Photos

From 28th - 30th May, a Mayors for Peace Delegation attended the NPT PrepCom Meeting hold in Geneva.

Halabja (Iraq), March 16th 2008 - Mayors for Peace participated in a 3-day event "From Genocide into Peace" at the invitation of the Governerate of Sulymanyah, the Mayor of Halabja and the Regional Government of Kurdistan, Iraq. All events took place in the Region of Kurdistan, Iraq and marked the 20th anniversary of the gas attacks on the city of Halabja. The gas attack on the City of Halabja in March 1988 killed around 5,000 civilians.

Assisi, Italy - February 29th and March 1st 2008 - Mayors for Peace received formal endorsement following a presentation during the meeting of the Presidency of the "Coordinamento di Enti Locale per la Pace e i Diritti Umani". This coordinationation of Italian local authorities counts over 700 members. The second day we also made a presentation during the national "Tavole della Pace". The Tavole della Pace was created in 1996. It brings together the "Local authorities for peace and human rights" and social movements and they organise the bi-annual historic march from Perugia to Assisi. Last year the 25-km march mobilized over 200,000 people.

October 1st 2007, Ghedi (Italy) - 200 people gathered at the main square of the Italian town Ghedi, to launch a new campaign to declare Italy a NWFZ through a legal initiative. The Mayors of Aviano, Castenedolo and Ghedi were the first to sign the new law proposal declaring Italy a nuclear-weapon-free country. A very  significant event, as Aviano and Ghedi are the two Italian cities where US nuclear weapons are stationed.

November 17 - 19th 2006, Rome (Italy) - President Akiba attended the 7th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates held in Rome and gave a speech at the opening session that was themed "Atoms for Peace or for War."

September 2006, Helsinki (Finland) - The Nobel Peace Prize-winning NGO International Peace Bureau (IPB) awarded its Sean MacBride Award to Mayors for Peace. The award ceremony was held in September 2006 during an IPB General Assembly in Helsinki. IPB Chairwoman Cora Weiss presented a medal to Mayor Akiba, president of Mayors for Peace.

Being already in Helsinki, Mayor Akiba participated also in the 17. World Congress of IPPNW

July 7th 2006, Ypres (Belgium) - Opening ceremony of the new Mayors for Peace office in Ypres. On July 7th 2006 Luc Dehaene, Mayor of Ypres handed over the key for the new International Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign secretariat to Mayor Akiba, president of Mayors for Peace. 

In August 2005 the 6th General Conference of Mayors for Peace took place in Hiroshima, commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Atomic Bombings.
243 people representing 92 cities in 20 countires, 7 NGOS as well as 14 representatives of national governements participated at the Conference on the topic  "What Cities Can Do to Abolish Nuclear Weapons".

July 6th 2006, Peace Palace, The Hague (The Netherlands) - On the occasion of 10th anniversary of the ICJ advisory opinion stating "… the threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law", a mayoral delegation participated in commemorative meetings held by European peace NGOs.

European Parliament, Brussels, January 19th 2005 - Mayor Akiba is invited to address the Foreign Affairs Committee in European Parliament to address the 2020 Vision Campaign

The Flemish City of Ypres was completely destroyed during World War I (1914 - 1918) as it found itelf on the front-line. It was also near Ypres that chemical weapons were used for the first time on April 22nd 1915. The city was completely evacuated between 1915 and 1918. By the end of the war the once beautiful and peaceful town was completely destroyed.