A Japanese group of atomic bomb survivors, which won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, will send two of its members to a conference on the UN treaty banning nuclear weapons.

Nihon Hidankyo made the decision on Thursday. The conference, known as the third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, will take place at UN headquarters in New York in March.

The group will dispatch two of its assistant secretaries general -- Hamasumi Jiro and Wada Masako. They are atomic bomb survivors, or hibakusha.

Hamasumi was exposed to radiation when an atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima in 1945. He was in his mother's womb.

Wada was exposed to radiation when an atomic bomb was dropped over Nagasaki in the same year when she was 1 year old.

It will be the first time for Nihon Hidankyo to send its members to an international gathering after the group accepted its Nobel prize last month.

Hamasumi and Wada plan to meet delegates from other countries to appeal for the need to abolish nuclear arms.

The treaty entered into force in January 2021. It prohibits the development, use and other activities related to nuclear weapons. It has been ratified by 73 countries and territories.

None of the nuclear-armed nations are party to the treaty. Japan, which is under the nuclear umbrella of the United States, is also not a member.

Nihon Hidankyo is calling on the Japanese government to take part in the March meeting as an observer.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo "for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again."