GENEVA / SYRIA HUMANITARIAN UPDATE

A spokesperson for the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria told reporters in Geneva today humanitarian access to besieged and hard-to-reach areas in Syria last month was “the worst since March 2016.” UNTV CH

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:02
• Production Date: 7 February 2017
• Asset Language: English
• Subject Topical: CONFLICT SITUATION; HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS; SYRIA SITUATION
• Geographic Subject: SYRIA
• MAMS Id: 1827034
• Parent Id: 1827034
• Alternate Title: unifeed170207a

Description

STORY: GENEVA / SYRIA HUMANITARIAN UPDATE
TRT: 02:02
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 07 FEBRUARY 2017, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

Shotlist

FILE - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

1. Wide shot, Palais des Nations exterior

07 FEBRUARY 2017, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Yara Sharif, Spokesperson, Office of the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria:
“The Special Envoy for Syria is alarmed at the failed humanitarian access during the month of January. Out of 21 requests for convoys to access a total of 914,000 people, only one convoy was delivered for 40,000 people. This is in the month of January. January marked the worst month since March 2016 and there is an urgent need to move on with the other convoys as there are areas that didn’t receive any humanitarian aid for more than 100 days.”
4. Med shot, journalist
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Yara Sharif, Spokesperson, Office of the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria:
“On the 5th of February, a UN-ICRC-SARC inter-agency convoy delivered food, nutrition, health and other emergency items for 84,000 people in need in hard-to-reach Talbiseh in rural Homs which was last reached by an inter-agency convoy on 19 September 2016. This convoy is the first cross-line land delivery in February and only the second in 2017.”
6. Wide shot, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Yara Sharif, Spokesperson, Office of the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria:
“While all of the formerly besieged neighbourhoods of east Aleppo city have now become accessible to humanitarians, reports of unexploded ordinance and other remnants of war continue to hinder access and delivery of assistance to some areas. There is a grave concern that since 14 January an estimated 1.8 million people in Aleppo city and rural eastern Aleppo have been cut off from their main source of water, Khafsa, which is under ISIL control”.
8. Various shots, journalists

Storyline

A spokesperson for the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria told reporters in Geneva today (7 Feb) humanitarian access to besieged and hard-to-reach areas in Syria last month was “the worst since March 2016.”

Yara Sharif said Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura was “alarmed at the failed humanitarian access” during the month of January. She said only one of the 21 requests for convoys was delivered reaching some 40,000 out of the targeted 914,000 people.

The spokesperson said 13 medical cases were evacuated from Madaya, Zabadani, Foua and Kefraya since January 20th, however there are more critical cases in Madaya and Zabadani that required immediate medical care. Sharif did say that an inter-agency convoy was able to reach Talbiseh in rural Homs which was last reached by this type of convoy on 19 September 2016.

Sharif reported that “while all of the formerly besieged neighbourhoods of east Aleppo city have now become accessible to humanitarians, reports of unexploded ordinance and other remnants of war continue to hinder access and delivery of assistance to some areas.” She expressed “grave concern” that an estimated 1.8 million people in Aleppo city and rural eastern Aleppo had been cut off from their main source of water which is under ISIL control since 14 January.

Sharif told journalists that invitations for the UN sponsored intra-Syrian talks set to kick off on February 20th in Geneva would be sent out to parties tomorrow.