Unifeed
WFP / COVID-19 LATIN AMERICA
STORY: WFP / COVID-19 LATIN AMERICA
TRT: 3:41
SOURCE: WFP
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WFP ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: SPANISH /ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE: JUNE-JULY 2020, PERU, ECUADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS
7 JULY 2020, LIMA, PERU
1. Various shots, Lima skyline
2. Wide shot, city traffic
3. Pan left, Venezuelan migrant cleaning windshield of a bus
4. Wide shot, Venezuelan migrant cleaning windshield of a truck
5. Med shot, Venezuelan migrants counting coins
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Raúl Montero, Venezuelan migrant:
"I lost my job, because of the pandemic. And now I had to clean cars. I had never done it before, but to bring food to my children I have to do that”
22 JULY 2020, IBARRA, IMBABURA PROVINCE, ECUADOR
7. Aerial shot, people walking in field
8. Pan right, Beasley walking with farmers
9. Wide shot, women working in field
10. Med shot, Beasley kneeling next to woman collecting herbs
11. Close up, Beasley smelling herbs
12. SOUNDBITE (English) David Beasley, Executive Director, WFP:
“The COVID Pandemic has just been devastating in Latin America. I mean we were already dealing with economic deterioration and many different issues but COVID has come on top of it. Just in the areas where WFP in this region area alone, we have seen a substantial increase in over 11 million people that are marching towards the brink of starvation so, its devastating and it is why we must act and we must act now so that we can bring some hope to people. Otherwise you will have political destabilization, mass migration, economic deterioration, supply chain disruption and many people will starve in addition to COVID itself.”
13. Wide shot, newly arrived migrants and destitute Ecuadorians waiting on street
14. Med shot, people disinfecting hands
15. Various shots, Beasley and others distributing meals
16. SOUNDBITE (English) David Beasley, Executive Director, WFP:
“It’s a deadly combination and we’ve got to act now and we gotta be smart and we gotta thread the needle. You can’t just deal with COVID by itself or hunger by itself. They must be dealt with together. If we do it right, we can save lives. If we don’t do it right, people will die.”
22 JULY 2020, TEJUTLA, DEPARTMENT OF SAN MARCOS, GUATEMALA
17. Various shots, children tested for malnutrition
9 JUNE 2020, LA PAZ, HONDURAS
18. Various shots, Luvinda Lopez, widow with 5 children going home with WFP rations
19. Close up, rations
20. Med shot, Lopez making food
The relentless rise of hunger, struggling economies, deepening inequality and an active hurricane season are threatening the people of Latin America and the Caribbean and may have far-reaching consequences unless swift action is taken, warns the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).
As coronavirus cases soar, Latin America has become the region most impacted by COVID-19 globally, accounting for over a quarter of the world’s cases. The health pandemic is driving hunger and food insecurity which risks fueling conflict and political unrest and forcing vulnerable families to migrate.
In Peru’s capital Lima, for many Venezuelans the cleaning of windows and windshields of cars that stop at the stoplight is the only way to earn a living. Most of them lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic. It is estimated that some 31,000 Venezuelans have returned to their country of origin on foot as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Raúl Montero, Venezuelan migrant:
"I lost my job, because of the pandemic. And now I had to clean cars. I had never done it before, but to bring food to my children I have to do that”
According to the WFP, Latin America and the Caribbean are set to see a 269 percent rise in the number of people facing severe food insecurity bringing the total to 16 million people not knowing where their next meal is coming from in coming months, up from 4.3 million in 2019.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has just been devastating in Latin America, where the economic storm clouds were already gathering. Families are struggling to buy basics like food and medicine, as livelihoods are destroyed and the number of people out of work in the region hits 44 million. It’s a deadly combination and we’ve got to act now, and we’ve got to be smart. You can’t just deal with COVID-19 by itself or hunger by itself. They must be dealt with together. If we do it right, we can save lives. If we don’t do it right, people will die,” said David Beasley, WFP’s Executive Director during his visit to Ecuador earlier this July.
The agency is particularly concerned about vulnerable people in Haiti, the Central American Dry Corridor as well as Venezuelan migrants in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
The hurricane season - expected to be more active than normal - brings new risks, placing an extra strain on overburdened social protection systems.
WFP is providing take-home food rations for children no longer able to attend school, and vouchers and cash so people can shop at local stores. In Honduras alone., WFP provided emergency rations to 29,000 families affected by the COVID-19 crisis.
From its regional humanitarian hub in Panama, WFP is supporting the logistics for the COVID-19 response, transporting humanitarian and health cargo to the frontlines of the pandemic.
WFP urgently needs additional funding of USD 328 million to support relief and recovery operations in the region.
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