ANNUAL NANSEN REFUGEE AWARD PRESENTED TO JAPANESE OPTOMETRIST
Source: UNHCR
Reuters, UK
Oct 3 2006
GENEVA, October 3 (UNHCR) – The prestigious Nansen Refugee Award was
formally presented to Japanese optometrist Akio Kanai in Geneva on
Monday night for his work in improving the sight of tens of thousands
of uprooted people around the world over the past two decades.
In a ceremony at the headquarters of the UN refugee agency, Dr. Kanai
said he was "deeply honoured and grateful," adding that the award was
"testimony to the significance that the role of optometry plays in
the future of refugees by improving their sight and thus empowering
them to secure a ‘future in focus.’"
The award, which comes with a medal and a cash prize of US$100,000,
is given out yearly to a person or group for outstanding services in
supporting refugee causes. Dr. Kanai said he planned to use the money
to help vision-impaired displaced people in Azerbaijan and refugees
in Armenia.
The Nansen Refugee Award committee selected Dr. Kanai, 64-year-old
chairman and chief executive officer of Fuji Optical, for his practical
commitment to humanitarian work and dedication to easing the plight
of refugees by improving their eyesight.
The committee found the doctor had "rendered exceptional service
to the refugee cause" and had made a huge and genuine contribution
to uprooted people in human as well as financial terms. Dr. Kanai’s
company is based in Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido.
"We are very proud that we are the partner of Dr. Akio Kanai and that
the partnership has been extremely important for the lives of more
than 100,000 refugees," High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres
said before handing over the Nansen medal to the Japanese winner.
Dr. Kanai, himself forcibly displaced from the northern Pacific island
of Sakhalin at the end of World War II, first became interested in
volunteer humanitarian work when he was in the United States training
to become an optometrist.
He began his humanitarian optometry work in 1983 in Thailand with
Indochinese refugees, many of whom had lost or broken their glasses
while fleeing. He has since conducted more than 20 missions for UNHCR
to help uprooted people in Nepal, Thailand, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Dr. Kanai has donated more than 108,200 pairs of glasses, provided
optometry equipment, made cash grants and trained local medical
staff. Fuji Optical, which is UNHCR’s longest-serving corporate
partner, also undertakes regular Vision Aid missions. Scores of
employees have taken part in these missions, using their holidays to
work in refugee camps.
"Without the dedicated and caring support received through our
partnership with the UNHCR, the success of the Vision Aid missions
simply would not have been possible," Dr. Kanai said at Monday’s
ceremony.
The Japanese humanitarian said his work with UNHCR was exciting, full
of life-changing experiences and had "enriched my life immensely." He
said he planned to continue with his work with refugees and internally
displaced people.
"I hope this award demonstrates that sometimes, small individual
efforts can play an important role in the lives of refugees and
internally displaced persons," Dr. Kanai said.
The Nansen Refugee Award, created in 1954, is named after Fridtjof
Nansen, the celebrated Norwegian polar explorer and the world’s first
international refugee official. Previous recipients include Eleanor
Roosevelt, Medecins sans Frontières, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands
and Graca Machel.
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