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UN / GUTERRES CYCLONE IDAI
STORY: UN / GUTERRES CYCLONE IDAI
TRT: 03:07
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: PORTUGUESE / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 26 MARCH 2019, NEW YORK CITY / RECENT
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
26 MARCH 2019, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Secretary-General António Guterres and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock walk up to podium
3. Wide shot, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Let me reiterate my solidarity with the governments and peoples of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. I am deeply dismayed by the levels of suffering and destruction caused by one of the worst environmental disasters experienced in Africa. It Is extremely painful to see the hundreds of dead that the cyclone Idai provoked; to see whole populated areas flooded; to know that houses, hospitals and schools are in ruins; to verify that vital crops for the feeding of populations have been lost; to fear the diseases and epidemies that usually arise on these occasions.”
5. Med shot, Guterres and Lowcock at the podium
6. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The death toll across the three countries is at least 700, but with hundreds still missing. And the devastation has affected an estimated three million people, nearly two-thirds of them in Mozambique. At least one million children need urgent assistance – and this number may well grow. We fear that whole villages have been washed away in places we have yet to reach. There are reports that US$1 billion worth of infrastructure has been destroyed.”
7. Wide shot, Guterres and Lowcock at the podium
8. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Cyclone Idai was an uncommonly fierce and prolonged storm – yet another alarm bell about the dangers of climate change, especially in vulnerable, at-risk countries. Such events are becoming more frequent, more severe and devastating and more widespread, and this will only get worse if we do not act now.”
9. Wide shot, Guterres and Lowcock at the podium
10. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Yesterday, we launched a $281.7 million revised flash appeal for Mozambique, which is a scale-up emergency – the most severe. The revised appeal for Zimbabwe and the response plan from the Government of Malawi will be issued in the days ahead. On Thursday in Geneva, we will be able to brief the donor community and all Member States. And I call on the international community to fund these appeals quickly and fully so that aid agencies can urgently ramp up their responses.”
11. Wide shot, Guterres and Lowcock at the podium
12. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“What we have presented now is a Flash Appeal. The name is clear: Flash Appeal is an immediate appeal. But it will be followed, naturally, by other more comprehensive appeals – both to cover the whole region, but also to cover a medium-term perspective of needs. Thank you.”
13. Med shot, Guterres and Lowcock walk away
Secretary-General António Guterres today (26 Mar) called on the international community to “quickly and fully” fund humanitarian appeals to ramp up UN agencies’ response to Cyclone Idai, “one of the worst environmental disasters experienced in Africa.”
The Secretary-General expressed solidarity with the governments and peoples of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi and said it was “extremely painful to see the hundreds of dead that the cyclone Idai provoked; to see whole populated areas flooded; to know that houses, hospitals and schools are in ruins; to verify that vital crops for the feeding of populations have been lost; to fear the diseases and epidemies that usually arise on these occasions.”
Guterres said, “the death toll across the three countries is at least 700, but with hundreds still missing. And the devastation has affected an estimated three million people, nearly two-thirds of them in Mozambique. At least one million children need urgent assistance – and this number may well grow. We fear that whole villages have been washed away in places we have yet to reach. There are reports that US$1 billion worth of infrastructure has been destroyed.”
The Secretary-General said, “Cyclone Idai was an uncommonly fierce and prolonged storm – yet another alarm bell about the dangers of climate change, especially in vulnerable, at-risk countries.”
Such events, he said, “are becoming more frequent, more severe and devastating and more widespread, and this will only get worse if we do not act now.”
The Secretary-General has convened a Climate Action Summit this September, to try and mobilize countries around the urgent need to reduce global warming to well under 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement.
On Monday, the UN launched a launched a $281.7 million revised flash appeal for Mozambique, designating the disaster a scale-up emergency, which is the most severe. The revised appeal for Zimbabwe and the response plan from the Government of Malawi will be issued in the days ahead.
Guterres said, “what we have presented now is a Flash Appeal. The name is clear: Flash Appeal is an immediate appeal. But it will be followed, naturally, by other more comprehensive appeals – both to cover the whole region, but also to cover a medium-term perspective of needs.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) said that in Beira, Mozambique, more than 100,000 people have lost their homes and all of their possessions. At least 1.8 million people need humanitarian assistance in Mozambique alone. Cases of acute watery diarrhoea similar to cholera, have already been reported among victims.
To prevent an outbreak, WHO is sending 900,000 doses of oral cholera vaccine to the devastated country that should arrive later this week. It is also pre-positioning supplies to treat diarrhoeal diseases, including lifesaving intravenous fluids and diagnostic tests, while also setting up three cholera treatment centres, including an 80-bed facility in Beira.
To counter a spike in malaria in the coming weeks, WHO is also preparing to provide 900,000 insecticide-treated bed nets to protect families.
In Zimbabwe, 95 percent of the road networks in affected districts have been damaged, while in Malawi, the cyclone had limited impact, according to the World Food Programme (WFP).
In a separate appeal, covering other needs, such as shelter, clean water and sanitation, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and humanitarian partners called for $282 million to support victims in Mozambique.
According to OCHA, nearly half a million hectares of crops have been flooded, along with huge damage to homes and infrastructure.
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