Mayors for Peace
Secretariat
c/o Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, 1-5 Nakajima-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima 730-0811 JAPANE-mail: mayorcon@pcf.city.hiroshima.jp Website: www.mayorsforpeace.org

October 2024
Dear Fellow Mayor,
I trust this letter finds you well.
In August 1945, two atomic bombs instantly reduced the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki torubble, taking more than 210,000 precious lives by the end of the year. The hibakusha—those
who barely survived—still suffer from the harmful aftereffects, notably of radiation. While theirminds and bodies are in pain, they continue to make their appeal that “no one else should suffer
as we have.”
With our hibakusha aging, we are determined to have their experiences and strong desire forpeace shared and wholeheartedly accepted by future generations, and to have those commitments
spread throughout the world. I am convinced that spreading their message will eventually lead tothe realization of their most cherished will, the abolition of nuclear weapons.
In 1982, Hiroshima and Nagasaki established Mayors for Peace to achieve this goal. It is a nonpartisan, global network of municipalities that is registered at the UN with ECOSOC. Since its
establishment, Mayors for Peace has expanded its membership and worked in solidarity with its
member cities to call for the realization of a world free from nuclear weapons and lasting world
peace. Presided by the Mayor of Hiroshima and vice presided by the Mayor of Nagasaki alongwith 10 other mayors of cities from across the world, as of October 1st of this year, Mayors for
Peace has grown to 8,426 member cities from 166 countries and regions.
In January 2021, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force, which isthe first multilateral treaty to clearly and fundamentally define that nuclear weapons are
subjected to total prohibition. This is a proof that voices of hibakusha and those who share theirfervent wish for the total elimination of nuclear weapons pushed international society forward. In
this context, Mayors for Peace adopted the Vision for Peaceful Transformation to a Sustainable
World (PX Vision) and Action Plan (2021-2025) in July of the same year. The Vision sets forththree objectives: “Realize a world without nuclear weapons,” “Realize safe and resilient cities,”and “Promote a culture of peace.” In order to pursue these objectives, we have decided to put agreater emphasis on the expansion of our membership.
The growing number of Mayors for Peace member cities is a powerful force building real
momentum toward peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons. To this end, I humbly ask thatyou share in our sincere message from the atomic bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki andjoin Mayors for Peace to support our initiatives toward genuine and lasting world peace.
Sincerely yours,MATSUI KazumiPresident of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Hiroshima

Mayors for Peace
Registration Form
To Mr. MATSUI Kazumi
Mayor of Hiroshima
President of Mayors for Peace
I hereby express my city/municipality’s support for the abolition of nuclear weapons and desire to join
Mayors for Peace.*

Name of the city/municipality**:**This is the name we will use to refer to your city/municipality in our database.

Name of country:
Mayor’s name:Title:
Mayor’s Signature:
Date:
Mayor’s office address:
TEL:

FAX:

E-mail:Website:Municipal Population:(as of)Contact person
Name:
Title:
Position:
E-mail:Questionnaire
How did you find out about Mayors for Peace?
☐Member City: (Name)☐NGO/Organization: (Name)☐Ministry of Foreign Affairs of your country☐Meeting with Mayor of Hiroshima☐Other: (please specify)

Please send this form to:
Mayors for Peace Secretariat
FAX : +81-82-242-7452
E-mail : mayorcon@pcf.city.hiroshima.jp

Note*This registration form implies your city/municipality’s decision to join Mayors for Peace. If yourcity/municipality requires specific procedures, including approval from your city/municipal
council, please submit this form after such procedures are completed.
*Mayors for Peace runs several social media sites (X @Mayors4Peace, Facebook@mayorsforpeace) where we would like to introduce our new member cities. We ask yourpermission to share information about your new membership with our followers. If you agree tothe above, we ask that you please provide (1) a photo of the current mayor and (2) a photo that
represents your city (landmark, landscape, etc.). Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Mayors for Peace
1.

