‘Nuclear Weapons Are Not Just Tools of War. They Are Weapons of Mass Suffering.’

By Naureen Hossain Reprint | | Print |

Hideto Matsuura, head of Nihon Hidankyo, addresses an event hosted at the sidelines of the 2026 NPT Review Conference. Credit Naureen Hossain/IPS

NEW YORK, May 1 2026 (IPS) - “We choose hope because despair is a form of surrender that we cannot accept,” UN Ambassador to the Philippines, Enrique Manolo, told civil society representatives and the diplomatic community, considering the question of whether to pursue nuclear disarmament in a world that is becoming more polarized on the issue.

At an event hosted on the sidelines of the 2026 NPT Review Conference on April 30, Manolo and other speakers discussed efforts to reinvigorate momentum for the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) by bringing hope into diplomatic dialogue and making the case for nuclear disarmament through the lens of the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons.

The event was sponsored by Soka Gakkai International, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and the UN Permanent Missions of the Philippines and Kiribati.

In choosing to spotlight the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, this event highlighted an underreported perspective in the debate over nuclear weapons. During the general debate this week, UN member states have so far spoken about protecting and maintaining the NPT as longstanding proof of what multilateral actors can achieve under a unified vision for peace and security.

They reiterate the NPT as a cornerstone of the international disarmament regime. And yet, the current geopolitical climate and the systemic weakening of institutions are undermining the treaty’s foundational principles. It is, therefore, all the more crucial to see member states reaffirm their commitment to the NPT, and more broadly, to preserving international peace and security.

At present, however, much more has been said about how certain state parties to the NPT are honoring their obligations. Delegates from non-nuclear states have pointed out that nuclear powers have not sufficiently met their obligations to nonproliferation and are even considering expanding their nuclear capabilities, which would be in violation of the NPT.

SGI Choose Hope attendees. Credit: Naureen Hossain/IPS

The fallout of a nuclear detonation would have far-reaching consequences that would go beyond the point of impact, as several speakers noted in their remarks. There is the immediate aftermath of the devastation wrought on affected communities, from the destruction of their homes to the injuries and lifelong medical conditions.

Radiation exposure is an intergenerational curse, as second- and third-generation communities deal with chronic health issues as a result of it.

Hideto Matsuura, a hibakusha and the director of Nihon Hidankyo, testified to the fact. Matsuura was in his mother’s womb during the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, yet the exposure to the radiation from the womb left him reeling from the impact of nuclear weapons.

As director of Nihon Hidankyo, the Japanese hibakusha organization group, Matsuura has dedicated himself to spreading a message of peace and nuclear disarmament under the principle of “no more hibakusha.” He shared his mother’s story of living through the bombing and its immediate aftermath. He described those who died from burns and radiation poisoning within days of the bombing, but conditions were horrific for those who survived.

Panelists at the Choose Hope for Nuclear Deterrence side event. Credit: Naureen Hossain/IPS

As time passed, people reported serious medical issues and did not understand the root cause of the ailments they were suffering. Eighty years after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, hibakusha and their descendants continue to suffer from late-onset conditions such as cancer and leukemia. They also continue to share their stories with the international community to promote peace above all.

“Again, I raise my voice. Nuclear weapons and human beings are not able to exist together,” said Matsuura. “All nations please join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as soon as possible. Let’s achieve an immediate end to nuclear weapons and their eventual elimination. That’s why I came here today to work together with you.”

Pacific island states like Kiribati are also a case study of the impact of nuclear testing on communities. Though testing in the Pacific Ocean was conducted due to the relative isolation from the continents, island nations and their citizens were nonetheless affected by radiation exposure.

Certain areas, including those that are sacred to their cultures and traditions, remain uninhabitable to this day. Josephine Moote, the Charge d’Affaires of the UN Mission of Kiribati, remarked on the significance of nuclear justice in response to the aftermath of nuclear testing.

When discussing the impact of nuclear weapons, the disruptions to society and the environment cannot be overlooked.

Both Matsuura and Josefin Lund, Secretary General of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear Weapons Sweden (IPPNW), remarked on how radiation exposure affected pregnant women and their children thereafter.

Lund remarked how the healthcare systems collapsed in the wake of the bombings, as almost all the hospitals were destroyed and more than two-thirds of medical professionals were killed, meaning that survivors were left without sufficient care.

Furthermore, access to uncontaminated food and water became extremely limited, and with the destruction of infrastructure and hygiene standards, this bred conditions for diseases to spread rapidly. What this evidence demonstrates, Lund said, is how humans are “extremely vulnerable” to the effects of nuclear war.

“The nuclear weapons are not just tools of war. They are weapons of mass suffering. The effects cannot be controlled in time or space. They harm civilians… destroy healthcare systems, poison the environment, and leave lasting scars on humanity,” said Lund.

The threat of nuclear weapons also stands in the same nexus of another existential threat of our time: climate change. Conflict and the use of even conventional weapons can also cause devastation to the environment.

Beyond that, nuclear weapons and climate change are both what Andean DeVos, Outreach Coordinator for Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, called “threat multipliers.” Their impact “erodes the conditions needed to sustain peace and health” and “deepens the factors that cause instability.”

Climate change is a factor in mass migration and competition for scarce resources, which can drive instability and conflict, while the continued existence of nuclear weapons and the lack of progress in disarmament efforts threatens the NPT regime. DeVos further lamented a “crisis in priorities”: global spending for military activities, including nuclear expansion, had increased in recent years, when those resources could instead be invested in disarmament activities or transitioning away from fossil fuels.

Yet DeVos and other speakers reiterated that in such frustrating circumstances, people can take inspiration—and hope—from meetings like Thursday’s side event, where diverse perspectives are shared but united by a common belief in nuclear disarmament as the path to peace. Hope can be taken from the knowledge that more than half of UN member states are party to international treaties like the NPT and the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

SGI Tomohiko Aishima, Executive Director of SGI Peace Center, believes that peace education plays a crucial role in promoting disarmament and rejecting nuclear deterrence.

In educating people about the reality of a nuclear blast, deterrence loses its strategic potential and is instead exposed as an instrument that is “absolute in its inhumanity.”

Aishima urged the diplomats in the room who would soon return to the NPT Review Conference in UN Headquarters to heed the warnings of civil society and the hibakusha as they carry on their debate.

“Let the humanitarian impact guide your policy. Together, let us reject the illusion of deterrence; let us choose human security. Let us choose hope.”

Note: This article is brought to you by IPS Noram in collaboration with INPS Japan and Soka Gakkai International in consultative status with ECOSOC.

IPS UN Bureau Report

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