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STORY: UN / CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICT
TRT: 03:56
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 03 APRIL 2024, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, UN Headquarters
03 APRIL 2024, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, United Nations:
“Data gathered for our forthcoming 2024 report shows we are on target to witness a shocking increase of the incidents of the denial of humanitarian access globally. The blatant disregard for international humanitarian law continues to increase.”
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, United Nations:
“Some situations involve high levels of arbitrary impediments and/or outright denial of humanitarian access to children, including in situations such as in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and in Haiti to name but two.”
6. Wide shot, Security Council
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, United Nations:
“Without compliance by parties to conflict to allow safe, full, and unhindered access for timely delivery of humanitarian assistance, children’s survival, well-being, and development are in jeopardy and our calls are mere echoes in this chamber. We cannot prevent denial of humanitarian access to children unless we understand it and reinforce our capacity to monitor and prevent its occurrence. We must get on with the job.”
8. Med shot, UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director, delegates
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Ted Chaiban, Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF):
“The UN has verified almost 23,000 incidents of denial of humanitarian access, with nearly 15,000 verified over the past five years and 3,931 incidents in the last Secretary General’s report, a stubbornly high figure. Lack of access to humanitarian services creates greater vulnerability and increases other child rights violations. Children are the first to suffer and the ones who will carry the longest-lasting humanitarian consequences. Parties have a legal and moral responsibility to ensure children’s access to humanitarian services.”
10. Med shot, UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director, delegates
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Ted Chaiban, Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF):
“We call on you to strengthen carve-outs designed to protect humanitarian access. Humanitarian agencies need to be able to engage with all armed groups for the purposes of humanitarian access to affected populations without fear of consequences. Second, we call on you to use your influence to press States and non-state armed actors to prevent and end the denial of humanitarian access to children – protect humanitarian actors and allow humanitarian organizations to safely and timely reach those in most need, across front lines and across borders.”
12. Wide shot, Security Council
13. Pan left, Maltese Ambassador walking to stakeout
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Vanessa Frazier, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Malta:
“Situations in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Yemen are of urgent concern. Children's lack of access to food, medicine, and water are causing severe malnutrition and the spread of preventable diseases. Long term, this will also have grave consequences for their development and well-being.”
15. Wide shot, Maltese Ambassador at stakeout
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Vanessa Frazier, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Malta:
“In this regard, we call upon all parties to comply with their obligations under international law, international human rights law, international refugee law, and to immediately end and prevent grave violations against children.”
17. Pan right, Maltese Ambassador leaving stakeout
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, said, “Without compliance by parties to conflict to allow safe, full, and unhindered access for timely delivery of humanitarian assistance, children’s survival, well-being, and development are in jeopardy and our calls are mere echoes in this chamber.”
Addressing the Security Council today (3 Apr), Gamba noted, “Data gathered for our forthcoming 2024 report shows we are on target to witness a shocking increase of the incidents of the denial of humanitarian access globally. The blatant disregard for international humanitarian law continues to increase.”
She said, “Some situations involve high levels of arbitrary impediments and/or outright denial of humanitarian access to children, including in situations such as in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and in Haiti to name but two.”
She concluded, “We cannot prevent denial of humanitarian access to children unless we understand it and reinforce our capacity to monitor and prevent its occurrence. We must get on with the job.”
Ted Chaiban, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said, “The UN has verified almost 23,000 incidents of denial of humanitarian access, with nearly 15,000 verified over the past five years and 3,931 incidents in the last Secretary General’s report, a stubbornly high figure. Lack of access to humanitarian services creates greater vulnerability and increases other child rights violations. Children are the first to suffer and the ones who will carry the longest-lasting humanitarian consequences. Parties have a legal and moral responsibility to ensure children’s access to humanitarian services.”
He also called on Member States to strengthen carve-outs designed to protect humanitarian access.
He explained, “Humanitarian agencies need to be able to engage with all armed groups for the purposes of humanitarian access to affected populations without fear of consequences.”
He continued, “We call on you to use your influence to press States and non-state armed actors to prevent and end the denial of humanitarian access to children – protect humanitarian actors and allow humanitarian organizations to safely and timely reach those in most need, across front lines and across borders.”
In her capacity as President of the Security Council for April 2024, Ambassador Vanessa Frazier, Permanent Representative of Malta to the United Nations addressed reporters after the Council’s meeting.
She said, “Situations in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Yemen are of urgent concern. Children's lack of access to food, medicine, and water are causing severe malnutrition and the spread of preventable diseases. Long term, this will also have grave consequences for their development and well-being.”
She continued, “In this regard, we call upon all parties to comply with their obligations under international law, international human rights law, international refugee law, and to immediately end and prevent grave violations against children.”
