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UN / SYRIA HUMANITARIAN UPDATE
STORY: UN / SYRIA HUMANITARIAN UPDATE
TRT: 2:43
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE: 22 FEBRUARY 2017, NEW YORK CITY
RECENT
1. Wide shot, exterior, UN Headquarters
22 FEBRUARY 2017, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council meeting
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Stephen O'Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs:
“Next month, we will mark a grim anniversary: six years of war that have devastated a nation, its people, its children. Syrians have seen their country reduced to rubble, loved ones killed or injured. The majority of the population - some 13.5 million people - are in dire need of protection and humanitarian assistance.”
4. Wide shot, meting
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Stephen O'Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs:
“In 2016, the rate of displacement continued unabated with an average of over 5,000 people displaced per day between January and December - some more than once. Over half of all Syrians have been forced from their homes since 2011, 6.3 million of whom are internally displaced, more than 4.9 million registered as refugees in neighbouring countries, and nearly 1.2 million Syrians that have applied for asylum in Europe.”
6. Cutaway, delegates
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Stephen O'Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs:
“Children caught up in this war have fared the worst, killed and maimed, losing parents to the violence, suffering physical and psychological trauma, forced into early marriages and falling years behind in school. Recruitment, oftentimes through indoctrination, abduction, arrest and coercion, has been widespread in all areas.”
8. Cutaway, delegates
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Stephen O'Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs:
“In the besieged Four Towns of A1-Zabadani, A1-Fu'ah, Kafraya and Madaya - last reached on 28 November - the situation is catastrophic, with over 64,000 civilians trapped in a cycle of daily violence and deprivation, where malnutrition and lack of proper medical care continue; a situation compounded by the tit-for-tat arrangement between the Four Towns, which makes humanitarian access prone to painstaking negotiations that are rooted in political and opportunistic considerations, rather than humanitarian principles and obligations.”
10. Cutaway, delegates
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Stephen O'Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs:
“The United Nations and its partners are ready and capable of delivering humanitarian assistance in challenging conditions to 300,000 people in besieged and hard-to-reach areas per week, in addition to regular programming supporting millions. We must be given the chance to do so, as the lives of many depend upon regular and unimpeded deliveries of humanitarian assistance. What we need are timely approvals and simplified approval procedures.”
12. Wide shot, meeting
The UN humanitarian chief told the Security Council that six years of war in Syria have “devastated the nation, its people, its children”, adding that “Syrians have seen their country reduced to rubble, loved ones killed or injured.”
Speaking at the Security Council meeting in New York today, Stephen O’Brien, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator gave a grim update on the humanitarian situation in Syria.
O’Brien said that during six years of war, “Syrians have seen their country reduced to rubble, loved ones killed or injured. The majority of the population - some 13.5 million people - are in dire need of protection and humanitarian assistance.”
The UN humanitarian chief also said the rate of displacement in 2016 “continued unabated with an average of over 5,000 people displaced per day between January and December - some more than once.”
He said “over half of all Syrians have been forced from their homes since 2011, 6.3 million of whom are internally displaced, more than 4.9 million registered as refugees in neighbouring countries, and nearly 1.2 million Syrians that have applied for asylum in Europe.”
With the war entering its seventh year, 5.82 million children and youth from preschool to secondary school-age, including over 118,000 Palestine refugee children are in need of education assistance inside Syria.
O’Brien said “children caught up in this war have fared the worst, killed and maimed, losing parents to the violence, suffering physical and psychological trauma, forced into early marriages and falling years behind in school.”
Under-Secretary-General also updated Council’s members on the difficulties humanitarian workers are encountering while trying to reach the vulnerable population in besieged and hard to reach areas.
in December 2016 as well as in January this year, only one convoy per month was deployed, reaching 6,000 and 40,000 people respectively. So far, in February, only two convoys have been able to deploy to Talbiseh on 5 February delivering aid to 84,000, and to Ar-Rastan on 12 with assistance to 107,500 people.
O’Brien said “The United Nations and its partners are ready and capable of delivering humanitarian assistance in challenging conditions to 300,000 people in besieged and hard-to-reach areas per week, in addition to regular programming supporting millions. We must be given the chance to do so, as the lives of many depend upon regular and unimpeded deliveries of humanitarian assistance. What we need are timely approvals and simplified approval procedures.”
He concluded by saying that millions of battered and beleaguered women, men and children depend on the Syrian parties and their allies to take a meaningful action at then forthcoming intra-Syrian negotiations in Geneva, to assure Syrians that an end to the conflict may finally be within reach.
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