UN / HC GRANDI REFUGEES

UN Refugees agency chief Filippo Grandi said, “We may be cutting up to a third of the capacity of our organization. This is pretty dramatic.” UNIFEED

• Video Length: 00:04:13
• Production Date: 28 April 2025
• Asset Language: English
• Personal Subject: FILIPPO GRANDI
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGUEES - UNHCR
• Subject Topical: REFUGEES; INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS; WAR; FINANCIAL CRISIS; UNITED NATIONS FINANCES; HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
• MAMS Id: 3364830
• Parent Id: 3364830
• Alternate Title: unifeed250428b

Description

STORY: UN / HC GRANDI REFUGEES
TRT: 04:13
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 28 APR 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

Shotlist

FILE - NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations

28 APR 2025, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, delegates, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees:
“Preventing and stopping war — upholding peace and security — that is the Security Council’s mandate. That is your primary responsibility. And one that – you will forgive me for again saying it — this body has chronically failed to live up to. But please do not resign yourselves to the defeat of diplomacy. I speak to you today once more on behalf of the 123 million people forcibly displaced — who are among the first victims of wars”
4. Wide shot, delegates, Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees:
“Refugee-receiving countries are making the right decision. They are doing their part. We, the humanitarians, are on the ground, doing our part. You must be more committed, and more united, to do yours.”
6. Wide shot, delegates, Security Council
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees:
“That is the essential calculus for ending humanitarian crises, Mr. President. Security and self-reliance. And both must convey a sense of being durable. Solutions are hard work. They require commitment and compromise. You cannot make peace passively or hope for it to happen through mere attrition. That is why it is all the more important that when even unexpected opportunities emerge, we must be ready to seize them. And be ready to take calculated risks.”
8. Wide shot, delegates, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees:
“Aid is stability. Freezing or cutting aid budgets is already having fatal consequences on millions of lives. It means among many other things abandoning displaced people to their fate; taking support away from sometimes very fragile host countries; and ultimately undermining your own stability.”
10. Wide shot, delegates, Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees:
“You must also understand that the retrenchment, the retreat of agencies like UNHCR, like the World Food Program, like UNICEF, from the theaters of crisis will have also impact on matters of peace and security, because we will be much less able to exercise what is after all a stabilizing function in those areas.”
13. Med shot, High Commissioner for Refugees, delegates, Security Council
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees:
“For those who feel that multilateralism is stifling, slow and misaligned with your priorities, I hope you realize that leaving the debate does not mean that the discussion would end. It will not, but it will be less effective and less compelling. We need all of you.”
15. Wide shot, delegates, Security Council
16. Pan left, High Commissioner for Refugees walking to stakeout
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees:
“The financial rules of my organization do not allow me to spend more than the money that I have or is firmly pledged. So, we have now started cutting, unfortunately. I fear, and I said this to the council in my final remarks, that we may be cutting up to a third of the capacity of our organization. This is pretty dramatic.”
18. Med shot, High Commissioner for Refugees at stakeout
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees:
“I don't want to hear any more people telling me do more with less. This is absurd. You will do less with less, we will try to do it in the best possible way, the most rational way, maximizing efficiencies, becoming even more efficient, but it's going to have an impact on millions of people.”
20. Pan right, High Commissioner for Refugees leaving stakeout

Storyline

UN Refugees agency chief Filippo Grandi said, “We may be cutting up to a third of the capacity of our organization. This is pretty dramatic.”

Addressing the Security Council today (28 Apr), Grandi said, “Preventing and stopping war — upholding peace and security — that is the Security Council’s mandate. That is your primary responsibility. And one that – you will forgive me for again saying it — this body has chronically failed to live up to. But please do not resign yourselves to the defeat of diplomacy. I speak to you today once more on behalf of the 123 million people forcibly displaced — who are among the first victims of wars”

He stated, “Refugee-receiving countries are making the right decision. They are doing their part. We, the humanitarians, are on the ground, doing our part. You must be more committed, and more united, to do yours.”

He continued, “That is the essential calculus for ending humanitarian crises, Mr. President. Security and self-reliance. And both must convey a sense of being durable. Solutions are hard work. They require commitment and compromise. You cannot make peace passively or hope for it to happen through mere attrition. That is why it is all the more important that when even unexpected opportunities emerge, we must be ready to seize them. And be ready to take calculated risks.”

He also said, “Aid is stability. Freezing or cutting aid budgets is already having fatal consequences on millions of lives. It means among many other things abandoning displaced people to their fate; taking support away from sometimes very fragile host countries; and ultimately undermining your own stability. And multilateralism, in fact — including multilateral aid — adds to that same stability and remains indispensable to find solutions to crises, including forced displacement.”

He stressed, “You must also understand that the retrenchment, the retreat of agencies like UNHCR, like the World Food Program, like UNICEF, from the theaters of crisis will have also impact on matters of peace and security, because we will be much less able to exercise what is after all a stabilizing function in those areas.”

He concluded, “For those who feel that multilateralism is stifling, slow and misaligned with your priorities, I hope you realize that leaving the debate does not mean that the discussion would end. It will not, but it will be less effective and less compelling. We need all of you.”

Addressing the press after the Council, Grandi said, “The financial rules of my organization do not allow me to spend more than the money that I have or is firmly pledged. So, we have now started cutting, unfortunately. I fear, and I said this to the council in my final remarks, that we may be cutting up to a third of the capacity of our organization. This is pretty dramatic.”

He also said, “I don't want to hear any more people telling me do more with less. This is absurd. You will do less with less, we will try to do it in the best possible way, the most rational way, maximizing efficiencies, becoming even more efficient, but it's going to have an impact on millions of people.”