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Dear Friends:

I am honored to serve as Honorary Chair of the Harmony For Peace Concert, and to welcome our valued guests to the Foundation’s first benefit concert in the United States. As the Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations and concurrently Ambassador in charge of Human Security, Science and Technology Cooperation, I have the distinct privilege to endorse the concert’s vision of nations working in concert to create a nuclear-free world.

The Harmony For Peace Concert occurred in tandem with the Non-Proliferation Treaty Conference in New York, the home of the United Nations. By fortuitous design, the on-stage performances of acclaimed multinational artists will hopefully resound on the global stage as the NPT strives to work on a comprehensive action plan for nuclear disarmament. We have diffi cult challenges in front of us but as long as individuals of every persuasion – from artists to scientists to entrepreneurs – never tire of reinforcing what is common to all of us instead of emphasizing our differences, peace will always be possible.

I am honored to have initiated the Friends of Human Security at the United Nations. On its behalf, I encourage our guests at the Harmony For Peace Concert to spread the hope and message of nonproliferation. It is a message that is, indeed, embodied in the words “friends” and “security.” For without friendship, the world cannot be secure.

H. E. Ambassador Yukio Takasu

Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations
(2007-2010)