Mar 07, 2012 from 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM
HRN Seminar on Fukushima Disaster
UN Church Center, 777 1st Avenue, New York, NY
A year after the nuclear disaster in Fukushima there has not been a significant improvement in the situation for the local community. Radioactive materials are still being released into the air and ocean from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants. Many citizens still live in areas where the radiation level is dangerously high, because the Japanese government continues to apply a 20mSv per year standard to establish evacuation zones in affected areas. Citizens in the rest of Japan also remain in danger of being exposed to unsafe levels of radiation in their food, because the Japanese government continues to fail to measure levels of radionuclides in groceries.
We at Human Rights Now (HRN), a human rights NGO active in New York and Japan, feel that the international community is not adequately informed about the status quo and the remaining problems in Fukushima. Therefore we are organizing an event on March 7th from 2:30PM to 4PM at the UN Church Center * (777 First Avenue at 44th Street) focusing on the grave situation after the disaster in Japan to coincide with the fifty-sixth session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women at the UN.
Women from Fukushima, some of whom are mothers, ** will share their experiences and speak on behalf of rural women affected by the nuclear disaster. We plan to discuss issues such as the protection of affected women and their families from the ongoing nuclear crisis. More details of this event can be found here.
Human Rights Now is an international NGO based in Tokyo with more than 700 members, composed of lawyers, scholars and journalists. HRN dedicates itself to the protection and promotion of human rights of people worldwide. HRN visited contaminated areas including Fukushima to conduct fact-finding missions. Our goal is to enlighten the international community and represent the local community in Fukushima.
* This event is free of charge, open to public, and no UN pass is needed to access to the building.
** Two mothers and children who evacuated from Fukushima will be sharing their experiences. Human Rights Now Email: hrn.nyc@gmail.com www.hrn.or.jp/eng