The municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão is now part of the international network of ‘Mayors for Peace’ cities - a non-governmental organisation (NGO) created in 1982 by the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki following the atomic bombing of 1945.

Famalicão thus joins the 8,403 municipalities - from 166 countries - that are part of the NGO and want to promote world peace, build an inclusive, just and peaceful society and help abolish nuclear weapons. Joining the Mayors for Peace network, which was approved at the last municipal executive meeting, was triggered by Évora City Council, the network's leader in Portugal, which invited the Famalicense municipality to join the 53 Portuguese cities that make up the network.

As part of the NGO, the organisation will provide Famalicão with various activities, such as the distribution and cultivation of seeds from trees that survived the atomic bomb, the ‘Peaceful City’ art competition for children between the ages of 6 and 15, the display of posters about the Atomic Bombing and online Hibakusha testimonies.

It should be noted that the international network aims to promote the abolition of nuclear weapons and contribute to the establishment of lasting world peace. The NGO also aims to emphasise the importance of peace and the elimination of the nuclear threat. Mayors for Peace has set itself the goal of bringing 10,000 member cities into the organisation.