Report by Sean Morris, UK & Ireland Mayors for Peace Chapter Secretary
The UK and Ireland Mayors for Peace Chapter met in Manchester on December 1st. The meeting was chaired by the Lord Mayor of Manchester and considered the national and international impacts of ICAN being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. It also highlighted changes to widening the remit of Mayors for Peace and plans for the Chapter in the New Year. A presentation was also given by the Tim Parry Jonathan Ball Peace Foundation, who has assisted Manchester City Council since the terrorist attack on the 22nd of May, and is supporting an innovative peace education programme across all Greater Manchester schools being planned in 2018.
Manchester City Council has also been advancing its ‘Project G’ scheme with gingko tree seeds from Hiroshima. In December, five of the trees were delivered to four Manchester primary schools and to Manchester Children’s Hospital. They are being planted by the children, and a follow-up event to be held in Manchester University is being planned for March 2018.
The Chapter Secretary took part in the Mayors for Peace delegation that attended the events around the 2017 Nobel Peace Ceremony. Apart from the events noted by Hiroshima, the European delegates attended a special reception with ICAN representatives and Norwegian members of Mayors for Peace with the Mayor of Oslo in City Hall. The European delegates also attended the inspiring Nobel Peace Prize Concert which included a number of prominent singers, including John Legend, was narrated by the esteemed British actor David Ayelowo, and included an ICAN presentation with a number of Hiroshima and Nagasaki hibakusha.
>More detailed report on the Nuclear Free Local Authorities website
(from right to left) The Mayor of Hiroshima, the UK & Ireland Chapter Secretary, the Mayor of Nagasaki, the Honorary Mayor of Frogn and Fabian Hamilton MP prior to the Nobel ceremony in Oslo City Hall
Norwegian members of Mayors for Peace with the Mayor of Oslo (center), the Chapter Secretary (second from the right) and Jasminka Bajlo from Biorgad Na Moru (right)
(Photos courtesy of the UK & Ireland Chapter)