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COP31 President Murat Kurum reminds 196 countries of Sally and Gaza’s tragedy
On the day the UN climate conference in Antalya dedicated to children, COP31 President Murat Kurum recalled the story of Sally, a five-year-old girl from Gaza. A photograph of her wrapped in a shroud won the 2024 World Press Photo of the Year award.
UN climate conference COP31 President and Turkish Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum recalled the story of Sally, a Palestinian girl who lost her life in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, on the day the conference in the Turkish city of Antalya dedicated to children.
On Saturday, Kurum posted a video from the “Hope of Return – The Story of the Olive Tree” exhibition in the conference’s Green Zone and wrote: “She always asked her aunt to take pictures of her before she went to kindergarten... A photograph of five-year-old Sally, who loved having her picture taken, wrapped in a shroud, won the 2024 World Press Photo of the Year award.”
He added: “On this day at COP31, when we are addressing the issue of children, we remind 196 countries of the tragedy of Sally and Gaza.”
The video begins with a painting inspired by the award-winning photograph, showing a woman embracing the shrouded body of a child. Sally then appears on a phone screen, smiling and raising a victory sign, before the camera moves to photographs of children in Gaza and a child’s bicycle covered in dust among the exhibition items.
A photograph that shook the world
Sally was killed with her mother and sister when an Israeli missile struck the family home in Khan Younis. Reuters photographer Mohammed Salem took a photograph at Nasser Hospital’s morgue in the city showing her aunt, Inas Abu Maamar, embracing her body. The photograph was later selected as the “Photo of the Year” in the 2024 World Press Photo contest.
The exhibition was organized by the Turkish trade union Memur-Sen and the International Labour Union. Through items brought from Gaza, photographs and an olive tree that was half-burned, it tells the story of the destruction left by the war before delegations from 196 parties and the European Union attending the conference.
COP31, hosted by Türkiye for the first time, will continue until November 20.
Video and cover footage: Minister Murat Kurum’s account. Photo: Anadolu
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