There is an African proverb that says: "The world is not ours, it is atreasure we hold in trust for future generations." So spoke Kofi Annan,Secretary-General of the United Nations, to three Yokohama children - theYokohama Student Peace Messengers - representing the city's 280,000 youngpeople. On August 5, the student peace messengers visited the UNheadquarters, expressing to Secretary-General Annan their wish forinternational peace and handing him the proceeds of a peace fund collectedby the children of Yokohama through UNICEF for the benefit of young peoplearound the world.
The Yokohama-UN relationship began in 1986, when the first delegation ofstudent peace messengers was sent to visit the UN. In that year, designatedthe Year of International Peace, the city sponsored the Yokohama StudentInternational Peace Festival, in which roughly 4,500 Yokohama students andUN representatives got together to have fun while deepening theirunderstanding of international peace. Since then, the relationship producedevents such as the Yokohama Student International Peace Message essaycontest, the Yokohama Student International Peace Speech Contest, and theYokohama Student Peace Conference, which involves students from Yokohama'ssister cities and the UN International School in New York. In fact, theYokohama Student Peace Festival has been held annually for over ten yearsnow. In recognition of these activities, the UN designated Yokohama, alongwith Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a Peace Messenger City in 1987.
In 1991, Yokohama began sending teachers to assist with Japanese languageinstruction and promote cultural exchange at the UN International School inNew York, which has embraced the program with open arms. This November, theUN Chorus, a musical group formed by UN employees, will visit Yokohama aspart of the 50th anniversary of the chorus's founding. The chorus willperform in Yokohama, and Yokohama residents will provide homestayaccommodations for chorus members. The visit is expected to promotecultural exchange and help Yokohama citizens and students understand evenbetter the UN and its role in the world.
During their August trip to the UN, the peace messenger delegation learnedthat some young Yokohama natives are working as UN employees. These fellowYokohamans took some time to share their experiences and pride in the UN.
Secretary-General Annan concluded his remarks by expressing hisappreciation to the Yokohama students. "It is remarkable at this age thatthe children are being taught to give, to be generous, to be concerned andto care about children in other parts of the world You should take mygreetings to all the young people in Yokohama who couldn't come here withyou today."