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Dear Friend,

Last week, I had the honour of being part of the International Civil Society Forum to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons, organised by the Japan Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. This is the first major public event to mark the 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and brought together survivors of nuclear weapons use and testing - the hibakusha - and speakers from all over the world, to talk about what is needed to reach the total elimination of nuclear weapons.

One of the clearest pathways discussed was obviously the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. With half of the world’s states on board, the treaty is undeniably growing in strength, and in just a few weeks, states will be meeting at the UN to discuss progress and next steps. The Japanese government is facing a lot of pressure from the media, hibakusha, and the wider public for their refusal to send a delegate to the meeting. Following the forum, our Japanese partners and I took this pressure straight to their elected representatives at the Diet. You can read more about this meeting, and the forum here.

Roundtable with Japanese Members of Parliament. Tokyo, February 10, 2025. Photo: Peace Boat | Meri Joyce

Nuclear weapons put us all at risk, and states like Japan - but also Germany, Australia and Belarus (to name a few of the 34 nuclear weapons-complicit states) - must stop shirking their responsibility. If they are willing to have nuclear weapons used in their name, and won’t call out the nuclear armed states on their misbehaviour, then they are part of the problem.

But they don’t have to be, if they are willing to engage with real solutions like the TPNW. It is of course not too late for Japan, or any of other states that rely on nuclear weapons as part of their security policies, to send one of their permanent representatives based in New York to observe the third meeting of states parties (3MSP). 80 years since Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it is the absolute minimum they should be doing.

In the coming weeks, we will, of course, keep you updated as we get closer to the 3MSP, not just about whether these states choose to do the right thing, but also about what those states leading the way to a nuclear-weapons-free world are up to.

Stay tuned!

Daniel Högsta
Digital Campaign Coordinator
ICAN

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