The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament extends its warmest congratulations to Nihon Hidankyo, the Japanese atomic bomb survivors’ group, ahead of this year’s Nobel peace prize award ceremony. Made up of Hibakusha, survivors the 1945 US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this important grassroots organisation has worked tirelessly for decades to promote peace, dialogue, and further the cause of nuclear disarmament.
The award comes at a time of heightened nuclear global dangers posed by the war in Ukraine and ongoing crisis in the Middle East. Speaking ahead of the ceremony, Nihon Hidankyo co-chair, Terumi Tanaka, warned of these “severe risks” and expressed hope that young people will continue the organisation’s efforts to educate the world on the horrific impacts of nuclear weapons and call for nuclear weapons to be never used again.
CND would like to echo these calls for no more Hiroshimas or Nagasakis. With nine countries currently in possession of nuclear weapons far more powerful and sophisticated than in 1945 – their use today would be utterly ruinous for the planet.
We call on the British government to use this opportunity to reverse its previous opposition to a new UN scientific study on the effects of a nuclear war. New research is vital to raising awareness about the true humanitarian, environmental, and socioeconomic costs of nuclear weapons use and help inform policymakers with up-to-date data. Britain has a major role to play in preventing the future suffering caused by nuclear weapons. It can help reduce nuclear tensions by ending its replacement of Trident and engaging with the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
CND General Secretary Sophie Bolt said:
“CND would like to express its warmest congratulations to our friends at Nihon Hidankyo ahead of the Nobel price ceremony. They are truly incredible people who have turned one of the 20th century’s greatest war crimes into a powerful global movement for nuclear disarmament. At a time of such heightened threats of nuclear war, sharing their shocking testimony of the human cost of nuclear war has never been more urgent. 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings. It will be a year for redoubling our efforts to promote nuclear disarmament in Britain and across the world.”