Secretary-General Congratulates Grass-Roots Japanese Organization Nihon Hidankyo on Being Awarded 2024 Nobel Peace Prize for Work against Nuclear Weapons

The following statement by UN Secretary-General António Guterres was issued today:

I warmly congratulate the grass-roots Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo on being awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.

The atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, also known as the hibakusha, are selfless, soul-bearing witnesses of the horrific human cost of nuclear weapons.

While their numbers grow smaller each year, the relentless work and resilience of the hibakusha are the backbone of the global nuclear disarmament movement.

I will never forget my many meetings with them over the years.  Their haunting living testimony reminds the world that the nuclear threat is not confined to history books.  Nuclear weapons remain a clear and present danger to humanity, once again appearing in the daily rhetoric of international relations.

It is time for world leaders to be as clear-eyed as the hibakusha and see nuclear weapons for what they are:  devices of death that offer no safety, protection, or security.  The only way to eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons is to eliminate them altogether.

The United Nations proudly stands with the hibakusha.  They are an inspiration to our shared efforts to build a world free of nuclear weapons.