On 9 and 10 September 2015, UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl visited the Gaza Strip to reach out to UNRWA staff members, the Palestine refugee community, local media and the Gaza civil society. Hence, after meeting with UNRWA management and the UNRWA Local Staff Union (LSU), Mr. Krähenbühl engaged with UNRWA staff members in a town hall forum to discuss and answer questions regarding future UNRWA operations and the financial crisis. The Commissioner General also gave a press conference and answered questions from the media; he also gave an exclusive interview to UNRWA TV. The Commissioner-General reached out to the community, meeting with several civil society and human rights organizations and visiting an UNRWA school in Gaza City, where he engaged with students and teachers alike. Whilst in Gaza, Mr. Krähenbühl also met briefly with a delegation from the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD).
Despite a very busy agenda, Mr. Krähenbühl took the time to be with the seven child actors of the SOS-film “Message in a Bottle”, produced by UNRWA TV in June 2015. Together with the children and their parents, on 9 September the Commissioner-General enjoyed viewing the film at the UNRWA Gaza Field Office. The film is part of a larger campaign using the hashtag #SOS4Gaza which has reached about 5.5 million people across 4 continents. The film and related videos have been viewed more than a million times. Through this campaign, which concludes at the end of September, the Agency has so far been able to raise US$ 3.3 million for the education of Gaza’s children. The Commissioner-General presented each of the participating refugee children with a certificate of appreciation and a copy of the film.