INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT BY H.E. MR. TOSHIO SANO

AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY

PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF JAPAN

TO THE CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT

 

The 1325th Plenary Meeting of the Conference on Disarmament

 

Geneva, 4 February 2014

 

Thank you Mr. President,

 

Since this is the first time for me to take the floor in the plenary under your Presidency, Ambassador Muhammad, I would like to congratulate you on your assumption of this important role. As a member of the P6, I assure you of my delegationfs full support to you and your team throughout your tenure.

 

Mr. President and Excellencies,

 

The month of August is special for the Japanese people. Each year, memorial ceremonies are held on the 6th and 9th of August in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively. We not only commemorate, but also pray for peace and renew our determination towards a safer world free of nuclear weapons.

 

This morning, I am delighted to introduce to you all, Ms. Masaki Koyanagi, now sitting next to me, who has joined the Japanese Delegation for the day. She is actually a high school student from Nagasaki and a third generation of gHibaku-shah, the direct survivors from the atomic bombings. She will shortly take the floor in the capacity of a gYouth Communicator for a World without Nuclear Weaponsh commissioned by the Japanese Foreign Minister, Mr. Fumio Kishida.

 

This gYouth Communicatorh program is one of the pillars of the Japanese Governmentfs policy in disarmament and non-proliferation education, and is at the heart of the humanitarian aspect of disarmament efforts by the Government. After 69 years since the end of the war, the Hibaku-sha are getting old, actually nearly eighty year old on average, and there is a risk of their memories and stories fading away. To avoid such a circumstance, the younger generation,@like Ms. Koyanagi, as well as her school mates, sitting above at the balcony of this Chamber have volunteered to become Youth Communicators. Their mission is to relay the testimonies of Hibaku-sha to the next generation and to spread and deepen the understanding of humanitarian consequences of the use of nuclear weapons. In addition, they act as "Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Messengersh, running a campaign to collect signatures from all over the globe for the sake of a world without nuclear weapons

 

Now, Mr. President, please allow me to pass the floor to Ms. Koyanagi.

 

Thank you.