Outline
In August 1945, atomic bombs dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki instantly reduced themto rubble, taking more than 210,000 precious lives. With more than 75 years since the bombings, manysurvivors (hibakusha) still suffer from the physical and emotional aftereffects of radiation. To spreadthroughout the world the hibakusha’s ardent wish symbolized in the message that “no one should suffer
as we have,” and to ensure it is passed on to future generations, Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain
steadfast in our assertion to the world that nuclear weapons are inhumane and continue to call for theirabolition.
On June 24, 1982, at the 2nd UN Special Session on Disarmament held at the UN Headquarters in New
York, then Mayor Takeshi Araki of Hiroshima called for cities throughout the world to transcend national
borders and join in solidarity to work together to press for nuclear abolition. Subsequently, the Cities ofHiroshima and Nagasaki established “The World Conference of Mayors for Peace through Inter-city
Solidarity” (now, Mayors for Peace), composed of mayors around the world who formally expressed
support for this call. In 1991, the organization was registered as an NGO in Special Consultative Status
with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
*On August 5, 2001, the organization changed its name from “The World Conference of Mayors for Peace through Inter-city Solidarity”
to “Mayors for Peace.”

2.

MissionThe purposes of “Mayors for Peace” are to contribute to the attainment of lasting world peace by arousing
concern among citizens of the world for the total abolition of nuclear weapons through close solidarity
among member cities as well as by striving to solve vital problems for the human race such as starvationand poverty, the plight of refugees, human rights abuses, and environmental degradation.

3.

Structure1) Member Cities (as of October 1, 2024)

8,426 cities
in166 countries& regions

AreaCountries & Regions

Member Cities

Asia

39

3,361

Oceania

9137

Africa49439

Europe41

3,403

North America
Latin America
and the Caribbean

3343

25743

Regions: Taiwan / Palestine / Northern Cyprus (Asia), Northern Mariana Islands / French Polynesia (Oceania), Somaliland (Africa),Kosovo(Europe), Greenland (North America), Puerto Rico (Latin America and the Caribbean)

2) Executive Cities
The following 21 cities are executive cities (From oldest to newest).
President City:
Hiroshima (Japan)
Vice President Cities:

Executive Cities:

Nagasaki (Japan)

Santos (Brazil)

Hannover (Germany)

Wellington (New Zealand)

Malakoff (France)

Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Muntinlupa (Philippines)

Bangkok (Thailand)

Manchester (UK)

Cartago (Costa Rica)

Ypres (Belgium)

Tehran (Iran)

Granollers (Spain)

Grigny (France)

Halabja (Iraq)

Cervia (Italy)

Biograd na Moru (Croatia)

Evora (Portugal)

Des Moines (US)Montreal (Canada)*Underlined are Lead Cities in charge of their regional chapter:19 cities

3) Secretariat
Address : c/o Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation
1-5 Nakajima-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima 730-0811 JAPANE-mail: mayorcon@pcf.city.hiroshima.jp

Website : www.mayorsforpeace.org

4.

How to Join
1) Registration Processi.

If your city/municipality would like to join us, please send a “Registration Form” to the Secretariat.

ii.

The Secretariat registers its new member cities once a month (around the 20th).

iii.

Date of affiliation is the 1st day of the month following the date registration procedures arecompleted by the Secretariat. “Certification of Membership” will be sent out to newly affiliated cities

after the date of affiliation.

2) Membership Fee
2,000 yen/year3) Member Cities’ Activities (Examples)i.

Promote the petition drive calling for all states to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear
Weapons as soon as possibleii.

Hold peace-related events such as the Mayors for Peace Atomic Bomb Poster Exhibition and sharereportsiii.

Invite mayors of your sister cities and neighboring cities who are not yet members to join Mayorsfor Peaceiv.

Attend the General Conference*Please see “Peace-Related Activities Offered to Members of Mayors for Peace” for more activities that member cities will get theopportunity to participate in.

5.

Conferences
1) General Conference
Mayors for Peace holds a General Conference once every four
years in principle. Hosted alternately between Hiroshima andNagasaki, the General Conference is an opportunity for membercities to decide and adopt agenda items significant to theorganization.

2) Executive Conference
Mayors for Peace holds an Executive Conference

10th General Conference(October 2022, Hiroshima)

generally once every two years in one of the executivecities, where executives discuss future initiatives and plans
for the next General Conference.

6.

Vision for Peaceful Transformation to a Sustainable World (PX Vision)- Peacebuilding by Cities for Disarmament and Common Security -1) Outline
In order to achieve a world in which all people can perpetually benefit from peace by realizing the totalelimination of nuclear weapons and by attaining and maintaining peaceful coexistence between thewhole of humanity, subsequent to the 2020 Vision, Mayors for Peace adopted the Vision for PeacefulTransformation to a Sustainable World (PX Vision): Peacebuilding by Cities for Disarmament andCommon Security at the 12th Executive Conference in July 2021. Based on this, we build cities wherecitizens act with a strong sense of solidarity for the ultimate goal of realizing lasting world peace.

