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The Sixth Executive Conference of Mayors for Peace was held on October
17 and 18 in the city of Manchester, England. The main items on the agenda
were an Emergency Campaign to Ban Nuclear Weapons and various issues related
to the 6th General Conference to be held in 2005.
The vice president cities in attendance
were Hiroshima (Japan), Nagasaki (Japan), Manchester (England), Hannover
(Germany), and Malakoff (France). Present as observers were representatives
from the city of Leeds (England), the British Association of Nuclear-Free Local
Authorities, the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities, and the
NGO Committee on Disarmament.
The meeting began with a report and confirmation of Mayors for Peace activities
since the 5th General Conference (in 2001), followed by a discussion of
actions to be taken in pursuit of our common goal - a peaceful world free
from nuclear weapons.
Participants expressed general satisfaction
that our conference has increased membership to 554 cities in 107 countries and
territories, expressing also the hope that we are developing into an effective
network of cities passionate about pursuing peace. The Executive Cities
affirmed that, given growing worldwide demand for the abolition of nuclear
weapons, it is essential to maintain or strengthen all our main activities.
In this regard, the Executive Cities unanimously adopted ‘Resolution on the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons’ and ‘Final Communique’.
The items the
Executive Cities agreed are as follows:
1. Mayors for
Peace will intensify efforts regarding the items already provided for in the
Overall Action Plan, including the items to increase the number of member
cities in Nuclear Weapon States (NWS) and suspected NWS, and to construct a
system for the rapid and effective exchange of information over the Internet.
2. In addition, the Mayors for Peace will actively promote an Emergency
Campaign to Ban Nuclear Weapons. This campaign will involve: 1) mobilizing
a delegation of mayors to attend the NPT prepcom in late April in New York
to work with NGO representatives and lobby the national delegates, 2) encouraging
mayors around the world to promote grassroots events in their cities to
bring the nuclear threat to public awareness and focus attention on the
NPT review conference that will take place in 2005, the 60th anniversary
of the atomic bombings, and 3) mobilizing a much larger delegation of mayors
and NGO representatives to attend the NPT Review Conference in late April
2005, supported by a massive public demonstration in New York with sympathetic
demonstrations to take place in member cities around the world.
3. The General
Conference, which has heretofore been held every four years in both Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, will be held henceforth first in Hiroshima, then Nagasaki
alternately.
4. The Sixth
General Conference will be held in 2005. This is an extremely important year
because it is the sixtieth anniversary of the atomic bombings and because of
the NPT Review Conference. One possibility, of course, is to hold it in
Hiroshima in August as usual. Another possibility is to hold it in New York
timed to coincide with the Review Conference. We will explore these
alternatives further.
5. The
Secretariat will survey opinion among the member cities and use the findings to
improve the operation of the General Conference.
6. The
Resolution on the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons adopted by the Executive
Conference will be sent to the governments of NWS, states suspected of developing
or possessing nuclear weapons, and the United Nations, along with a request to
maintain and strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime.
7. The Final Communique will be sent to all member cities.
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