[Read by Under-Secretary-General Nakamitsu]

Eighty-one years ago, Hiroshima was reduced to ruins.

Tens of thousands of people were killed.

And our world came face to face with the catastrophic power of nuclear war.

Today, we remember what happened. 

We honour the memory of those who lost their lives.

And we pay tribute to the survivors — the hibakusha — whose numbers grow smaller each year, but whose message of peace is as vital as ever.

This anniversary is more than a solemn day of remembrance.

It’s also a moment of reflection, when we ask ourselves:

Have we learned the lessons forged in flame here 81 years ago?

Will humanity choose a future of peace?

Or will we continue to live under the shadow of nuclear annihilation?

We gather at a time of deepening geopolitical division, rising mistrust, and intensifying competition.

The norms and guardrails that have helped prevent a nuclear cataclysm are under strain.

The decades-long trend in nuclear arsenal reductions is reversing.

The global norm against nuclear testing is under threat. 

Worldwide military spending jumped to $2.9 trillion in 2025.

Nuclear sabers are being rattled once again in the name of power and coercion.

The horror of nuclear weapons is just one lesson of Hiroshima.

Another is the need to build a world in which the threat or use of these weapons becomes unthinkable.

Peace is not secured through fear and might.

Peace is built through trust. 

Through sustained investment in dialogue, diplomacy, and international cooperation.

Through an unwavering commitment to international law. 

Through all States, especially those possessing nuclear weapons, taking action to reduce risks, rebuild confidence, and advance towards total disarmament.

Through strengthening the global disarmament regime.

And through a firm rejection of the zero-sum logic that nuclear weapons are the ultimate guarantee of security — when they are in fact the very opposite.

The United Nations was founded to rid the world of the scourge of war.

And the General Assembly’s very first resolution in 1946 was to eliminate nuclear weapons. 

That promise remains unfulfilled — but not unachievable.

Hiroshima stands as an inspiring example of resilience, renewal and hope.

Across generations, its people remind us that, even after the darkest moments, we can choose — and build — a different future.

On this 81st anniversary, let’s act with clarity and conviction.

Let’s choose dialogue over division, cooperation over confrontation, and common security over narrow advantage.

And let’s move closer to a world where the tragedy of Hiroshima is never repeated.

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