Through a series of events in Europe from 2 to 7 July 2006 the “Good Faith
Delegation� launched the second phase of the 2020 Vision Campaign of the Mayors for
Peace.  Events in Great Britain provided a ‘preview’ of the new phase; the formal
launch took place in Holland; and activities in Belgium got phase two underway.  This
report covers the work of the Delegation under the leadership of the Mayor of Hiroshima,
Tadatoshi Akiba, President of Mayors for Peace.
The Good Faith Challenge

The overarching theme of this new phase of the 2020 Vision Campaign is the “Good Faith
Challenge.�  The first phase of the Campaign could be characterized as a search for
good faith in the international diplomatic arena.  Mayors for Peace devoted extensive
effort, in coordination with other organizations capable of operating internationally, to
promote the 2020 Vision within the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review process
(Preparatory Meetings 2003-2004; Review Conference 2005) and at the 60th UN General
Assembly (First Committee 2005; UN Disarmament Commission 2006).  Nonetheless, in 2005,
the nuclear nonproliferation regime was in deep crisis and nuclear disarmament efforts
had come to a complete standstill.  While there are signs of improvement in 2006, at the
UNDC (New York) and the Conference on Disarmament (Geneva), it is nonetheless clear that
there is a major, persistent deficit of good faith at the international level which, if
not directly addressed, will delay – perhaps indefintiely – the commencement of
negotiations on the elimination of nuclear weapons indefinitely. To get to the roots of
this crisis, the Good Faith Challenge takes the 2020 Vision beyond the rarified strata of
international diplomacy, to the multinational (alliance), national, and city (local)
levels.  Leaders at every level, including the individual citizen, are challenged to act
in good faith in addressing the threat that nuclear weapons pose to them and those they
are expected to protect, as well as their property and livelihood.  For guidance on this
crucial obligation we turn to the highest legal authority in the world, the International
Court on Justice which in 1995 was asked by the United Nation General Assembly to provide
an advisory opinion on the threat nuclear weapons pose to humanity.  In its final,
unanimous finding it declared:

"There exists an obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion
negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective
international control."

Good faith in negotiations means more than just a willingness to sit at the table and
talk endlessly.  The talk must be directed at results.  But at the same time, actions
beyond the negotiating table must be consistent with the objective of the negotiations.  
Nations must demonstrate that they are ready and willing to end their reliance upon
nuclear weapons. There is no technical of economic obstacle to eliminating all nuclear
weapons and weapon-grade fissile materials by 2020.  (That is the main reason we call it
the 2020 Vision.)  So, when a nation initiates, at great expense, nuclear-weapon-system
acquisitions aimed at perpetuating its nuclear arsenals for decades to come, i.e. well
beyond 2020, it is not acting in good faith.  Threats to use nuclear weapons, the
maintenance of missile on a ready-to-launch status, and the forward deployment of nuclear
weapons, are all threat postures that undercut the mutual confidence need for successful
negotiations.  Civil society projects that oppose such acquisitions and threat postures
deserve the support of the mayors of cities in that country or alliance of countries. On
the basis of the Good Faith Challenge, around the world, the 2020 Vision Campaign will
pro-actively connect mayors and city halls with citizen activists and organizations. By
accepting the Good Faith Challenge mayors and citizens link their local, national, or
regional issue with the global effort to get multilateral agreements implemented, ongoing
talks concluded, and comprehensive negotiations underway.  The aim of the 2020 Vision is
to have negotiations started in 2007 and concluded in 2010 on a framework convention that
identifies all the measures needed to achieve and maintain a nuclear-weapon-free world.  
The framework convention would set out the combination and sequence of agreements to be
reached such that all the identified measures can be fully implemented by the year 2020.

Cities Are Not Targets

Mayors for Peace is under no illusion that this will be easy.  In June 2006 at the
Conference on Disarmament the UN Secretary General Kofi Anan described the world as
“sleepwalking� toward nuclear catastrophe.  The Good Faith Challenge is first and
foremost about awakening and consciously redirecting effort toward “nuclear disarmament
in all its aspects.�  For their part, mayors have some ‘consciousness-raising’ to
do as well.  During the Cold War cities docilely accepted being hostages to the mutually
assured destruction scenarios of the nuclear war planners.  With cities unable to
communicate with each other across the Iron Curtain, perhaps this MAD arrangement was
unavoidable.  Those days are over.  Already in June 2006, at the suggestion of U.S.
members of Mayors for Peace, the U.S. Conference of Mayors has held out its hand to
Russian and Chinese offering to press Washington to offer clear cut assurances that they
would in no circumstances be the targets of nuclear attack.  USCM upheld the principle
that in general all nuclear-armed states should strictly rule out the targeting of cities
throughout the world   In line with that principle, they specifically solicited such
assurances from Russia and China.

Through the Cities Are Not Targets project, Mayors for Peace will spread this wake up
call to every corner of the Earth.  City-by-city, country-by-country, there will be a
vast mutiny against immoral and illegal nuclear doctrine.  The CANT project will make it
clear that cities are opposed to any use of nuclear weapons, wherever the location, and
any destruction of cities, whatever the means.  Nuclear attacks on remote military
targets and the destruction cities by conventional means would only weaken the barrier to
use of nuclear weapons against cities.  The 2020 Vision is the way to go; as the USCM
declared in 2004, “Weapons of mass destruction have no place in a civilized world.�

The Good Faith Delegation used the 10th anniversary of the ICJ advisory opinion to launch
the Good Faith Challenge.  Indeed, the launch took place at the seat of the ICJ: the
Peace Palace in The Hague, Holland, on the morning of 5 June 2006.  That afternoon, the
Cities Are Not Targets was launched at a public meeting in the City Hall of The Hague.  
In this report on the work of the Good Faith Delegation, these two events are imbedded in
a six-day narrative, beginning at the gates of the Atomic Weapons Establishment in
Aldermaston, UK, and ending at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.  It was an
inspiring experience for those who took part in the many activities, and we hope it will
be inspiring to you as well.

