Visitors to the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Park, which commemorates the Japanese city's devastation by an atomic bombing, describe the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the bombing survivors group Nihon Hidankyo as an honour to further warn global powers against the use of nuclear weapons.
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00:00The Peace Prize for 2024 to the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyu.
00:07This grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
00:13also known as Hibakusha, is receiving the Peace Prize for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.
00:22A town the size of Sheffield.
00:25Here and there an isolated structure reminds the onlooker that here was once a city.
00:56I think it's revolutionary.
01:00Japan is the only non-nuclear power,
01:06so I hope that this kind of resolution will not be used in a wrong way.
01:13I want the world to think about it.
01:25The Peace Prize for 2024
01:30When I received the Peace Prize, I felt like I saw a flash of light.
01:39I felt the emptiness of not being able to receive an autograph for the Peace Prize.
01:49But even so, the sadness and joy of my efforts
01:59are connected to the Peace Prize.
02:06I think it's very meaningful.
02:11While their numbers grow smaller each year,
02:14the relentless work and resilience of the Hibakusha are the backbone of the global nuclear disarmament movement.
02:20Their haunting living testimony reminds the world that the nuclear threat is not confined to history books.
02:26Nuclear weapons remain a clear and present danger to humanity,
02:30once again appearing in the daily rhetoric of international relations.
02:35It is time for world leaders to be as clear-eyed as the Hibakusha
02:38and see nuclear weapons for what they are,
02:41devices of death that offer no safety, protection, or security.
02:45Just imagine you go through atomic bombings
02:50and such catastrophic experiences.
02:55Probably you would not want to remember,
02:58but these Hibakushas are very brave
03:02and decided to share their catastrophic experiences
03:09to the world in order for the world to make movements towards peace and nuclear disarmament
03:18and, of course, eventually the elimination of nuclear weapons.
03:23It was an extraordinary moment because, of course,
03:25the Hibakusha are getting older and older, the few who are left,
03:29and, of course, their health has always suffered throughout their whole lives.
03:32So it's a very important moment, I think, to acknowledge their contribution.
03:37We are seeing a move away from this understanding
03:42that nuclear weapons are somewhere in the background,
03:46somewhere there as a sort of vague, never-to-be-used-to-deterrence function,
03:52to a real threat.
03:55The Hibakusha are getting older and older.
03:59I don't think it's just about being happy.
04:02I feel like we have more responsibility now.
04:06It's not just about being happy when we get something.
04:09What we have to do now is a big issue.
04:12All the Hibakusha are very old.
04:15They are over 85 years old.
04:18We have two children.
04:21Not all of them, but some of them.
04:26If we don't raise them with strong leadership,
04:31the Hibakusha and the Hiroshima Organization will collapse.
04:48For more UN videos visit www.un.org