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IPB 2025 Survey: Peace Education

Contribute to the Development of IPB’s Peace Education Strategy

The International Peace Bureau is in the process of developing its peace education strategy, and we invite you to contribute to this important initiative.

We have prepared a short survey to gather information on your learning preferences, interest in online formats, and the peace-related topics of greatest relevance to you. Your responses will play a vital role in shaping educational offerings that are accessible, meaningful, and of value to our global network.

Boston-Hiroshima 80th Anniversary

6 August 2025, Boston – To mark the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bombing, the Boston-Hiroshima 80th Anniversary Commemoration Coalition produced a 70-minute video, shown repeatedly during today’s event. The film is divided into three parts, exploring:

The significance of August 6, 1945
The legacy of the Hibakusha — survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
A call for nuclear disarmament

Watch the Film Here

The coalition also organized a gathering at Dewey Square, across from South Station in downtown Boston. On this occasion, IPB Executive Director Sean Conner delivered a message to the people of Boston and fellow citizens across the United States. You can read his full speech below.

IPB Executive Director’s Speech at Boston-Hiroshima 80th Anniversary

Many US Americans my age and younger may not be aware of the true dangers of nuclear war in the modern era. There is a common misperception that the risk of nuclear war drastically decreased after the end of the Cold War when in fact the current situation is as dangerous, if not more.

Nearly all nuclear-armed states are undergoing intensive nuclear modernization programs and the total number of nuclear warheads is on the rise. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research institute, the total number of warheads in 2024 was estimated to be 12,241, with 2,100 in a state of high operational alert on ballistic missiles. Nuclear arms control is all but abandoned – the last remaining nuclear limitations agreement by the US and Russia, the New START Treaty, is set to expire in February 2026. Nuclear threats and talk of proliferation – including the deployment of Russian nuclear missiles in Belarus and the return of US nuclear missiles to the UK – are on the rise. New so-called ‘tactical’ nuclear weapons increase the risk of their usage.

Make no mistake – nuclear deterrence theory is based fundamentally on a lie. There have been several close calls over the decades – from the Cuban Missile Crisis to the 2018 false missile alert in Hawaii. On each of these occasions, it is only by pure luck that we have not seen catastrophe. Whether purposeful or accidental, any use of nuclear weapons will likely cause a chain of events in which more weapons will be used. Even if a mere fraction of nuclear weapons are used – including in a regional conflict – the consequences will be global.

Nuclear weapons are by nature indiscriminate – there is no distinction between military and civilian, or environment for that matter. And the consequences are long-term and widespread.

80 years after the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we would be wise to learn the lessons that the Hibakusha, the survivors, share. We must abolish nuclear weapons and strengthen peaceful conflict resolution mechanisms. The good news is that there is already a framework – the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Join us in demanding that the US and all countries sign and ratify now!

Exploring the Future of Peace and Security: IPB Executive Director’s Speech at the Helsinki +50 People’s Conference

The IPB Executive Director’s speech at the Helsinki +50 People’s Conference on 1 August 2025 — a conference exploring the future of peace and security in Europe and beyond, through both top-down and bottom-up approaches.

This month we mark fifty years since the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. It could not come at a more vital moment, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and genocide in Gaza – as well as the more general increase in conflicts and military tensions from Sudan and DRC to the South China/West Philippines Sea and the Korean peninsula – force us to question the role of Europe in peace, solidarity, and diplomacy in the continent and indeed internationally.

Letter for a World Free of War and Nuclear Weapons

English and Spanish

On August 6 and 9, 2025, the individuals and organizations signing this letter will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the events in which the United States dropped two nuclear bombs on the Japanese populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing 150,000 people and leaving thousands more injured and suffering serious consequences. We honor and remember all those lives lost and injured by the nuclear bombs. For them, for us, we say No to the existence and use of nuclear weapons!

Urgent Appeal: Women describing how the Israeli-Manufactured Famine Is Slowly Killing Two Million Palestinians in Gaza

The report is from the Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC), dated 5 August 2025. They encourage everyone to share this appeal, amplify the voices of women from Gaza, speak to elected representatives, and demand accountability and access to aid.

The world is witnessing a man-made famine unfold in real time. Over two million Palestinians in Gaza are being systematically starved while being bombed and torn apart. This has driven many mothers to strip their children in front of cameras, hoping that the sight of exposed ribs might stir enough compassion to bring food to their empty stomachs. These images have become tragically routine. Small, frail bodies are reduced to symbols of suffering, while their mothers stand helpless—laying bare their pain to a world that cannot deliver food to their plates.

IPB’s Voice for Peace at the 2025 World Conference Against A- and H-Bombs: Sean Conner’s Speech

IPB Executive Director Sean Conner Speech in the World Conference Against A- and H-Bombs 2025

Dear friends and colleagues,

We are truly living in unprecedented times, in what seems like a parallel universe where people have forgotten the horrors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 80 years ago; where we have forgotten the promises of the post-second world war era, when global powers moved to prevent any future war; and where nuclear-armed states in 1968 signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty included article 6 – with a commitment to good faith efforts towards complete nuclear and conventional disarmament.

Workshop Report on Peace and Peaceful Coexistence in the DRC- Focus on Conflicts in the East

This report provides an account of the work of the multi-stakeholder workshop organized by the Consortium Amani na Umoja (“Peace and Unity”), a platform bringing together seven civil society organizations working for peacebuilding, social cohesion, and sustainable development in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Action pour les Droits Solidaires (ADS), Africa Reconciled, Congo Security Update Alert (CSUA asbl), Women Concern (WOCO), Action pour le Dévéloppement de Jeunes au Congo (ADJC), Ministère d’Accord et de Rapprochement pour l’Essort Collectif en Afrique (MARECAR) et Encadrement des Femmes Indigènes et des Ménages vulnérables (EFIM).

This workshop was part of a collective dynamic aimed at analyzing conflict dynamics in the Eastern part of the country, identifying the underlying causes of tension, and proposing concrete actions to promote peace and harmonious coexistence between communities. The dialogue brought together community-led/national organizations (NGOs), international organizations (INGOs), some UN agencies, medias and public administration.

AMANI NA UMOJA DETAILED WORKSHOP REPORT FINAL_compressed Download

IPB Executive Director Sean Conner’s Common Security Speech

IPB Executive Director Sean Conner’s Common Security Speech in the International Trade Union’s July 28 webinar For Democracy that Delivers Peace and Prosperity for All.

The basic idea behind Common Security is that the security of one is inextricably linked to the security of all; that the security of a state, nation, or peoples cannot be achieved at the expense of the security of another; that security is not a zero-sum game.

Three Japanese Groups, Including A-Bomb Survivors’ Organization, Issue Joint Statement on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 80th Anniversary

23 July 2025, Japan – Ahead of the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, three organizations calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons, including the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, issued a joint statement on the 23rd, calling for “the most important thing is to raise awareness in Japan and around the world about the inhumanity of nuclear weapons, regardless of differences of position.”

Peace in Europe or war: Thoughts 50 years after the CSCE (Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe) in Helsinki in 1975

The opinions and views expressed in the article below are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of IPB.

The West is much closer to war with the nuclear power Russia than to the resumption of cooperative relations with this largest country on earth. The structural economic crisis in Europe, with the apparent way out being a military Keynesianism, will not necessarily lead to war. But its probability cannot be underestimated.

An arms race reminiscent of the worst times of the Cold War in many European countries, including Germany, will lead to profound economic and social upheavals.