The Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND) 2014 Assembly entitled “Climbing the Mountain: Legislators Collaboration on Bilateral, Plurilateral and Global Measures toward a Secure Nuclear-Weapons-Free World” will be held in Washington DC on February 25-28, 2014.

Peace Boat US will be in attendance as part of their disarmament and nuclear abolition advocacy activities, which include the Global Voyage for a Nuclear Free World, where Survivors from the atomic bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki  (known as Hibakusha in Japanese) share their experiences, and the Horizon 2012 project, a comprehensive program that aims to establish a Middle East zone free from any weapons of mass destruction including nuclear weapons.

Representatives from the United Nations, the Czech Republic, Canada, India, Korea, Egypt, New Zealand, Polynesia, Japan and the U.S. will be participating in the Assembly in an effort to engage in dialogue, build understanding and parliamentary participation on the issues of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

The focus of the conference will be on engagement between U.S. legislators and other key-country legislators to build cooperative security, eliminate the reliance on nuclear weapons, and establish the necessary framework for a world free of nuclear weapons. More information is available on the PNND webpage, www.pnnd.org and at www.facebook.com/pnndglobal

By Susan Vente