Secretary-General, in message for ‘we must disarm’ campaign, urges redirecting

 

precious resources to health, education, development

 

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s video message yesterday for the “We Must Disarm” campaign:

Sixty-four years ago, atom bombs rained down on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Upon seeing such horror and devastation, people throughout the world thought such carnage must never happen again.

But thousands of nuclear weapons remain in global arsenals.  The risk of nuclear terrorism is real.  Yet we are also seeing bold steps to limit and eliminate these weapons.

The United Nations wants to build on this momentum.  I have a vision of a world free of nuclear weapons.  And I have a campaign, called “WMD -- We Must Disarm”.

We must disarm to save lives.  We must disarm so that we can redirect precious resources to health, education and development.  This year, the International Day of Peace, on 21 September, is dedicated to this cause.  Between now and then, please join our campaign on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and the UN's WMD-We Must Disarm website.

Let your voices be heard.  Let us convince leaders, once and for all, of the waste, futility and dangers posed by weapons of mass destruction.

In the face of this catastrophic threat, our message is clear:  Together, we must disarm!

Thank you.

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For information media • not an official record