“The only way to eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons is to eliminate them completely,” stressed the UN chief in his message of congratulations to the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo, which was awarded the Nobel Prize for peace 2024.
He said nuclear weapons remain a “clear and present” danger to humanity, which appears again in the daily rhetoric of international relations.
Mr. Guterres also noted that survivors of the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, also known as hibakusha, are altruistic and soulful witnesses to the terrible human cost of nuclear weapons.
“Even though their numbers decline every year, the hard work and resilience of the hibakusha constitute the backbone of the global movement for nuclear disarmament,” he said, adding that this action is a “source of inspiration for our common efforts to build a world free of nuclear weapons.”
The Hidankyo organization brings together survivors of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. It received the Peace Prize “for its efforts in favor of a world without nuclear weapons and for having demonstrated, through testimonies, that weapons nuclear weapons must never be used again.
