Ambassador to Japan urges Jamaicans to join global push for nuclear disarmament
Published:Monday | July 7, 2025 | 12:06 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU
Shorna-Kay Richards, Jamaica’s ambassador to Japan, is urging more Jamaicans, especially young people, to get involved in the global movement for peace and nuclear disarmament, declaring that we must never, ever give up the fight.
“The road to a nuclear weapons–free world is not only a marathon; it is also a relay race,” said Richards, who was addressing a public forum organised by Women of Western Jamaica (WOWJa) in collaboration with the Peace Boat and The University of the West Indies (UWI) under the theme, ‘Building a Culture of Peace and Sustainability’.
The forum was held on Saturday at the Western Campus of The UWI, where survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bombing shared powerful testimonies.
“This is what we call intergenerational work. It’s only through collective action and a preparedness to pass the baton to the next generation that we will overcome inevitable setbacks and achieve meaningful progress,” Richards reasoned.
“We must therefore continue to equip and empower the youth, including the Jamaican youth. Peace education matters,” she added.
Richards invoked the legacy of Bob Marley, who was born in 1945, the same year as the atomic bombings, and used his music to fight for peace, justice, and equality.
“He used his musical talents as a young man to advocate for world peace,” she said of Marley. “As he exhorted in the very last song he performed before his untimely death: ‘Get up, stand up. Don’t give up the fight’.
“So, let us keep standing up for a world free of nuclear weapons. Let us keep standing up for world peace. Let us never, ever give up the fight,” pleaded Richards, who has been a leading international voices on nuclear disarmament.
“I never imagined that I would be sailing together to Montego Bay with a hibakusha whose courageous testimonies and word for world peace inspired our 2014 gathering. I have come full circle,” she told the audience, which included diplomats, educators, students, and peace activists.
A hibakusha is a survivor of either of the atomic explosions at Hiroshima or Nagasaki.
Recalling her early experiences, Richards shared that she first visited Japan on a study tour 15 years ago. That visit left an indelible mark, sparking a passion for peace that would lead her to the world stage.
“I never imagined that 15 years later, after my study visit to Japan, I would return there as Jamaica’s ambassador in September 2020,” she said. “And since leaving New York in 2016, the topic of disarmament has remained with me.”
Her efforts culminated in her 2022 appointment to the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters, which she now chairs.
The ambassador emphasised the ongoing relevance of the horrors unleashed on August 6, 1945, when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing over 70,000 people instantly. Three days later, Nagasaki suffered the same fate.
“Today, we will have the rare opportunity to hear directly from the A-bomb survivors,” she noted. “Their tireless efforts for a world free of nuclear weapons serve as a reminder to us all that we must not relent in our pursuit of lasting peace.”
The Peace Board, along with the Hiroshima survivors, is making its 120th global voyage and has made a historic stop in Montego Bay as one of its 21 port calls during its current voyage across 19 countries.