Why G7 Youth Summit?
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In this article, I would like to write my motivation to participate in G7 Youth Summit, which will be held in Hiroshima next month.
I mainly have three reasons for joining the summit as below.
Learning the past
Pass down the talks to the world
Propose realistic disarmament plans
1. Learning the past
I visited International Atomic Energy Agency (IAES) at 13 and realized how difficult but important it is for the global society to unite for the world without nuclear weapons.
(Photo credit: the current writer)
First, I would like to deeply learn the history of Hiroshima with my own feet, eyes, and ears.
As a student researching children’s rights, I have the vision to protect and promote children’s dignity in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. On the other hand, the world is facing a possible threat of nuclear weapons due to the war in Ukraine. This threat makes me question whether we can ensure a safe environment for children who are and will be living in the 21st century without any fear about their lives or being separated from families.
With this crucial question, I felt I have a huge responsibility to visit Hiroshima, which I have never been to before. Meeting nuclear weapons survivors and hearing from experts in different disciples will allow me to be outside the books and explore questions for the world without nuclear weapons.
2. Pass down the talks to the world
(Photo credit: the current writer)
Second, as a world citizen, I would like to spread the talks from survivors and academic evidence from experts in Hiroshima to the world to tell the importance of discussing disarmament among different states.
Since it is apparent that people who experienced or directly heard the threat of nuclear weapons are aging in the year 2023, there is a possibility that inexperienced people’s fear of nuclear weapons will fade away as time goes by.
To not cut off the past generations’ effort to pass down survivors’ experiences, I would like to hear from them about the reality of nuclear weapons and spread their messages worldwide by utilizing social media and becoming an international civil servant in the future.
Furthermore, I assume that there is much academic evidence about the inhumanity of nuclear weapons research at Hiroshima University, led by professor Noriyuki Kawano. From the theoretical evidence, I would like to learn not only the threat of nuclear weapons but also the negative social and psychological impacts from a long-term perspective and pass down the learnings to G7 countries and Japan.
3. Propose realistic disarmament plans
What should we learn from the war in Ukraine?
What do we need to propose for the world without nuclear weapons?
(Photo credit: the current writer)
Third, as a youth born in the only country to have suffered atomic bombings, I would like to propose realistic disarmament plans together with young people from all over the world. The current global society for disarmament is a confrontation between principled state parties to the TPNW and realistic state parties to NPT.
Under this conflict situation, I believe that Japan, together with other countries under the umbrella of nuclear weapons, should promote its leadership more to become a platform for realistic and detailed plans for disarmament and propose a new framework of disarmament based on a ‘Joint courses of action and future-oriented dialogue towards a world without nuclear weapons (A/76/644).’
Possible measures can include:
1) support states for bilateral negotiations to voluntarily realize the treaty negotiation, such as START and INF
2) negotiating and adopting feasible goals for disarmament with a set of deadlines, similar to SDGs at the General Assembly
3) engaging member states of the Security Council to implement the negotiation of disarmament and nuclear arms control negotiations in accordance with article 47, paragraph 1 of the UN Charter.
In order to evaluate the effectiveness of these measures, I would like to keep discussing with other young participants from countries, including G7 countries. I also would like to come up with concrete plans with them for disarmament that will be proposed to G7 countries and hopefully used as one of the documents for the negotiation at the G7 conference in May.
Living the 21st century as a youth
Being a youth sometimes make me feel powerless, but at the same time, we are fearless and full of potential to provide solutions for the past political confrontation between states and create a peaceful environment for everyone regardless of ‘own’ states. This G7 youth summit is the place to give young people a passion for world peace.
I would like to thank you for holding such a valuable experience for us, and I hope to share my thoughts more throughout this opportunity!
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