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70 years after atomic bombs were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the Nagasaki Hiroshima Peace Messengers delivered their message to UNI head office in Nyon that young people must continue to campaign for a world free of nuclear weapons. This was the 11th year in a row that UNI hosted the Peace Messenger, and UNI staff were honoured to receive presentations from young activists devoted to ensuring the horrors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima were never again repeated.

Their visit came the day before going to the United Nations in Geneva to present a petition of more than 130,000 signatures collected in the last year demanding nuclear disarmament. 

The peace messengers including hibakusha, second and third generation family members who remember the catastrophe of the atomic bombs, will make a presentation to the UN on nuclear disarmament tomorrow.

Overall the peace messengers have collected over a million signatures calling for a ban on nuclear weapons.

Welcoming the peace messengers, Head of UNI SCORE Neil Anderson sent a message of support, saying, “Starting from a single school in Nagasaki and spreading across Japan, you bring a powerful message that deserves to be listened to and respected. UNI supports the work of the Nagasaki Hiroshima Peace messengers and continues to strive for nuclear disarmament as a member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.”

“Your message of peace is one we strongly support and we hope that you continue to make noise for peace! Gannbate!"

The peace messengers, hailing from all over Japan, spoke about their strong sense of responsibility for keeping this message of peace alive. The average age of the atomic bomb survivors is now over 75 and their number is naturally dwindling. Fortunately Japan’s younger generation have shown a willingness to remember the hibakusha’s suffering, aiming that history does not repeat itself.

Some 70,000 Japanese died instantly when the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6 1945, and three days later another 75,000 died when a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. 

The peace messengers are working to ensure that Nagasaki is the last ever city subjected to the atomic bomb. They are the last generation who will hear first-hand the voices of the survivors.

UNI Global Union has a warm friendship and profound link with the people of Nagasaki – the city where UNI held its World Congress in November 2010. UNI’s Breaking Through plan supports the global nuclear disarmament movement and UNI is a member of ICAN, the International Campaign Against Nuclear Arms.

Just four months after UNI’s Nagasaki World Congress, Japan was struck by a devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster at Fukishima. Once again the world was presented with the human consequences of a nuclear catastrophe. 

The earthquake and tsunami claimed more than 20,000 lives and thousands more were made homeless. UNI salutes the spirit of the Japanese people who once again have managed to rebuild their lives and shown true resilience.