Peace Boat at the third Nuclear Ban Treaty Meeting of States Parties, 2025

The Third Meeting of States Parties to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) successfully concluded at UN Headquarters on March 7, with a powerful political declaration rejecting nuclear weapons and challenging nuclear deterrence, and adopting a host of decisions that strengthen the Treaty’s process.

This meeting brought together governments and civil society from all around the world to continue to build on the treaty’s vision of the total elimination of nuclear weapons as the world marks the 80th anniversary since the start of the nuclear threat.

Peace Boat attended the Meeting, together with other partners from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), with a particular focus on amplifying the voices of people and communities impacted by nuclear weapons, and linking activities of Japanese campaigners, parliamentarians and experts to global movements.

For further information about the Meeting and its outcomes, click here. In addition to the diplomatic meetings taking place throughout the week, dozens of side events were also convened on a variety of topics, from nuclear justice to art to youth engagement. For a full overview, please see ICAN’s Nuclear Ban Week calendar.

Peace Boat's Rico Robertson delivered ICAN's statement on the intersessional process on March 6, providing practical recommendations on inclusion of civil society and particularly nuclear affected communities in the process. "Inclusion is crucial because people must be given the opportunity to participate in policy decisions that are about them. These stakeholder groups are playing pivotal roles in building the political will for nuclear disarmament and offer expertise in the lived experience of the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental impact of nuclear weapons and how to address their lasting legacy." Read the full statement online here.

Photo: Darren Ornitz

Cooperation as part of the Japan Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

As part of the Japan NGO Network for Nuclear Weapons Abolition, Peace Boat collaborated with other Japanese civil society organizations, experts and youth atttending the 3MSP and following the proceedings from Japan, organising daily livestream events linking New York and Japan and providing updates to the Japanese public and media. Click here for information about these events and to watch the archives (in Japanese language).

Peace Boat also collaborated as part of the campaign to submit two Working Papers to the 3MSP, based on discussions at the International Civil Society Forum to Abolish Nuclear Weapons – 80 Years after the Atomic Bombings held in Tokyo on February 8-9, 2025. These Working Papers can be accessed below. The paper regarding Universalization of the Treaty was also introduced in a Statement presented by the Japan Campaign's Asano Hideo on March 5, available here.

• Victim Assistance ― Creating Mechanisms for Participation of Affected Communities
• Toward the Universalization of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons: Engaging Nuclear-Dependent States

Solidarity with and Support for Survivors

Representatives of communities whose health and environment have been affected by nuclear weapons, including Hibakusha of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, gathered in New York to take part in the meeting and collectively share their experiences and discuss their fights for justice. 

Peace Boat is supporting the representatives of Nihon Hidankyo, 2024 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, in their participation at the 3MSP, including provision of interpretation for and accompaniment of Ms Wada Masako and Mr Hamasumi Jiro by Peace Boat Executive Committee Member Hatakeyama Sumiko.

Peace Boat also co-organised with ICAN the Nuclear Survivors Forum 2025, the fourth in the series, on Thursday March 6 14:00 to 16:00 at the 2nd Floor of the Church Center for the United Nations, 777 United Nations Plaza. It was facilitated by Yerdaulet Rakhmatulla, co-founder of the Qazaq Nuclear Frontline Coalition (QNFC).

The Forum started with a minute of silence for those who could not join due to obligations back home, illness, or those who passed fighting for their community. After brief self introductions among the participants, the two guest speakers, Hamasumi Jiro, a prenatally-exposed survivor of Hiroshima, Assistant Secretary General of Nihon Hidankyo, and co-founder and president of a Tokyo-based Hibakusha association, and Park Jungsoon, a first generation Korean Hibakusha of the Hiroshima atomic bombing and Advisory Committee Member of the Korea Atomic Bomb Victims Association, Busan Branch, shared their personal stories and collective memories of various struggles and sufferings shared by Hibakusha.

After a coffee break, affected community members and allies were divided into small groups, and discussed their common needs and challenges, success stories, and demands regarding victim assistance and environmental remediation, including expectations for the wider anti-nuclear community, the TPNW State Parties and beyond.

Many common issues were raised such as the need for medical assistance, official recognition and apology from the government, as well as genuine inclusion of civil society, and immediate and proper remediation of the contaminated environment.

Executive Director of ICAN Melissa Parke gave closing remarks, thanking the nuclear affected community members' courage to share their traumatic stories, and the Forum concluded with group photos in solidarity.

Some of the participants in the 2025 Nuclear Survivors Forum, of diverse generations from Kazakhstan, Korea, Japan and Maohi Nui
Photo: Darren Ornitz

The Nuclear Threat and Northeast Asia

Peace Boat collaborated with Korean and Mongolian civil society organisations to hold a joint Side Event focusing on the situation on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia, with details as below.

As we approach 80 years since the end of World War II and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Northeast Asia is characterised by political crises, escalating tensions and growing dangers. This side event provided space for civil society experts from Japan, Korea and Mongolia to together consider the peace and security situation in Northeast Asia today, and particularly to highlight opportunities for easing of tensions and progress in disarmament provided by the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. It also featured the voices of Korean and Japanese Hibakusha in relation to victim assistance.

Action to Overcome the Nuclear Crisis on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia
Peace Boat, Blue Banner & Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea

Tuesday, 4 March·3:00 – 4:15pm
Conf Rm A - United Nations Headquarters, 405 E 45th St, New York, NY 10017, USA

Speakers:

• Shim Jintae, Head of the Hapcheon Branch of the Korean Atomic Bomb Victims Association
• Han Jung-soon, President of the Second-Generation Patient Group of the Korean Atomic Bomb Victims Association
• Hamasumi Jiro, Assistant Secretary General of Nihon Hidankyo, 2024 Nobel Peace Prize laureate organisation, and prenatally-exposed survivor of Hiroshima
• Yoshioka Tatsuya, Founder and Director, Peace Boat
• Ko Youngdae, Co-Representative, Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea (SPARK)
• Enkhsaikhan Jargalsaikhan, Chair, Blue Banner
• Lee Youngah, Manager of the Center for Peace and Disarmament, People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD)
• Tembata Daisuke, Member of the Parliament of Japan, Reiwa Shinsengumi