A Japanese teenager on Thursday called for the abolition of nuclear weapons at a U.N. disarmament conference session that highlighted the importance of incorporating the voice of youth in its discussions.
"We must take a big step towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons," said Rio Sasaki, an 18-year-old student at a senior high school in Hiroshima, which, along with Nagasaki, was one of the two Japanese cities devastated by U.S. atomic bombs in the final days of World War II.
Addressing the conference online, she related the physical and psychological pains suffered by her grandmother throughout her life as a victim of the atomic bombings and said that young people like herself bear a strong responsibility to eliminate nuclear weapons.