This week is the 69th anniversary of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima (6 August) and Nagasaki (9 August). The 70th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks would be the appropriate milestone to achieve a global ban on nuclear weapons.
Earlier this year the Chairman of the Second International Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons said: “the broad-based and comprehensive discussions on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons should lead to the commitment of States and civil society to reach new international standards and norms, through a legally binding instrument.”
PAX Christi International speaks a message of hope at the commemoration of the Japanese victims.
It is in this perspective one year to define the framework, find the negotiating forum, and start the process to outlaw nuclear weapons once and for all. For PAX the countdown has begun.