After publishing the news of accepting interns in Mayors for Peace(MfP), Ms. Fateme Babaha a young member of MfP team was introduced as the TPM’s representative to the secretariat in Hiroshima to participate in a 17-days internship program.

After needed preparations such as joining TPM’s first Summer School about “intercultural dialogue”, engaging in Iranian secretariat of MfP's weekly meetings, continuous correspondence with Hiroshima, preparing presentation and brochure about Iranian secretariat of MfP and TPM and, she worked in the MfP secretariat in Hiroshima from January 9 to 26, 2018.

During this period, Ms. Babaha was involved in secretariat-related works such as updating information’s of Iranian member cities and writing a newsletter. Also she had some meetings with MfP officials like Mayor Matsui of Hiroshima and the president of the organization; Mr. Yasuyoshi Komizo, the Chairperson of Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation(HPCF) and Secretary General of MfP as well as Mr Iwasaki the Executive director of MfP.

In order to better connect with member cities’ appeal for establishing peace and to deepen understanding of A-bombing realities, she visited Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Radiation Effects Research Center(RERF) and Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victim.

For informing secretariat staff about TPM and Iranian Secretariat of MfP, Ms. Babaha gave a presentation on January 12th. In her presentation, she briefly explained TPM’s history and its various activities, then she dissected the projects of Iranian Secretariat of MfP, its achievements and future objectives. Mr. Komizo was the honorary guest of this session.

Conducting a Skype meeting with a group of TPM’s volunteers and Japanese student, who were previous participants of International Youth Conference for Peace in the Future (IYCPF) was a notable event of this internship. The meeting which connected three different time zones (Iran, Japan and US) was held in an aim to exchange knowledge and experiences between the aforementioned groups.

At the end of this internship, Ms. Babaha received the Mayors for Peace's internship program certificate of completion from Mayor Matsui. Ms. Babaha as the first Iranian intern participating in this program hopes to utilize her invaluable experience and convey her learning to Iranian secretariat of MfP for realization of total abolition of nuclear and weapons of mass destruction and developing a culture of peace in cooperation with all Iranian member cities of the organization.

The Mayors for Peace organization started receiving interns from 2014 in an aim to improve the international function of Mayors for Peace secretariat in Hiroshima. The secretariat which is housed within the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation(HPCF) accepts young staff from the member cities as an intern to be engaged in peace and secretariat-related work. Tehran as a Lead and Executive city of the organization and all Iranian member cities are eligible to introduce a volunteer for this program.

The fifth announcement for receiving interns has made and is ready to be published through TPM’s website in the near future.