UNRWA LAUNCHES THE #SOS4GAZA CAMPAIGN TO MARK THE START OF RAMADAN
19 June 2015
UNRWA today launches a global Ramadan campaign to support the children of Gaza. #SOS4Gaza features seven children putting messages expressing their hopes and dreams in bottles, which they send to sea. The campaign is championed by UNRWA Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Youth and Arab Idol star, Mohammad Assaf. It is based around a film that features the children of Gaza against a backdrop of devastation caused by last year’s conflict.
“Despite all challenges, children in Gaza have dreams and want a future, like every other child in the world,” said UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl. “It is humbling to see that the children featured in the video, who, like 950,000 others in Gaza, have grown up surrounded by poverty and conflict, have not lost hope.”
UNRWA invites people to join the campaign, which will reach out to a global audience with a message of hope and charity during Ramadan, by donating to UNRWA’s education programme in Gaza, spreading the campaign on social media, and posting photos and videos of bottles traveling the world on UNRWA’s Facebook page.
“The campaign comes at a time of particular need among Palestine refugees,” said Mr. Krähenbühl. “I hope that people are inspired by the children to give generously. Supporters of the campaign will also be showing solidarity with Gaza at a time of enduring isolation and despair. May #SOS4Gaza help bring to the children of Gaza a modest sense of joy during the holy month.”
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions, and financial support has not kept pace with an increased demand for services caused by growing numbers of registered refugees and deepening poverty. As a result, the UNRWA General Fund, which supports core essential services and most staffing costs, operates with a large deficit. UNRWA emergency programmes and key projects, also operating with large deficits, are funded through separate funding portals. Currently the General Fund deficit stands at US$ 101 million.
UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and is mandated to provide assistance and protection to a population of some 5 million registered Palestine refugees. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza Strip to achieve their full potential in human development, pending a just solution to their plight. UNRWA services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, and microfinance.
For more information, please contact:
Christopher Gunness
Spokesperson, Director of Advocacy & Strategic Communications
Mobile:
+972 (0)54 240 2659
Office:
+972 (0)2 589 0267
Sami Mshasha
Chief of Communications & Arabic Language Spokesperson
Mobile:
+972 (0)54 216 8295
Office:
+972 (0)2 589 0724
Document Sources: United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
Subject: Children, Gaza Strip, Refugees and displaced persons
Publication Date: 19/06/2015