2) Initiatives

Lasting World Peace

For cities to ensure the safety

VisionAction Planand security of their citizens
from the great threat of nuclear
weapons and to attain andmaintain peaceful coexistence
between the whole of humanity,

Objective A:

Objective B:

Reali e a world without
nuclear weapons

Reali e safe and resilient cities

1. Sharing in the hibakusha s
earnest wishes

2. Contribute to a sustainable Earth andsociety: Promoting the SDGs

under three objectives set forthin the Vision, Mayors for Peace
member cities implement theinitiatives

outlined

intheMayors for Peace Action Plan

Objective C:

Promote a culture of peace
3. Foster and expand international
public support(2021 – 2025) to promote
peacebuilding by cities.

4. Promote sustainable development ofMayors for Peace as an organization[Main Initiatives]
1.

Appeal to the UN and national governments

2.

Mayors for Peace Atomic Bomb Poster Exhibition

3.

Providing opportunities to hear hibakusha’s testimonies

4.

Distribute and nurture seeds from atomic bomb survivor trees (hibaku trees)

5.

Children’s Art Competition “Peaceful Towns”

6.

Peace Education Webinar

7.

Collaboration with member cities

Speech by the President
at the second Meeting of States Parties
to the Treaty on the Prohibition of
Nuclear Weapons(November 2023, New York)

Meeting with UN Secretary-General
Guterres(November 2023, New York)"Photo provided by: UN / Evan Schneider"

Meeting with national government
representatives(November 2023, New York)

Presentation by Mayors for Peaceyouths at the Mayors for Peace Youth
Forum held in UNOG
(August 2023, Vienna)

Planting ceremony of a second
generation atomic bomb survivor trees
seedling by a member city
(March 2024, Obu)

Holding a Peace Education Webinar(February 2024, Hiroshima)

Petition Drive by the President
and high school students in the street(August 2022, Hiroshima)

Presenting signatures to therepresentatives of UN by high school
students participating in the petition drive(July 2023, Vienna)

Holding the Mayors for Peace
Atomic Bomb Poster Exhibitionby a member city
(August 2023, Kadogawa)

Mayors for Peace
Secretariat
c/o Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, 1-5 Nakajima-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima 730-0811 JAPANE-mail: mayorcon@pcf.city.hiroshima.jp Website: www.mayorsforpeace.org

Peace-Related Activities Offered toMembers of Mayors for Peace
Upon joining Mayors for Peace, your city will have the opportunity to participate in activities andprograms which reflect the ultimate goal of the Mayors for Peace Action Plan: lasting world peace.
We hope you will join us and that together, we will make significant strides towards realizing ourgoal.
Below please find a list of activities which we offer to our member cities:

1. Seeds from Atomic Bomb Survivor Trees
Mayors for Peace distributes seeds from trees that survived theatomic bombings to all member cities who wish to receive them.
It is our hope that by taking care of these trees, which serve as
symbols of peace, member cities can foster the ideals of peace
amongst their citizens.
Seeds are provided free of charge.

2. Children’s Art Competitions
Based on the art prompt “Peaceful Towns”, Mayors for Peace has
held an art competition for children ages 6 to 15 in member cities
since 2018 with the aim of furthering the promotion of peaceeducation in younger generations around the world.

3. Atomic Bomb Poster Exhibitions
Mayors for Peace calls on member cities to hold exhibitions ofHiroshima-Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Posters and other relatedmaterials to foster a deepened understanding of the realities ofthe atomic bombings and strengthen the resolve towards nuclear
abolition among their citizens.
Posters are available in: Japanese, English, German, French,Russian, Dutch, Spanish, Catalan, and Portuguese
Posters are provided free of charge (files can be downloaded from the Mayors for Peace website).

4. Online Hibakusha Testimonies
By request, Mayors for Peace can help connect venues inmember cities to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum so theycan experience online hibakusha testimonies.
Available free of charge.

5. Peace Education Webinar
Mayors for Peace holds a Peace Education Webinar annuallywith the aim of stimulating youth-led peace activities in membercities. This webinar provides an opportunity for young leadersinvolved in peace activities to share information and engage indialogue.

For more information, please contact:

Mayors for Peace Secretariat
c/o Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation
1-5 Nakajima-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima 730-0811 JAPANE-mail: mayorcon@pcf.city.hiroshima.jp