Dear friends of peace,

I am pleased to send you once again our warmest greetings and good wishes for a successful public commemoration of the tragic bombings of August 1945.

We share your deep concern at the continuing menace represented by the large numbers of nuclear warheads still available to the big powers.

At a time when their political leaders are showing great concern over allegations of chemical weapons use in Syria, they maintain in their own military preparations and doctrines huge quantities of vastly more destructive weapons.

It is 68 years since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki;

it is 34 years since the accident at Three Mile Island;

it is 27 years since Chernobyl;

and it is just 2 years since Fukushima.

Each place-name represents a tragic warning to humanity of the dangers inherent in nuclear technology. They are names that should be known by every young person in every country by the time they finish their schooling.

Your annual witness is part of a global network of anti-nuclear activism, education and solidarity, itself just one element in the vast movement of civil society that says ’another world is possible’.

Best of luck!

 Colin Archer
 Secretary-General
 International Peace Bureau
 41 rue de Zurich
 1201 Geneva
 Switzerland.
 Tel: +41-22-731-6429, Fax: 738-9419
 secgen@ipb.org
 http://www.ipb.org