On 9 June 2011, the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations held a Thank-You Gathering to express Japan’s sincere appreciation for the solidarity and support offered by the international community following the great east Japan earthquake at Ambassador Nishida’s residence.

Since the day that the great earthquake hit the eastern part of Japan, the Mission of Japan received warm support and invaluable messages from the United Nations community, such as Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN dignitaries, Permanent Representatives and other Mission officials (Reference 1).

The attendees to this gathering included Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN staff who had traveled to Japan after the earthquake to support the affected areas through the dispatching of a Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team (Reference 2). At the gathering, Ambassador Nishida expressed his sincerest and deepest appreciation for the strong support, assistance and solidarity from the international community. He also expressed his strong will to continue working closely with the UN and international community in order for Japan to fully recover from this disaster. The State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Mr. Banno, who had participated in the UN HIV/AIDS High Level Meeting on the same day, also attended the gathering to express appreciation to the international community. He stated that the people of Japan do not feel alone thanks to the warm support by the UN and international community and that the Japanese Government and people will reconstruct Japan in cooperation with the world.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also delivered a speech in which he reiterated that the UN will continue to support Japan and that he was positive that Japan would overcome this disaster.

(Reference 1)

-Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN staff, and 133 Permanent Representatives and officials from 124 Missions came to the Mission of Japan to sign the Book of Condolences between March 17 and March 23.

→Book of Condolences

(Reference 2)

-Immediately after the earthquake and tsunami, the United Nations Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) dispatched a Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team (UNDAC) to Japan.

-UNICEF has been conducting activities to help children in the affected regions through the National Committees for UNICEF in Japan.

-The United Nations Department of Public Information created the “Video Messages of Solidarity with the People of Japan” in which words by the Secretary-General as well as several UN Messengers of Peace, including Midori Goto can be heard and seen via Youtube.