Survived Hiroshima at 13, will accept Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of anti-nuclear group at 85

Setsuko Thurlow was 13 years old when the US dropped the bomb on her city in 1945. To accelerate Japan's surrender in World War II, US forces dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945 respectively. Japan surrendered to the Allied Forces on August 15, 1945, bringing an end to World War II.

An active social worker and peace activist, Setsuko is known for her lifelong work for nuclear disarmament. A recipient of Canada's highest honour, she has been recognised by the Japanese Foreign Ministry and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015, says a report by HuffPost. Over the last few years, she has been a prominent voice sensitising people about the consequences of an armed conflict and has been promoting peace across different pockets of society.

As a social worker, she has spent a quarter of her life in Toronto working with acclaimed agencies like the Toronto Board of Education and the Japanese Family Services of Metropolitan Toronto. She has also participated in many anti-nuclear activities, reports Hibakusha Stories.

As per a recent announcement, Setsuko and International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) Executive Director Beatrice Fihn will jointly accept the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of ICAN in Oslo on December 10, Xinhua reported.

Setsuko has been a leading figure in Geneva-based ICAN since its launch in 2007. ICAN said she played a pivotal role in the UN negotiations that led to the adoption of the treaty outlawing nuclear weapons in July. The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was opened for signature on September 20, has 53 signatories so far. Once 50 nations have ratified or acceded to the treaty, it enters into force.

For more than seven decades, she has campaigned against the bomb, said ICAN.

The pro-disarmament group said that two other survivors of the atomic bombings will also attend the prize ceremony, as will survivors of nuclear testing.

With inputs from IANS.

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