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SGI is engaged in community initiatives
international efforts to create a positive change in the lives of individuals and society as a whole.
In 1957 second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda made a call for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
He entrusted the youth of the Soka Gakkai with the task of conducting dialogue
and communicating the absolute evil of nuclear weapons to all humanity.
Toda’s declaration became the basis for the Soka Gakkai’s peace movement.
Toda’s successor as Soka Gakkai president, Daisaku Ikeda,
took on the task of achieving his mentor’s goal, and has for over 50 years led SGI’s peace movement.
In 1973, youth members of Soka Gakkai Japan collected 10 million signaturesweapons
supporting the abolition of nuclear weapons which Ikeda presented to the United Nations in 1975.
In 1997, SGI members collected over 13 million signatures as part of the Abolition 2000 petition drive.
And in 2010, signatures calling for the adoption of a Nuclear Weapons Convention
that would comprehensively ban nuclear weapons were presented to the 2010 NPT Review Conference and the UN.
Meanwhile a survey into the attitudes of 4,400 young people was
conducted by youth members of SGI in eight countries.
More than just figures, these petitions and surveys represent millions of dialogues
carried out worldwide on the issue of nuclear abolition.
Through such activities people of all ages are able to learn about the ssue of nuclear weapons
and take action to change their world.
In 2005, the Soka Gakkai Women's Peace Committee in Japan
compiled the accounts of 8 Atomic bomb survivors into a DVD
to ensure their voices for peace will be heard by future generations.
The DVD has been translated into 5 languages and can be viewed on the People’s Decade website.
The exhibition "From a Culture of Violence to a Culture of Peace:
Transforming the Human Spirit" was created by SGI in 2007.
It has been shown in over 200 cities in 24 countries and territories across the globe.
Soka Gakkai youth members have also held a series of peace lectures in Japan on the issue of nuclear abolition.
SGI President Ikeda asserts “If present realities stand in the way of nuclear abolition,
then the people of the world must come together to create a new reality,
opening a path toward that goal."
SGI is working to strengthen that grassroots momentum,
to create a groundswell of demand for nuclear abolition from ordinary citizens.