As Hiroshima observes 73rd anniversary of atomic bombing, UN notes ‘stalled’ progress on nuclear disarmament

The world needs the continued moral leadership of the people of Hiroshima, the top United Nations disarmament official said on August 6, commemorating the 73rd anniversary of the atomic bombing that devastated the city while lamenting that after decades of momentum towards a nuclear-free world, “progress has stalled.”

“Tensions between nuclear-armed States are rising. Nuclear arsenals are being modernized and, in some cases, expanded,” said Izumi Nakamitsu, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, speaking on behalf of Secretary-General António Guterres at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony.

The 6 August 1945 bombing of Hiroshima by the United States, killed tens of thousands of people, many of whom succumbed to their injuries in subsequent months. Those who survived the bombing there, and at Nagasaki a few days later, are referred to in Japan as hibakusha.

Ms. Nakamitsu offered her sincere thanks to the people of Hiroshima for their decades of educating the world about “the threat nuclear weapons pose to our global, national and human security.”

She pointed to last year’s adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as demonstrating international support for permanently ending the nuclear threat, as well as frustration at the slow pace of achieving this goal.

“World leaders must return to dialogue and diplomacy, to a common path towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons and a safer and more secure world for all,” she stated.

Original source: UN News
Published on 6 August 2018