UNHCR Pakistan

"I am going back with four other families and the decision came after most of the refugees living in our area in Quetta decided to return," said Noor Ullah, a 28-year-old man heading to Kabul who had survived the last eight years by finding work on the streets of the capital of Balochistan.

"I am not even sure what I will do in Kabul and where I will live. But the collective conclusion of the relatives was that this was the best time because UNHCR was providing assistance for transport and food," he said.

"The Girl Scouts have a saying: 'make new friends but keep the old, one is silver, the other gold,'" he said at a ceremony in Khorasan Camp, a settlement of 6,000 refugees that has existed near the city of Peshawar for two decades. "These true ambassadors of love feel an obligation to present gifts every year to the Afghan refugees."

The annual presentation of the peace packs to Afghan refugee children in Pakistan through the network of the UN Refugee Agency - each containing treasures for poor children ranging from skipping ropes to pencils - is one of the most visible people-to-people aid programmes in a field that is dominated by the actions of governments.

Hiroshi Azuma, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Japanese Embassy in Pakistan distributing Peace Packs to Afghan refugees © UNHCR Pakistan

In addition to 16,050 peace packs - all prepared by Girl Scouts in Japan over the previous year - the donation included 11,580 pairs of used shoes and 1,070 used balls. The total of 4,475 cartons filled five 40-foot containers.

The initiative began with a distribution in 1995. The distribution sometimes alternated between Pakistan's provinces of Balochistan and North West Frontier Province where all but one of the refugee camps is located. In other years some schools in each province were selected.

The ceremony, sheltered from the sun by canopies but with temperatures still in the 40s centigrade, was also attended by representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

While elders spoke of their experiences in the camp, located on the outskirts of the capital of the province of NWFP, children waited anxiously for the presentation of the packs. Then Mr Azuma, his face wet from the heat but smiling broadly, handed out the cloth bags stuffed with pens, erasers, writing books, toothpaste, towels and other valued gifts to children streaming to the speakers platform.

"My father is poor," said 13-year-old Noureen. "He cannot afford to buy me all these things I found in the peace pack. It will help me a lot - to brush my teeth, to skip with the rope and to write with the pencil in the notebook."

The rest of the thousands of peace backs will be distributed in other camps of NWFP, with some not given out until schools resume teaching in late August after a break that starts in early June.

This year marks the end of the decade-long Peace Pack distribution, with the Girl Scouts of Japan redirecting their efforts as Afghan refugees return to their homeland and the international community works toward rebuilding the shattered nation.

"For those involved in repatriation, I hope the children will be taking along with them to their country this token of love and friendship presented by the Girl Scouts of Japan," said Mr Azuma. "I hope you reach your country safely and happily."

Next year is the final full year of the UN Refugee Agency's voluntary repatriation assistance programme under the Tripartite Agreement between UNHCR and the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Since the programme began in 2002, UNHCR has assisted more than two million Afghans to return to their country from Pakistan. Up to half a million are expected to go home from Pakistan this year, with about 130,000 assisted since the 2004 season began in March.


United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Pakistan

The 10th annual distribution of gifts from Japanese Girl Scouts to Afghan refugee children