Rissho Kosei-kai has supported the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) since 1979, based on one of its guiding principles, which is to support United Nations activities for world peace. In addition, through its participation in meetings of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), Rissho Kosei-kai constantly seeks to enhance Japan’s contribution to the international community. Further, with the Donate-a-Meal Fund For Peace, we have continued to support the projects of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the World Food Programme (WFP) of the UN.

Since the UN International Year of the Child in 1979, young Rissho Kosei-kai members have been conducting campaigns throughout Japan to solicit contributions from the public for UNICEF. Thus they help achieve UNICEF’s primary purpose: to provide assistance for needy mothers and children the world over. Further, Rissho Kosei-kai hopes that by participating in this activity, whether by collecting contributions or making donations, all people involved may realize that they are bodhisattvas by nature. In other words, the UNICEF fund-raising campaign provides an opportunity for members as well as people at large to practice the way of the bodhisattva.