ACDN - Action of Citizens for Nuclear Disarmament
logo ACDN banniere ACDNVisiter ACDN
Accueil-Home ACDN Contact ACDN Consulter le plan du site - SiteMap Other Version
vous etes ici Homepage > News > External sources > From ‘Ground Zero to Global Zero’ - a World Free of Nuclear Weapons
ACDN, What is it ?

News
Communiqués
External sources
Letters from ACDN
News Articles

Actions
2nd RID-NBC
3rd RID-NBC
Campaign "The Very Last Atom!"
Gathering for a Livable World

Petitions

Correspondance
International

Medias

Background papers

EUROPE

French Elections
News of the Presidential Campaign

From ‘Ground Zero to Global Zero’ - a World Free of Nuclear Weapons
At Hiroshima Ceremony, Secretary-General Says Only Sane Path to Safer World Moving.


Published 6 August 2010

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at the Peace Memorial Ceremony in Hiroshima, Japan, 6 August:


Hiroshima no minasama konichiwa. Ohayo gozaimasu.

We are here, on hallowed ground, to see, to feel, to absorb and reflect.

I am honoured to be the first United Nations Secretary-General to take part in this Peace Memorial Ceremony on the sixty-fifth anniversary of this tragic day. And I am deeply moved.

When the atomic bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I was 1 year old. Only later in life could I begin to understand the full dimension of all that happened here. As a young boy, I lived through the Korean War. One of my earliest memories is marching along a muddy road into the mountains, my village burning behind me. All those lives lost, families destroyed - so much sadness. Ever since, I have devoted my life to peace. It has brought me here today.

Watakushiwa sekai heiwa no tameni Hiroshima ni mairimashita.

We gather to pay our solemn respects to those who perished 65 years ago, and to the many more whose lives forever changed. Life is short, but memory is long.

For many of you, that day endures, as vivid as the white light that seared the sky, as dark as the black rains that followed. To you, I offer a message of hope. To all of you, I offer my message of peace. A more peaceful world can be ours. You are helping to make it happen. You, the survivors, who inspired us with your courage and fortitude. You, the next generations, the young generation, striving for a better day.

Together, you have made Hiroshima an epicentre of peace. Together, we are on a journey from ground zero to global zero - a world free of weapons of mass destruction. That is the only sane path to a safer world. For as long as nuclear weapons exist, we will live under a nuclear shadow.

And that is why I have made nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation a top priority for the United Nations - and put forward a five-point plan.

Our moment has come. Everywhere, we find new friends and allies. We see new leadership from the most powerful nations. We see new engagement in the United Nations Security Council. We see new energy from civil society. Russia and the United States have a new START [Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms] treaty. We made important progress at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington last April, which we will build upon in Korea.

We must keep up the momentum. In September, I will convene a high-level meeting in support of the work of the Conference on Disarmament at the United Nations. We will push for negotiations towards nuclear disarmament. A Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. A Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty. Disarmament education in our schools - including translating the testimonies of the survivors in the world’s major languages. We must teach an elemental truth: that status and prestige belong not to those who possess nuclear weapons, but to those who reject them.

Sixty-five years ago, the fires of hell descended upon this place. Today, one fire burns, here in this Peace Park. That is the Flame of Peace - a flame that will remain lit until nuclear weapons are no more. Together, let us work for that day - in our lifetime, in the lifetimes of the survivors. Together, let us put out the last fire of Hiroshima. Let us replace that flame with the light of hope. Let us realize our dream of a world free of nuclear weapons so that our children and all succeeding generations can live in freedom, security and peace.

Thank you. Domo arigato gozaimasu.

Ban Ki-moon


L'argent est le nerf de la paix ! ACDN vous remercie de lui faire un DON

Other versions
print Printable version
pdfPDF Version


Share through social networks

Also in this section

Metals detected in Palestinian children’s hair suggest environmental contamination
Pope Francis calls for a world without nuclear weapons and supports their abolition
Mourning the dead, calling for ceasefire and an end to the cycle of violence
War With Russia Is On The Agenda
Brazil Should Act on Nuclear Transparency
The Challenge of Disarmament: Still Nonviolence or Nonexistence
’We Are Moving Rapidly Towards an Abyss’
Dennis Ross tells ’Post’ why Obama
Time For Clear Public Understanding of Iranian Threat
Viable Proposal for Disarming the Middle East of Weapons of Mass Destruction

navigation motscles

Ban Ki-moon
UN Secretary-General calls for nuclear disarmament through a Nuclear Weapons Convention
Democracy, Disarmament, and the Rule of Law
Depleted Uranium in Gaza: the UN must investigate.
Towards a UN Investigation into Depleted Uranium in Gaza
Ban Ki-moon address at NPT Review Conference
Hiroshima
Peace declaration of August 6 2005
2011 World Conference against A & H Bombs: Final Declaration of the International Meeting
Let’s make an end to the nuclear terror
Outbreak of "American Fever" in Saintes
The Hiroshima Flame: impressive progress through France
HIROSHIMA, NAGASAKI: a poorly-known story and some lessons of burning relevance
Hiroshima Peace Declaration marking 62nd anniversary A-bombing
In Saintes, trees and flowers affirm life in opposition to the atom bombs
Saintes mobilizes
Nuclear disarmament
Obama set to reject ‘nuclear posture’ on eve of Start deal with Russia
Phasing Out Military AND Civilian Nuclearism
Speech at the Chamber of Commerce in Delhi
Open Letter to Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Toward a Nuclear-Free World
Africa for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament
Cardinal Lustiger, the Church in France, and the Atom Bomb
Mohamed ElBaradei - Nobel Lecture
European Youth Unite for Nuclear Disarmament
Ten Steps Toward a Nuclear-Free World

visites :  1224959

Home | Contact | Site Map | Admin |

Site powered by SPIP
design et fonction Easter-Eggs