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A group of Japanese high school students visited Nyon today as part of a campaign to abolish nuclear weapons and create a peaceful world. The students are Peace Messengers, a program that brings together Japanese young people who travel around the world to advocate for world peace.



“We want to convey wishes for peace and abolition of nuclear weapons,” said Peace Messenger Hikaru Owatari. “Nuclear weapons should be abolished immediately so the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will not be repeated.”



Owatari is a third-generation Hybakusya. Hybakusya is the term used for the survivors of the atomic bombings and their offspring. Second-generation Hybakusya are the children of survivors and third-generation Hybakusya are the grand-children of survivors.



Many of the peace messengers come from the city of Nagasaki, where the US dropped an atomic bomb in the final days of World War II. Twelve Japanese students and one South Korean student came to Nyon. Travelling with the Peace Messengers are three survivors of the atomic bombing in Nagasaki and one survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.



The visit to UNI in Nyon has become an annual one and is part of a trip the students make to visit the United Nations to call for nuclear disarmament and to speak to groups in Europe.



As the Peace Messengers made their visit to Nyon, UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings met with the mayor of Nagasaki to invite him to address the UNI World Executive Board in Nyon in November.



“Peace is one of the bedrock principles of our work as a global union to make a better world,” said UNI Deputy General Secretary Philip Bowyer. “The work of these young people to pass on their peace message so that we never forget the horrors of the atomic bombs is extremely important.”



UNI Global Union has hosted the Peace Messengers in Nyon for the past four years. In November 2010, UNI will hold its World Congress in Nagasaki, Japan.



Ahead of the Nagasaki Congress in November, 2010, UNI is joining the peace initiative with the Peace Messengers and Japanese trade union center Rengo and its members. The goal is to get 10 million signatures on a petition addressed to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that calls for the abolition of the world nuclear arsenal and eternal peace. The UN will hold a conference in New York in May 2010 on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.



The students were also welcomed to Nyon by Daniel Rossellat, Nyon’s mayor, other town officials and teenage apprentices working and getting training from the city.



You can find photos of the Peace Messengers' visit here.



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