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UN PhotoUN / MINE AWARENESS DAY PRESSER
STORY: UN / MINE AWARENESS DAY PRESSER
TRT: 3:00
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 04 APRIL 2024, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1.Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
04 APRIL 2024, NEW YORK CITY
2.Wide shot, press briefing room
3.SOUDNBITE (English) Ilene Cohn, Director of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS):
“The use of improvised explosive devices by non-State armed groups is spreading, terrorizing civilians, threating the efforts of national security services, putting agricultural land off limits where food is scarce, and threatening humanitarian and peacekeeping personnel. As the Secretary-General stressed in a new agenda for peace, it is time to stop the use by terrorists and other non-State armed groups of improvised explosive devices. And we hope that Member States will address this concern during their deliberations on the pact for the future.”
4.Wide shot, press briefing room
5 SOUNDNBITE (English) Paul Heslop, Programme Manager, Ukraine, for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP):
“So the level of contamination in parts of Ukraine is just getting worse, worse and worse. I think the final statement from Giles is so accurate, we will be looking at contamination we have not seen since the First and Second World War that will be affecting that territory for many decades to come, unfortunately.”
6.Wide shot, press briefing room
7. (English) Paul Heslop, Programme Manager, Ukraine, for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP):
“But there is also a very large percentage of land that is suspected, that is not actually contaminated. And that perceived contamination is affecting every individual in this room, every individual in the city, every individual across this country and across the world, because that is affecting global food security. It's affecting global food prices. It's affecting global energy prices.”
8. Wide shot, press briefing room
9. SOUNDNBITE (English) Paul Heslop, Programme Manager, Ukraine, for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP):
“So we need to be finding ways to improve global food security by addressing the perceived contamination. Now we're using new technology. We're using drones we're seeing there, but at the end of the day, what is needed is the resources to make this happen. You know whether it is the financial resources, the technical resources, the will to provide the support.”
10. Wide shot, press briefing room
11. SOUNDNBITE (English) Paul Heslop, Programme Manager, Ukraine, for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP):
“Because of the advances in technology, particular body armor and medical technology, we're seeing a lot of people surviving injuries that they wouldn't have five or ten, 15, 20 years ago. Now that's meaning we're seeing a large number of single, double, triple even quadruple amputees who are young men and women in their 20s or early 30s. Who, if they have the right support will live for another 40,50, 60 years. But there is no mechanism in place to support thousands of individuals who have been deeply traumatized by war and physically ripped apart.”
12. Wide shot, press briefing room
13. SOUNDNBITE (English) Paul Heslop, Programme Manager, Ukraine, for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP):
“So mine action in Ukraine is not just about clearing mines, is not just about freeing up agricultural land. It's about finding ways to mitigate the risk to change the economic impact of this, to find new technologies, to look at the problem in new ways, and particularly to find the psychological and social support to a population that is deeply traumatized, both emotionally and physically by the war.”
12. Wide shot, press briefing room
Director of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), Ilene Cohn, said, “it is time to stop the use by terrorists and other non-State armed groups of improvised explosive devices.”
The Director of UNMAS today (04 Apr) spoke to reporters marking the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.
Disabled survivors of explosive hazards, and all people with disabilities living through conflicts, is the focus of the 2024 commemoration of the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action (4 April). The United Nations has called for a greater responsiveness to the needs and rights of all people with disabilities in conflict and peacebuilding settings. The 2024 campaign will bring attention to the five-year anniversary of Security Council resolution 2475, which calls upon Member States, and specifically Security Council members, to consider and protect persons with disabilities; to ensure they have access to assistance, and to include them in conflict prevention and peacebuilding.
Paul Heslop, Programme Manager for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine also spoke to reporters.
He said, “So the level of contamination in parts of Ukraine is just getting worse, worse and worse,” adding that “we will be looking at contamination we have not seen since the First and Second World War that will be affecting that territory for many decades to come, unfortunately.”
Heslop also said that there is also a very large percentage of land in Ukraine that is suspected, that is not actually contaminated, adding that the “perceived contamination is affecting every individual in this room, every individual in the city, every individual across this country and across the world, because that is affecting global food security. It's affecting global food prices. It's affecting global energy prices.”
The senior UNDP official also reiterated, “we need to be finding ways to improve global food security by addressing the perceived contamination. Now we're using new technology. We're using drones we're seeing there, but at the end of the day, what is needed is the resources to make this happen. You know whether it is the financial resources, the technical resources, the will to provide the support.”
Heslop said, “Because of the advances in technology, particular body armor and medical technology, we're seeing a lot of people surviving injuries that they wouldn't have five or ten, 15, 20 years ago.”
He continued, “Now that's meaning we're seeing a large number of single, double, triple even quadruple amputees who are young men and women in their 20s or early 30s. Who, if they have the right support will live for another 40,50, 60 years. But there is no mechanism in place to support thousands of individuals who have been deeply traumatized by war and physically ripped apart.”
The UNDP senior official in Ukraine concluded, “mine action in Ukraine is not just about clearing mines, is not just about freeing up agricultural land. It's about finding ways to mitigate the risk to change the economic impact of this, to find new technologies, to look at the problem in new ways, and particularly to find the psychological and social support to a population that is deeply traumatized, both emotionally and physically by the war.”
