Peace conference: Mayor call for unity against nuclear weapons!

Peace conference: Mayor call for unity against nuclear weapons!

Hannover and Bonn are currently the focus of international efforts for peace and disarmament. On March 21, 2025, an important event took place under the topic of “Creating peace in times of geopolitical tensions”, where Hanover Mayor Belit Onay and Bonn's Mayor Katja Dörner performed as the main speaker. The event attracted numerous participants and was streamed live to reach a wider audience. The video message from Kazumi Matsui, the mayor of Hiroshima and President of the Mayors for Peace received special attention.

Professor Dr. Conrad Schetter, director of the Bonn International Center of Conflict Studies (BICC), highlighted the challenges of peace acquisition in a world that is still shaped by conflicts and tensions. The over 8,470 members of the member of Mayors for Peace, including around 900 cities in Germany, have been committed to the abolition of nuclear weapons since 1982 and regularly present best practice examples from municipal peace work.

peace strategies and international cooperation

BELIT Onay also reported on his participation in the third contracting states conference on the nuclear weapon ban (AVV) in New York, which took place from March 3 to 7, 2025. 86 countries and over 1,000 representatives of civil society took part in this conference, which illustrates urgency and global consensus for nuclear disarmament. The session was characterized by lively discussions about the risks of nuclear conflicts and the role of cities in nuclear disarmament.

Mayors for Peace organized various events that raised the decisive contribution of the municipalities to nuclear disarmament. During the conference, a political explanation was passed that spoke out against nuclear weapons and nuclear deterrence. The topics discussed included education initiatives and the mobilization of civil society for the contract for the ban on nuclear weapons (TPNW), which was accepted in 2017 and now comprises 73 signing states.

global security situation and atomic risks

The current global security situation remains worrying. According to the ican , nine nuclear weapons states have around 12,500 nuclear weapons, with 89% of these weapons lying in the hands of the United States and Russia. This diminishes the success of the disarmament effort, since despite a slight decrease in the total number of weapons, the amount of the ready -to -use nuclear weapons has increased. It is particularly alarming that estimated 2,000 of these immediately ready-to-use weapons are on the highest alert ("launch-on-warning") and could be activated within minutes.

The legitimate concern for the potential dangers and the destructive power of the atomic armor situation underlines the importance of such conferences and the committed dialogue between cities and countries in order to pave the way to a more peaceful future.