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UN / YEMEN HUMANITARIAN LOWCOCK
STORY: UN / YEMEN HUMANITARIAN LOWCOCK
TRT: 02:38
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 10 DECEMBER 2018, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
10 DECEMBER 2018, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, presser
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“There are a quarter of a million people in Yemen who are in phase 5, at the catastrophe level. There isn’t a higher classification in the IPC than the phase 5. We have never before documented people in phase 5 in the food crisis in Yemen.”
4. Med shot, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“There is only one other country in the world where there is anybody in phase 5. And that is South Susan where there are 25,000. So, there are ten times as many people now in Yemen in phase 5 as in any other place in the world.”
6. Med shot, reporter
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“The reason we have five asks is because it’s the combination of the set of problems which makes the, as the challenge. It’s not the case that if we make progress on one of them, the problem would be solved. So, it’s the mixture of them, and so, you know, the fighting itself impedes the aid effort. The access restrictions impede the aid effort. The collapse of the economy means that more and more people need help. The fact that our appeal is well funded, we don’t have enough money, limits what we can reach. And the problem keeps getting worse. While the conflict goes on, that’s why we need Martin’s talks to succeed. It’s a combination of all of those things which need to be addressed.”
8. Med shot, reporters
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“Our appeal, in order to meet the needs of those people next year will be 4 billion dollars. Last year’s appeal, it was 2 billion; this year’s appeal was 3 billion; next year’s appeal is 4 billion. There has been an announcement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, that they will provide another 500 million dollars beyond the 930 million dollars they announced earlier in the year. We are waiting to see the detail of all of that, but our understanding is that there will be either fully or largely in response to our 2019 appeal. 4 billion dollars is a lot to raise, and the Secretary-General will be hosting on the 26th of February, in Geneva, a pledging conference on Yemen together with the governments of Sweden and Switzerland in order to maximize contributions from the donors to the appeal.”
10. Wide shot, end of presser
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, today (10 Dec) told reporters that a quarter of a million people in Yemen are now in phase 5 of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), “at the catastrophe level.”
Lowcock explained that “there isn’t a higher classification in the IPC than the phase 5. We have never before documented people in phase 5 in the food crisis in Yemen.”
In context, he noted that “there is only one other country in the world where there is anybody in phase 5. And that is South Susan where there are 25,000. So, there are ten times as many people now in Yemen in phase 5 as in any other place in the world.”
Referring to the UN’s five-point plan for Yemen, the humanitarian chief said “it’s not the case that if we make progress on one of them, the problem would be solved. So, it’s the mixture of them, and so, you know, the fighting itself impedes the aid effort. The access restrictions impede the aid effort. The collapse of the economy means that more and more people need help. The fact that our appeal is well funded, we don’t have enough money, limits what we can reach. And the problem keeps getting worse. While the conflict goes on, that’s why we need Martin’s talks to succeed. It’s a combination of all of those things which need to be addressed.”
Namely the five-point plan asks for an immediate ceasefire, reliable funding for humanitarian operations, urgent and ongoing measures to stabilize the economy, recovery and rebuilding, and meaningful actions towards peace.
On funding, Lowcock said “in order to meet the needs of those people next year will be 4 billion dollars. Last year’s appeal, it was 2 billion; this year’s appeal was 3 billion; next year’s appeal is 4 billion.”
He noted “there has been an announcement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, that they will provide another 500 million dollars beyond the 930 million dollars they announced earlier in the year. We are waiting to see the detail of all of that, but our understanding is that there will be either fully or largely in response to our 2019 appeal.
Lowcock announced that Secretary-General António Guterres will be hosting a pledging conference on Yemen in Geneva on 26 February.
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