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UN / UNICEF AFGHANISTAN
STORY: UN / UNICEF AFGHANISTAN
TRT: 3:35
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 30 AUGUST 2021, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
RECENT – NEW YORK CITY
1.Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
30 AUGUST 2O21, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Herve De Lys, UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan:
“Today, I heard of more unsettling reports of unaccompanied children across the country, along with more testimony of grave violation including children being recruited by armed groups. It is important to remember that his year along, more than 550 children have been killed and more than 1400 injured. This is clearly a child protection crisis in a country that is already one of the worst places on earth to be a child.”
4. Wide shot, press briefing room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Herve De Lys, UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan:
“It is for each and every one of these children that UNICEF is staying. We have been in Afghanistan for 65 years and we’re here to deliver critical aid and enable services for those most in need. We’re doing it through our 5 zonal offices nationwide and our network of partners – from community elders and women’s groups to extenders and transportation companies. Companies on which we’re relying to bring supplies in from Pakistan. And through our willingness to embrace technology. Instead of giving communities what we think they want, UNICEF Afghanistan is using U-Report, a free, text message-based service, that enables us to ask them what they need.”
6. Wide shot, press briefing room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Herve De Lys, UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan:
“when it comes to girls’ education, let me be clear. UNICEF has always and will always be advocating for all girls in Afghanistan, including those with disabilities, to attend primary and secondary school, and go to university if they choose. And while vulnerable families share with UNICEF what basic items and services they need, we are concerned about headlines around international donors cutting or pausing aid to the country – not just for UNICEF but for other aid agencies as well. We are also concerned about ensuring the safety and security needed to deliver programmes nationwide, especially for our female national staff and female social workers.”
8. Wide shot, press briefing room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Herve De Lys, UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan:
“The main challenge we have right now is mobilizing the resource that we need to respond to the needs of the children. The second key challenge we have is that there is a lack of cash inside of the country, in Kabul, and many of our programmes require cash, and we hope that the banking system will be able to operate very quickly. I would say the third, although we had some well pre-position supplies before the crisis, we hope to be able to move our supplies across the borders to sustain our operation. The fourth main obstacle is that we anticipate, it has been reported by the field offices that the fuel prices is going up, and that will probably as well present an impediment of our operation and last is that we need to make sure that the environment is safe.”
10. Wide shot, press briefing room
UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan Herve De Lys said that there is a “child protection crisis in a country that is already one of the worst places on earth to be a child.”
Speaking to reporters today (30 Aug) via a video link from Kabul, De Lys said that against a backdrop of conflict and insecurity, children are living in communities that are running out of water because of the drought. They’re missing life-saving vaccines, including against polio, a disease that can paralyze children for life. Many are so malnourished they lie in hospital beds too weak to grasp an outstretched finger.
He said, “it is for each and every one of these children that UNICEF is staying. We have been in Afghanistan for 65 years and we’re here to deliver critical aid and enable services for those most in need.”
De Lys continued, “we’re doing it through our 5 zonal offices nationwide and our network of partners – from community elders and women’s groups to extenders and transportation companies. Companies on which we’re relying to bring supplies in from Pakistan.”
He also said, “through our willingness to embrace technology. Instead of giving communities what we think they want, UNICEF Afghanistan is using U-Report, a free, text message-based service, that enables us to ask them what they need.”
When it comes to girls’ education, De Lys reiterated “UNICEF has always and will always be advocating for all girls in Afghanistan, including those with disabilities, to attend primary and secondary school, and go to university if they choose.”
He continued “and while vulnerable families share with UNICEF what basic items and services they need, we are concerned about headlines around international donors cutting or pausing aid to the country – not just for UNICEF but for other aid agencies as well.”
He added that UNICEF is also concerned about “ensuring the safety and security needed to deliver programmes nationwide, especially for our female national staff and female social workers.”
Asked about challenges facing on the ground, the UNICEF Representative said, “the main challenge we have right now is mobilizing the resource that we need to respond to the needs of the children. The second key challenge we have is that there is a lack of cash inside of the country, in Kabul, and many of our programmes require cash, and we hope that the banking system will be able to operate very quickly.”
He added, “I would say the third, although we had some well pre-position supplies before the crisis, we hope to be able to move our supplies across the borders to sustain our operation. The fourth main obstacle is that we anticipate, it has been reported by the field offices that the fuel prices is going up, and that will probably as well present an impediment of our operation and last is that we need to make sure that the environment is safe.”
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