Hello, New York!
本校では6年前より、盈進高等学校（福山市）、沖縄尚学高等学校とともに「核廃絶！ヒロシマ中高生による署名キャンペーン」を展開しており、主に街頭署名によって毎年４～５万筆の署名を集めています。この署名は毎年、広島市長を通じて、国連に渡っています。
これまでの活動が平和首長会議(Mayors for Peace)に評価され、この度、広島市長がＮＰＴ（核不拡散条約）再検討会議第3準備委員会に参加される市長に帯同して、高校生８人がニューヨークに派遣されました。本校、盈進、沖縄尚学、修道より二人ずつです。この8人は外務省の「ユース非核特使」の委嘱を受けています。
27日から開始される会議を国連本部の本会議場で傍聴するほか、国連事務総長や軍縮部の上級代表にお会いしたり、平和首長会議のユースフォーラムでプレゼンテーションをしたり、地元の高校などを訪問して、交流会を持つなどします。なかなか得難い機会を与えられ、参加生徒は緊張しつつも、様々な学びや出会いに大きな期待感も抱いています。
本日は13時間に及ぶフライトの後、夕方、マンハッタンに到着しました。多少疲れていますが、全員元気で、ホテル近くのグランドセントラル駅を見に行ったり、夕食で四苦八苦しながらサンドイッチを オーダーするなど、早速刺激的な時間を過ごしました。
明日から始まる国連での会議の様子など、お伝えできればと思います。また、今回は広島市が初めて高校生を派遣するということもあり、ＮＨＫ，広島テレビ、中国新聞、朝日新聞が市長に同行取材をしています。
写真は広島空港での壮行式での写真とホテルに
到着したきのもの、また、ホテルの近くにあるニューヨークのシンボル、クライスラービルです。
Hello, New York
Jogakuin has been working with Eshin High School (Fukuyama) and Okinawa Shogaku High School on a campaign called “Nuclear Abolition Now! Signature Drive by Junior and Senior High School Students” for 6 years. They have been collecting 40 to 50 thousand signatures mainly on a street every year. They have sent these signatures to the UN every year by the Mayor of Hiroshima.
Their campaign had been recognized by Mayors for Peace and 8 high school students are sent to NY to accompany the mayor who was attending the third session of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. Two students each from Jogakuin, Eishin, Okinawa Shogaku and Shudo were dispatched. They have also been appointed “Youth Special Communicators for a World without Nuclear Weapons” by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
They will attend the upcoming third session of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, meet Secretary General of the UN and the top officials of UNODA, make a presentation at Mayors for Peace Youth Forum, and meet with American high school students. They were a little nervous about these priceless opportunities but more than that they were positively looking forward to the opportunities for learning and encounter.
After a 13-hour flight, we arrived at Manhattan in the evening. Though tired, we were all fine and having exciting time going to see Grand Central Station near the hotel and ordering sandwiches for dinner with struggle.
We will report the conference at UN from tomorrow and other activities. As they were the first high school students to be sent to an international conference by Hiroshima City, reporters from NHK, Hiroshima TV, Chugoku Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun were travelling with us.
The first photo was taken at Hiroshima Airport when we had a send-off, the second photo was when we arrived at the hotel, and the last was one of NY’s symbolic architectures, Chrysler Building near our hotel.