UN chief honours Nagasaki victims, urges recommitment to ‘a more secure future for all’

Mourning those who perished in the 1945 atomic bombing and suffered through its horrendous after-effects, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today conveyed his solidarity to a peace memorial ceremony in Nagasaki, Japan, and urged all to “recommit to building a safer and more secure future.”

At the ceremony, Mr. Kim Won-soo, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, said speaking on behalf of the Secretary-General, said: “Your gathering is also a powerful reminder to the international community to spare no effort to ensure such a tragedy never happens again.”

Peace-loving people from Nagasaki and around the globe gathered to remember the victims of the weapon that did not discriminate between gender, age, religion, ideology or nationality and to reflect on the horrific human toll and devastation caused by nuclear arms.

Throughout its history, Nagasaki has been a vibrant and diverse city. When the Secretary-General visited in 2010, he was inspired by its dynamism along with the determination of its people to build a world free of nuclear weapons – the commitment of which continued to be led by its courageous survivors, the Hibakusha.

“In one voice, the Hibakusha have taken their message to the world: No more. Never again. It is a message that must be repeated until we have reached our shared goal of the elimination nuclear weapons,” he emphasized.

As the Hibakusha grow older, a new generation must assume the messengers of peace role. The Secretary-General’s message made clear that the UN stood with youth in striving to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world.

“I call on the young peace makers of Nagasaki to rise to the challenge and ensure that the suffering caused by nuclear weapons is never forgotten,” he continued, adding: “Spread the word with your peers around the world. Your generation did not invent nuclear weapons, but you can be the generation to eliminate them.”

He expressed his appreciation to the city of Nagasaki for organizing the ceremony and keeping fresh in everyone’s minds the horrific human toll caused by nuclear weapons.