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GENEVA / GLOBAL HUMANITARIAN APPEAL
STORY: GENEVA / GLOBAL HUMANITARIAN APPEAL
TRT: 01:41
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
DATELINE: 07 DECEMBER 2015, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
07 DECEMBER 2015, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Aerial shot, Palais des Nations
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. Wide shot, speakers arriving at top table
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Stephen O’Brien, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (OCHA):
“Each year, more is expected of us. In 2016, protracted conflicts will continue to be the greatest driver of human suffering and will take up the bulk of our funding requirements. We remain convinced that the only means to end the suffering in Yemen, Central Africa Republic, Nigeria, South Sudan, Syria and beyond are political solutions.”
5. Med shot, journalist
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Stephen O’Brien, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (OCHA):
“The level of suffering in the world continues to outpace the funding we need to address it comprehensively. We approach the end of this year with a record funding gap of US$ 10.2 billion dollars. To address this dire situation we count, once more, on our partners and donors to show the generosity we have seen in the past.”
7. Med shot, journalists
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR):
“In two simple words, more displacement, less solutions is the pattern we are facing in 2015. And this is what makes so dramatic the appeal that we are launching today for next year.”
9. Two shot, journalists
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO):
“With conflicts lasting for years on end the horrifically unacceptable begins to pass for the normal. The international community has a profound moral obligation to take care of these people.”
11. Med shot, podium
2016 is expected to be a grim year for millions of people around the world who are in desperate need of protection and humanitarian assistance, said today (07 Dec) Stephen O’Brien, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.
Speaking at the launch of the 2016 Global Humanitarian Appeal at the United Nations in Geneva, O’Brien said that a record US$ 20.1 billion is needed to meet the needs of more than 87.6 billion people in 37 countries around the world. This total is five times the amount that was needed by humanitarian agencies a decade ago.
In Syria, an estimated 13.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, including food, health care and shelter, while 70 per cent of the population remains without regular access to safe drinking water. The UN says it needs US$ 3.2 billion to help Syrians within the country and a further US$ 4.8 billion to help those who have fled to neighbouring states.
Prolonged conflicts also in Iraq, South Sudan and Yemen, are expected to fuel new displacement within countries and across borders in 2016, pushing up the need for humanitarian assistance. Worldwide, the number of people forced to flee their homes has already reached 60 million, a level previously unknown in the post-World War II era.
O’Brien said that each year more is expected of the humanitarian community, as the needs of millions of crisis-affected people continue to grow.
“In 2016, protracted conflicts will continue to be the greatest driver of human suffering and will take up the bulk of our funding requirements. We remain convinced that the only means to end the suffering in Yemen, Central Africa Republic, Nigeria, South Sudan, Syria and beyond are political solutions,” O’Brien said.
So far this year, international donors have provided US$ 9.7 billion to the 2015 Global Humanitarian Appeal. However this is just 49 per cent of what is needed, which in the course of this year has risen to US$ 19.9 billion.
O’Brien said “the level of suffering in the world continues to outpace the funding we need to address it comprehensively. We approach the end of this year with a record funding gap of US$ 10.2 billion dollars. To address this dire situation we count, once more, on our partners and donors to show the generosity we have seen in the past.”
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, whose agency is currently dealing with a major forced displacement crisis from dozens of countries around the world said “more displacement, less solutions is the pattern we are facing in 2015. And this is what makes so dramatic the appeal that we are launching today for next year.”
Meanwhile, Margaret Chan Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) said “with conflicts lasting for years on end the horrifically unacceptable begins to pass for the normal. The international community has a profound moral obligation to take care of these people.”
The humanitarian appeal is the culmination of a global effort in which hundreds of organisations who deliver food, shelter, medicine, protection, emergency education and other basis assistance to people in conflict and disaster-affected regions come together to assess needs, decide response strategies and present their plans to donors.
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