Minister plays football in Bethlehem refugee camp
Gunnar Bragi, Icelandic Foreign Minister. Photo: UNRWA
Iceland’s Foreign Minister swapped his shirt and tie for football boots in Palestine yesterday to help inaugurate a new football pitch in a Bethlehem refugee camp.
Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson is currently on an official visit to the Middle East and visited the new pitch – part of a United Nations initiative to promote peace through sport – yesterday. The pitch is the first of its kind in refugee camps, and is intended to be a ‘child-friendly area’.
Sveinsson was joined on the field by diplomats from various countries, including two fellow Icelanders in the national colour of blue.
According to project head in the West Bank Felipe Sánchez, these child-friendly areas are the perfect place for children living in difficult conditions to play and meet new friends.
Sveinsson is scheduled to take his official visit to Jordan today.
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The whole group yesterday. Photo: UNRWA
