Mihoko Kumamoto

The views or opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not represent the views of United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

Hiroshima is well known throughout the world as the site of the atomic bombing and as a center of peace. My work takes me to many places in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and South America, and no matter where I go, everyone knows Hiroshima. Even in South Sudan – the newest of the 193 UN member states, joining in 2011 – all the government officials that I met with in Juba, the capital, were well informed about Hiroshima.

In 2023, Hiroshima attracted more international attention than ever before as the host city of the G7 Summit. The idea of gathering world leaders in Hiroshima had been laid out before. Notably, in 2022, Prime Minister Kishida attended the 10th Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) at the UN Headquarters in New York – the first time a Japanese prime minister ever attended an NPT Review Conference. There, he proposed the Hiroshima Action Plan, one of whose five pillars is to “promote the accurate understanding on the realities of nuclear weapons use through encouraging visits to Hiroshima and Nagasaki by international leaders and others.” Experiencing the atomic bombing sites is a powerful element in promoting nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, and the visit by the G7 leaders, I believe, was a major step forward.

But what next? How do we use this momentum and actually create a world without nuclear weapons? The current global situation is discouraging as far as nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation are concerned. The conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza have fostered a tendency towards arms proliferation rather than disarmament. To resist such headwinds, we can only continue to take one step at a time. Governments, the private sector and civil society actors around the world are discussing and taking actions. At the same time, we also need to inject fresh, new perspectives.

We must engage not only the experts who have long been involved in the nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation field but also a wider range of people – so more individuals understand and support nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Already, we see more women and youth becoming involved and generating highly positive energy. We must also collaborate with experts in other fields to discover new perspectives. Global-scale issues are deeply interconnected. By tapping into the deep knowledge of many specializations – peace, environment, development, humanitarian aid, health, business, and information and communication technology (ICT) – we may find new paths to disarmament and nonproliferation.

In September 2024, the Summit of the Future will be held at UN Headquarters in New York. The Summit is a global high-profile, high-level meeting to review progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), consider governance for a better future, and accelerate progress toward the SDGs and their 2030 target. The milestone event will be an opportunity to see how peace and disarmament will be discussed, how they will be considered in connection to other issues such as the eradication of poverty, women’s empowerment, and climate change and the environment, and how the course for the future will be charted.

The world’s leaders gathered in Hiroshima for the G7 Hiroshima Summit. From there, it is up to all of us to continue making progress toward nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, step by step.

 

 

Director, Division for Prosperity, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)