Hiroshima and Nagasaki Mayors urge Cities to support H/N Protocol

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.
Mayors Akiba and Taue believe that 'By rallying behind the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol, cities can inspire governments to aim higher'
Mayors Akiba and Taue believe that 'By rallying behind the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol, cities can inspire governments to aim higher'
In the letter the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki declared: "Taking the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as the foundation, we have set forth a plan of action in the form of a Protocol to the Treaty which would allow all states to contribute to realizing the 2020 Vision. We call this protocol the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol" in the profound hope that this will encourage people throughout the world to accord it commensurate attention".

Protocol launched in United Nations

Mayors for Peace launched the "Hiroshima/Nagasaki Protocol" during the NPT PrepCom in Geneva last May. 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.

Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba, Mayor of the City of Hiroshima declared: “Will you act in good faith to eliminate these heinous and totally unnecessary threats to our survival, or will you allow them to spread, most certainly to be used?  If you do not move effectively to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world by 2020, you will be partially responsible for the nuclear catastrophe I have no doubt will befall us before that date.  I urge you not to underestimate the gravity and urgency of this decision.”
              
With these words, Mayor Akiba set the stage for the introduction of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol, which translates of the 2020 Vision of Mayors for Peace into a specific plan of action for achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world by the year 2020.

Here we wish to thank the increasing number of Mayors and City representatives who have already  faxed the signed Cities Appeal to the International Campaign office in Ypres. If ou have not done yes, please make this a priority.