From Gaza to Japan, a Message of Solidarity – UNRWA press release

From Gaza to Japan, a Message of Solidarity

12 March 2014

Gaza

On the third anniversary of the most powerful earthquake ever to hit Japan, a message of continued solidarity and strength was carried there on the wind from the Gaza Strip. One thousand Palestine refugee students from UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools in Gaza gathered to fly kites in commemoration of the disaster that killed thousands of people and caused immense damage.

The UNRWA students in Gaza were joining the 3.11 Fly! Kites of Hope campaign first organized by Akihiko Nara in Japan. In a message, Mr. Nara said the idea for the 3.11 campaign had come to him after reading an article about a Guinness record-breaking event in Gaza where 13,000 kids gathered to fly kites. Noting the respite that the UNRWA summer games had created for children in such difficult circumstances, he said: "Children in the 3.11 disaster area had been in the same situation. I thought it could be a good chance to commemorate the victims of the horrible disaster."

The gathering in Gaza opened with a message from Hiroyuki Kajikta, First Secretary of the Representative Office of Japan to the Palestinian Authority. He said: "We do appreciate all the encouragement which you have extended to us, especially the warm messages sent by Palestinian children to Japanese children showing their solidarity and deep friendship. Children of Gaza are suffering a lot from the blockade and current distress, but this didn’t stop them from thinking about other children who are suffering in other parts of the world." Tetsuya Nakamura, the Programme Manager of Campaign for Children in Palestine, a Japanese NGO working to support agriculture in Gaza, also spoke, saying: “Kiting can carry our grief, condolence, love and hope.”

Two young UNRWA students also spoke, 13-year-old Bissan Ziad Atallah, an eighth-grade student at the al-Amal girls' preparatory school, and 11-year-old Rami Ehsan Zoraiq, in the sixth grade at Khan Younis Preparatory Boys' School B. Their message was simple: "We send our love and support to the people of Japan telling them that we will never forget that terrible day in 2011… We look up to the Japanese people as a remarkable example for freedom, liberty, and justice. Now we fly our Kites of Hope in the sky praying for love, peace and safety to Japan and its great people."

Scott Anderson, Deputy Director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza, noted that the event highlighted the close relationship between Japan and UNRWA in Gaza, saying that even while recovering from the earthquake and tsunami, Japan had not abandoned its support for Palestine refugees in Gaza. He said: “Despite being on different sides of the world today, the children of Gaza will be sending messages of support and solidarity to the children of Japan, showing solidarity and sharing hope with each other. It is my hope that the kites in the sky today will also be sending a message to the rest of the world that children in Gaza deserve to enjoy the childhood that other children do, and to live with dignity and full respect for their rights, which can only be brought about by an end to the blockade.”

After the speeches, the 1,000 children let their kites fly high in the sky above Gaza, carrying their message of support and strength to their friends in Japan.

Background Information

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’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, and microfinance.

Financial support to UNRWA has not kept pace with an increased demand for services caused by growing numbers of registered refugees, expanding need, and deepening poverty. As a result, the Agency's General Fund (GF), supporting UNRWA’s core activities and 97 per cent reliant on voluntary contributions, has begun each year with a large projected deficit. Currently the deficit stands at US$ 65 million.

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