STATEMENT BY MS. TSUGUMI INOUE

YOUTH COMMUNICATOR FOR A WORLD WITHOUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS

REPRESENTATIVE OF JAPAN TO THE CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT

The 1364^th Plenary Meeting of the Conference on Disarmament

Geneva, 18 August 2015

Mr. President,

It is a great honor for me to be able to speak at the Conference on Disarmament. Twenty-two high school students, including myself, were appointed as Youth Communicators for a World Without Nuclear Weapons by the Japanese Government. Today, I would like to inform you of the horror caused by atomic bombings over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and to renew our call for the total elimination of nuclear weapons.

I was born and brought up in Hiroshima. So, I have met many people who have a genuine desire for a peaceful world. Among them is an atomic bomb survivor, who is in a wheelchair. He (She) expressed to me, “I wish I could visit the UN right now and make an urgent appeal to eliminate these weapons.”

At 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima – the first wartime use in human history. My great-grandfather walked into the devastated area to look for his relatives and got caught in a shower of radioactive fallout. His body was riddled with radiation released in the explosion. He had suffered from lung cancer for 40 years and eventually died of heart disease. Not once did he ever speak about that day. If he had talked about it, not only would he have been reminded of that harrowing day, but he also could have been discriminated against.

Two atomic bombings completely destroyed the entire cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Between August and the end of 1945, approximately 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 70,000 people in Nagasaki lost their precious lives. Furthermore, all survivors were harmed; some were burned, poisoned, and others were injured. Presently, radiation continues to impair all the survivor’s bodies even after 70 years have passed. The physical and psychological pains have never been healed. A famous Japanese poet described the situation as such, “when an atomic bomb falls, day turns into night, and people turn into ghosts.” But I would like to remind you that each one of the victims had their own future.

I have a strong sense of responsibility since I have an atomic bomb survivor as part of my family. The strongest wish of the survivors is to have “no more war in the future.” Therefore, it is my mission to convey their message to people around the world. The first Peace Messengers were dispatched to the UN 18 years ago to deliver the voices of the survivors to the world. This is when the“10,000 High School Students Signatures Campaign” started, which aspires for the abolition of nuclear weapons and for the realization of a peaceful world. It spread not only throughout Japan, but also to many other countries. Currently, the total number of signatures has reached 1,337,598. A baton for peace was handed down to us.

This year marks the 70^th year of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We must take one big step toward the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Our motto is “our efforts are small, but not in vain." I hope that the world will respond to our call.

And finally, I would like to encourage all of the delegates in the CD to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Thank you all for listening.