UN Office at Geneva planted the Sapling of the Second Generation A-bombed Ginkgo Biloba

October 3, 2016

[Geneva, Switzerland; October 3, 2016,]

Mayors for Peace is distributing seeds from trees that withstood the atomic bombing and are alive to this day. The aim of this program is for member cities to raise them as symbols of peace and to carry out measures to raise the peace consciousness of their citizens through these trees.

On October 3, a second generation A-bombed Ginkgo biloba sapling was planted on the compound of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG).

The sapling, whose seed originates from Hiroshima, had been raised by a Mayors for Peace member city Lucerne, Switzerland, until it was donated to UNOG in May, when Mayors for Peace President Kazumi Matsui of Hiroshima City visited UNOG to participate in the second session of the Open-ended Working Group on nuclear disarmament.

Attendees of the ceremony included: Mr. Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Michael Møller, Director-General of UNOG, Mr. Nikhil Seth, Executive Director, United Nations Institute for Training and Research, and Mr. Junichi Ihara, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva.

Mr. Jan Durnez, Mayor of Ypres, Belgium, Vice-President of Mayors for Peace, was invited to represent Mayors for Peace and delivered a message on behalf of the President of Mayors for Peace that expressed his hopes that the tree will serve as a symbol of peace and that prayers for peace will be shared widely and for a long time. Also invited was Mr. Chikara Horiguchi, a master gardener of Green Legacy Hiroshima, a Mayors for Peace partner organization in the implementation of the A-bombed tree program.

In his remarks at the ceremony, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed his respect for the hibakusha who have transformed their tragedy into a message of hope for the world, reemphasized the responsibility of all States to pursue nuclear disarmament as an urgent priority, and concluded as follows: “It is my hope that future generations will see this symbolic tree and remember how the world united to create a safer, more secure, and nuclear-weapon-free future.”

5. Others

Message from Mayor_Jan Durnez of Ypres for the Planting Ceremony (Mayors for Peace website)
Message from Mayor Kazumi Matsui of Hiroshima for the Planting Ceremony (Mayors for Peace website)
Remarks of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (The United Nations website)

UN Secretary-General planting the tree

UN Secretary-General planting the tree
Photo Credit: UN photos / PM Virot

UN Secretary-General making a remark

UN Secretary-General making a remark
Photo Credit: UN photos / PM Virot

ドMr. Jan Durnez, Mayor of Ypres, delivering a message from the President of Mayors for Peace

Mr. Jan Durnez, Mayor of Ypres, delivering a message
from the President of Mayors for Peace
Photo Credit: UN photos / Rick Bajornas