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News Archive |
LAST UPDATE
November 4, 2007
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| November 4, 2007 |
Peace Boat and Mayors for Peace collaboration - Abolish nuclear weapons by 2020!- |
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| In Kochi, Peace Boat visited the office of Mayor Mercy Williams |
Since September this year, Peace Boat has been collaborating with the Mayors for Peace Campaign to call on mayors around the world for their solidarity for and participation in the global action towards the abolition of nuclear weapons. The current 59th Global Voyage for Peace, which left Japan on 23 September, is taking this collaboration into action by visiting mayors' offices at different ports along the voyage route.
The Mayors for Peace Campaign www.mayorsforpeace.org/english promotes the solidarity of cities toward the total abolition of nuclear weapons by offering them a way to transcend national borders and work together to press for nuclear abolition. The programme was first proposed on 24 June 1982 by Mr Araki Takeshi, the then Mayor of Hiroshima, at the 2nd UN Special Session on Disarmament held at the UN Headquarters in New York. Since then, the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have called on mayors around the world to support this program. The Mayors for Peace is composed of cities around the world that have formally expressed support for the programme. As of 4 October 2007, membership stood at 1,793 cities in 122 countries and regions throughout the world.
Peace Boat has long carried out many programmes and projects working towards the abolition of nuclear weapons, both onboard its ship and at ports of call. These programmes include hosting forums for nuclear abolition with the participation of anti-nuclear activists and hibakusha (survivors of atomic bombings), providing nuclear disarmament education programmes for youth representatives from nuclear weapon countries, visiting victims of South Pacific nuclear tests, and bringing appeals to conferences held at the United Nations and elsewhere. The Peace Boat Center in Hiroshima is also active in providing disarmament education and awareness raising for the young generation on nuclear related issues.
The current collaboration with the Mayors for Peace Campaign further explores Peace Boat's efforts for nuclear disarmament, by drawing upon the mobility of Peace Boat in traveling to so many different cities throughout the world.
Members of the 59th Global Voyage have visited the offices of mayors in Da Nang (Viet Nam), Kochi (India) and Piraeus (Greece), and been welcomed with very successful meetings. Mayor Mercy Williams of Kochi not only warmly welcomed Peace Boat and the nuclear abolition campaign, but also became a member of Mayors for Peace and indicated a strong interest in sharing the appeal with other mayors.
This collaboration will continue for the rest of the current 59th voyage as well as those following, particularly the special southern hemisphere 60th voyage. Subsequent reports on future visits will be updated on the Peace Boat homepage.
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| Mayor Williams hands her signature in support of the Mayors for Peace campaign to Peace Boat staff Hiromi Kanehara |
Mayor Mercy Williams of Kochi, India joined Mayors for Peace, responding to Peace Boat's appeal
On 10 October, Mayor Mercy Williams of Kochi, India, joined Mayors for Peace in response to Peace Boat's appeal on its call to the port of Kochi. Peace Boat members initially visited Mayor Williams' office prior to the ships arrival, and then the ship was honoured to receive a visit from representatives of the Mayor's office during its call in the city. Mayor Williams not only declared her participation in the Mayors for Peace Campaign, but also gave endorsement for the Global Article 9 Campaign to Abolish War www.article-9.org, in support of Japan's peace constitution which renounces war and the possession of military power.
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Kochi is located in the state of Kerala, southwestern India, and is famous for its rich green and fertile land. Despite the variety of problems India is beset with, such as the massive poverty in its 1 billion population and various conflicts, Kerala is well known for its long life expectancy and high literacy rates, which place it alongside those of developed countries. Active social participation by women and practices of democratic politics also contributed to bring the state to the forefront of the world's attention.
Since Peace Boat's first visit to Kochi in 1996, Peace Boat has continued to conduct study and exchange visits to local villages to learn about their child education programmes, vocational programmes for women and so on.
The courtesy visit to the Mayor's office around the ship's call was warmly welcomed with the fruitful result of Mayor Williams' participation in the Mayors for Peace campaign.
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