Monday, January 28, 2019

Lay down your nuclear weapons urges Buddhist leader

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 (Bernama) – Soka Gakkai International (SGI) president, Daisaku Ikeda, in his 2019 peace proposal published recently, called for concerted effort in disarmament and for the youth to become agents of contagious change.

Entitled ‘Toward a New Era of Peace and Disarmament: A People-centered Approach’, Ikeda asked for progress in the abolition of nuclear weapons around the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) to be quickened.

According to a statement today, he also stressed the dangers of emerging Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) and proposed the prompt convening of a conference to negotiate a treaty banning these weapons.

He asked for a shift from seeing security solely in terms of state or military, towards one with a human focus in order to build a world with meaningful security.

He acknowledged that the complexity of global challenges can make the youth feel that positive change is impossible, but he wants them to resist feelings of resignation and "meet the severe challenges of our age as agents of proactive and contagious change".

He called for an expansion of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) network of universities committed to supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and proposed a world conference of such universities in 2020.

On the abolition of nuclear weapons, he spotlighted the need to expand the ratification of the TPNW to achieve its entry into force, and urged the creation of a group of like-minded states to deepen the debate and promote it.

Looking ahead to the 2020 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Ikeda called for steps such as the removal of nuclear warheads from high-alert status.

He further proposed that a fourth special session of the UN General Assembly devoted to disarmament (SSOD-IV) be held in 2021.

For more details on Ikeda’s 37th annual peace proposal, visit www.sgi.org.

-- BERNAMA

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