The Good Faith Delegation’s Journey

In each country, the Good Faith Delegation visited the nation’s capital and a city/town
where grassroots activities were underway.  This pattern of reflected the broadening of
the 2020 Vision Campaign from purely internationally-oriented work to also include
national and grassroots activity.  The following briefly lays out the journey of the Good
Faith Delegation.  Later pages provide greater detail on the activities in the three
countries (including names, which are omitted below).

A heat wave gripped this part of Europe during the entire period of the tour, 2-7 July.  
Getting through the grueling schedule of each day was a challenge in and of itself.  The
mayors and other delegation participants managed to sustain high spirits and to maintain
sharp focus on their message throughout.

The good people of Reading, in Berkshire, UK, hosted the first day of activities.  
Berkshire is the site of the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment, where all of
Britain nuclear warheads have been fabricated.  The Delegation members circled the
immense facility outside its double barbed-wire fence, met protesters, and spoke.  In
Reading, the Mayor welcomed the delegation and announced Reading’s affiliation with
Mayors for Peace and the City Council Leader chaired a public meeting.

The following day in London, among press interviews and other activities, the Delegation
met with the Mayor at City Hall, held consultations at the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office, and participated in a public meeting at the House of Commons. The great part of
July 4th was spent getting from England to Holland.  In the afternoon, the Delegation was
received at the Foreign Ministry in The Hague and opened an exhibition on Hiroshima and
Mayors for Peace hosted by the Mayor of Leidschendam. The tenth anniversary of the ICJ
advisory opinion on the use and threat of use of nuclear weapons was commemorated in the
Peace Palace by the mayors and a specially invited group of diplomats, lawyers, and civil
society leaders.  The President of Mayor for Peace formally announced the Good Faith
Challenge.  That afternoon, hosted at City Hall by the Mayor of The Hague, the President
of Mayors for Peace formally launched the Cities Are Not Targets project at a public
meeting.  The Delegation arrived in Brussels late that night.

On the 6th of July, the Delegation met with the Foreign Minister of Belgium.  They then
held a press conference at Brussels City Hall with the First Deputy Mayor.  In the
afternoon the Delegation went to NATO Headquarters for consultations with the Chairman of
its Nuclear Planning Group. On its final day, the Delegation took part in a conference at
the European Parliament on the ICJ advisory opinion.  The President informed the
participants of the work of the Good Faith Delegation and the second phase of the 2020
Vision Campaign.  The final activity of the Delegation was the opening of the
International Secretariat of the 2020 Vision Campaign in Ieper.

Throughout the journey, the mayors were treated to receptions, buffets, and dinners.  
Their search for good faith was rewarded by many individual encounters, the warm
appreciation of many local and national organizations, and a sincere respect and openness
to dialog on the part of the three governments.  It was the beginning of a much longer
journey toward the destination of a nuclear-weapon-free world in 2020.

Country-by-Country  [This section is ‘under construction.’  A preliminary version of
it should be available next week.  It will be roughly 15 pages long.]

Rising to the Challenge

The Good Faith Delegation has laid down the challenge for everyone to act in good faith
in addressing the nuclear threat.  As Mayor Akiba explained on several occasions, there
is only one threat to humanity that can cut short our efforts to address the many other
challenges we face: global warming, poverty, pandemic, etc.  All out nuclear war would
plunge the world into a state of barbarism from which civilization might never emerge
again.  A Rand Corporation study, released just days after the Good Faith Delegation
completed its work, shows that even a single, strategically placed nuclear explosion
could have worldwide economic repercussions over and above the horrendous local impact.  
After the taboo on the use of nuclear weapons that has held since the bombing of Nagasaki
has been broken, the international cooperation that is needed to address other global
challenges will disintegrate.  This is an issue that we neglect at our own extreme peril.

Your future needs you!©  Please accept the Good Faith Challenge and press your mayor,
your parliamentary representative, and your national leaders to do likewise.  Together we
can awaken the world from its sleepwalking and strive to make the dream of a
nuclear-weapon-free world a reality by the year 2020.

THE GOOD FAITH DELEGATION (not all mayors went to all cities)
International members:
President, Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, Hiroshima, Japan
Vice President, Mayor Senator Patrik Vankrunkelsven, Laakdal, Belgium
Mayor Sadek Hossain Khoka, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Mayor Gerhard Lemm, Radeberg, Germany
Mayor Philippe Mahoux, Gesves, Beglium
Councilor Brain Fitch, Brighton-Hove, UK, President of IAPMC
(f.) Mayor John Kityo, Wakiso, Uganda
Mayor Thomas O’Grady, North Olmsted (OH), USA
Mayor Luciano Monticelli, Pineto, Italy
Governor Dana Ahmed Majed, Suleymania, Iraq
Local Members:
Mayor Shabber Ahmed, Coventry, UK
Mayor P.J. Mohlman, Oostzaan, The Natherlands

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