Arab News Japan

TOKYO:  Fifteen Japanese youths from KNOW NUKES TOKYO and the Japan NGO Association for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons held a press conference on Sunday to publicize the “First Conference of Contracting Parties to the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty,” which will be held for three days from the 21st of June.

They talked about the role of the next generation and their thoughts on participating in international conferences some of which are sponsored by ICAN and organized by the Austrian Red Cross. Their goal is to deepen exchanges with international campaign groups.
 
Kaede Fukunaga, one of the participants, said, “we still have a lot to learn, but we want to make sure that the voices of the atomic bomb victims are properly recognized.”

The Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty was approved by 122 countries, more than 60% of the UN member states on July 7, 2017. By October 24, 2020, ratification from 50 countries allowed the treaty to come into force 90 days later, on Jan. 22, 2021.
 
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will also send two people to Vienna, Austria. ICRC Public Relations Officer, Hitomi Makabe, told Arab News Japan, “We would be happy if the younger generation could take this opportunity to expand their network internationally.”