The first meeting of the International Group of Eminent Persons for a World without Nuclear Weapons (IGEP) will be held in Hiroshima on December 10 and 11, the Japanese Foreign Ministry informs.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced the establishment of the IGEP as a forum in which participants from both nuclear and non-nuclear-weapon states will, aided by the involvement of incumbent and former political leaders around the globe, exchange ideas and thoughts beyond their respective national positions and engage in candid discussions concerning a concrete path towards the realization of a world without nuclear weapons.

Professor Takashi Shiraishi, Chancellor of the Prefectural University of Kumamoto, will chair the IGEP which consists of 15 members. There will be 3 Japanese members including Professor Shiraishi while there will be 12 non-Japanese members including those from both nuclear and non-nuclear-weapon states.

For the first meeting of the IGEP, there will be video messages on December 10 featuring political leaders including former US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary-General António Guterres.