UN / UNRWA LAZZARINI PRESSER

Following a Pledging Conference in support of the Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA), Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said, there was “a common responsibility” to bring the children in Gaza, “as a matter of urgency,” back into an education setting. UNIFEED

• Video Length: 00:02:52
• Production Date: 12 July 2024
• Asset Language: English
• Personal Subject: PHILIPPE LAZZARINI
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES IN THE NEAR EAST - UNRWA
• Subject Topical: PALESTINIAN REFUGEES; EDUCATION; CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICTS; FINANCE; HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
• Geographic Subject: PALESTINE; GAZA; ISRAEL
• MAMS Id: 3235872
• Parent Id: 3235872
• Alternate Title: unifeed240712g

Description

STORY: UN / UNRWA LAZZARINI PRESSER
TRT: 02:52
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 12 JULY 2024, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

Shotlist

FILE - NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior UN Headquarters

12 JULY 2024, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, press room dais
3. Med shot, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA):
“Education is the only thing the Palestinians has never, ever been dispossessed of. And we have today more than 600,000 girls and boys of the age of primary and secondary school living in the rubble. Deeply traumatised. And for which I believe we have a common responsibility to bring them back, as a matter of urgency, into an education setting.”
5. Med shot, journalists
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA):
“Basically, we would have a kind of a three stage approach. The first one is psychosocial support being provided to the children, which by the way is already ongoing. Secondly, we will have to look at in the second stage to have a safe space where basically we can restart the learning, the reading, the writing, the maths. And thirdly, at a later stage, which will be require in fact to bring back the children into a formal educational setting.”
7. Wide shot, journalists
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA):
“We do not have the luxury of time when it comes to bring back these children into an education environment, and we have to do so before even we start to rebuild the school. We have to find ways, because the more we will be waiting, the more we will be sowing the seeds for more, you know, resentment, for more despair. And the children will be more and more, exposed to possible recruitment with new criminal group or armed group in the Gaza Strip. And that would also mean the sacrifice of a generation.”
9. Wide shot, journalists
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA):
“Now, when we talk about an appeal of 1 to $1.2 billion, it's also based on an environment where we can properly, operate. Today, you know, we are talking about collectively from the UN agencies of 40, 50, trucks coming in in an ideal environment. And if we would just, I mean, collectively try to cover all the humanitarian needs, we would need much more than that.”
11. Wide shot, end of presser

Storyline

Following a Pledging Conference in support of the Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA), Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini today (12 Jul) said, there was “a common responsibility” to bring the children in Gaza, “as a matter of urgency,” back into an education setting.

Speaking to reporters in New York, Lazzarini said, “education is the only thing the Palestinians has never, ever been dispossessed of. And we have today more than 600,000 girls and boys of the age of primary and secondary school living in the rubble. Deeply traumatised.”

The UNRWA Chief explained that there was a “three stage approach” to bring children back to school. He said, “the first one is psychosocial support being provided to the children, which by the way is already ongoing. Secondly, we will have to look at in the second stage to have a safe space where basically we can restart the learning, the reading, the writing, the maths. And thirdly, at a later stage, which will be require in fact to bring back the children into a formal educational setting.”

He said, “we do not have the luxury of time when it comes to bring back these children into an education environment, and we have to do so before even we start to rebuild the school. We have to find ways, because the more we will be waiting, the more we will be sowing the seeds for more, you know, resentment, for more despair. And the children will be more and more, exposed to possible recruitment with new criminal group or armed group in the Gaza Strip. And that would also mean the sacrifice of a generation.”

“When we talk about an appeal of 1 to $1.2 billion,” Lazzarini said, “it's also based on an environment where we can properly, operate. Today, you know, we are talking about collectively from the UN agencies of 40, 50, trucks coming in in an ideal environment. And if we would just, I mean, collectively try to cover all the humanitarian needs, we would need much more than that.”

The agency has been supporting critical services including education, health and social services to some 5.9 million Palestine refugees, including vulnerable groups such as women, children, and persons with disabilities.

It also administers 58 refugee camps, addressing the dire humanitarian needs of over 1.6 million people across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.