Atomic bomb survivors, or hibakusha, and Japanese high school students, held a demonstration in New York, calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.



They are visiting the US city to attend the third meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the UN headquarters.



The demonstration was organized by NGOs and others to coincide with the conference.



About 200 people, including hibakusha and NGO members, gathered in front of the UN building, the starting point for the demonstration.



Ahead of the march, Assistant Secretary General of Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese group of hibakusha, Hamasumi Jiro delivered a speech. He was exposed to radiation in his mother's womb when Hiroshima suffered an atomic bombing by the United States in 1945.



The 79-year-old said the atomic bombs were used because there was a war, and he called for efforts to create a world without wars or nuclear weapons.



Kobayashi Mayu, a high school peace messenger from Nagasaki campaigning for the abolition of nuclear weapons, also delivered a speech.



Kobayashi said the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki claimed the lives of more than 210,000 people in an instant.



She said there are now more than 12,000 nuclear weapons in the world, but such weapons have no place in the peace she envisions.



The participants then marched about 300 meters, holding banners and chanting no more Hiroshimas, no more Nagasakis, no more hibakusha.



Hamasumi said he was encouraged by the participants who spoke forcefully about their feelings on the abolition of nuclear arms. He said cooperation with hibakusha and nuclear victims around the world will continue to grow in strength.