) was played. Regarding the video, CND President, Kate Hudson, reported, "the crowd was riveted. Please thank Mayor Akiba for providing the message. The march was the largest anti-nuclear demonstration in Britain for twenty years." She added that the police now put their estimate "in the tens of thousands."
Check back later for more detail, photos, and the texts of the mayors' speeches.
February 22, 2007
Mayors for Peace and several other NGOs sponsored a major cultural event at UN Headquarters on the occasion of the Chinese Lunar New Year to celebrate the United Nations International Decade for the Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World
February 22, 2007
During the last days* of his second term as Mayor of Hiroshima, Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba has written to the world's eight nuclear-armed states and to his own national government challenging them to consistently pursue the elimination of nuclear weapons.
(*Due to a rescheduling of the mayoral election to coincide with other municipal elections, Hiroshima will be without a mayor until the winner of the upcoming election is sworn in in April. Citizen Akiba is seeking re-election among several other candidates.)
February 22, 2007
Mayors for Peace and its President Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba of Hiroshima, Japan, have been nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, the winners of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize, made the nomination. It is the first time Mayors for Peace has been nominated.
February 13, 2007
In Apirl 2005, Mexico hosted a meeting of all the world's nuclear-weapon-free zones. Mayor Akiba was invited to speak as the representative of civil society internationally. On February 14, 2007, the members of the Latin American nuclear-weaponfree zones gathered to mark its 40th year. Mayor Akiba sent the following message to the gathering.
January 31, 2007
January 31, 2007
January 23, 2007
The op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal by Shultz, Kissinger, Parry, and Nunn got 2007 off to a positive start. The president of Mayors for Peace, Hiroshima Mayor Akiba felt their proposals would benefit from being clearer on how to honor the vision of a nuclear weapon free world. This is his response, which was published by the Wall Street Journal on 23 January.
January 17, 2007
WASHINGTON, D.C. and LONDON, January 17, 2007 - Today the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Adjusts Clock From 7 to 5 Minutes Before Midnight; “Deteriorating” Global Situation Cited on Nuclear Weapons and New Factor: Climate Change.


January 4, 2007
Click the URL above for the renewed call made January 15th 2008 by Kissinger, Nunn, Perry and Shultz for a Nuclear-Free World


December 22, 2006
As of December 20, 2006, Mayors for Peace welcomes the 97 new members cities.
December 6, 2006
Once again the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted in favor of complete nuclear disarmament.
November 22, 2006
"Mutually assured paralysis" has replaced "mutually assured destruction" as the greatest nuclear threat.
November 19, 2006
Representatives at the Seventh World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Rome, Italy issued a clear, strong statement on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation.
July 7, 2006
August 3, 2005
August 10, 2004
August 18, 2000

November 30, -0001
November 30, -0001
From August 25th to 30th hundreds of physicians, government officials, NGO representatives ... and mayors convened in Basel for the 19th World Congress of IPPNW, the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.
November 30, -0001
At a time when the issue of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament is becoming popular, Mayors for Peace confirmed once more its active presence on the international stage, taking part as a leader NGO in the NPT Review Conference held at the United Nations Headquarters in May.
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