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UN / GING
STORY: UN / GING
SOURCE: UNTV
TRT: 3.13
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 3 APRIL 2009, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN building
3 APRIL 2009, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Ging approaching the dais
3. Wide shot, dais
4. Med shot, reporters
5. SOUNDBITE (English) John Ging, United Nations Relief and Works Agency Director:
“Absent their having confidence in legal mechanisms, the rhetoric and propaganda of those who advocate for more violence as being the way to get solutions to all of this, will have more currency with them, will have more credibility with them. So, again this is what’s at stake here, we have to restore people’s belief and that starts with their own confidence in the effectiveness of mechanisms to deliver accountability for their loss, in the first instance, but also confidence that because they exist, they will be protected into the future.”
6. Close up, photographer
7. SOUNDBITE (English) John Ging, United Nations Relief and Works Agency Director:
“Now we have a situation where political parties have claimed that they have influence over a number of my staff, coming out of the staff union elections. This has caused me to issue a reminder to all of my staff generally about what’s a stake here, which is their employment. I am not paying anybody a UN salary, in Gaza, to be under anybody’s influence other than mine, and the managers that we have in place, and if they stray across that line, then they will lose their job.”
8. Close up, reporter
9. SOUNDBITE (English) John Ging, United Nations Relief and Works Agency Director:
“We need access, it’s the number one issue, it’s the number two issue, it’s the number three issue, and so on. Until we get it there is actually nothing more important than solving the access issue. And, it’s not adequate, 85 trucks is totally inadequate in terms of the needs on the ground. You know Gaza was in an impoverished state in June 2007, and we were getting in over five hundred trucks. Now we are talking less than a hundred.”
FILE – UNICEF - 26 JANUARY 2009 GAZA, OPT
10. Wide shot, pile of rubble
11. Wide shot, young men on top of rubble
12. Close up, child next to pile of rubble
13. Wide shot, children entering school
14. Pan left, rubble in schoolyard to damaged classroom
FILE – UNDP - 9 FEBRUARY 2009, NORTHERN GAZA
15. Tracking shot, destruction in Northern Gaza
16. Tracking shot, tents in a temporary housing arrangement
17. Wide shot, temporary living facilities
18. Pan left, family in tent
19. Tracking shot, destroyed buildings
20. Pan left, destruction site of the 'American International School in Gaza', and other building
The top United Nations official in Gaza today (3 April) said that unless there is accountability for human rights violations committed during the recent conflict, “the rhetoric and propaganda of those who advocate for more violence” will gain credibility with the people of Gaza.
Speaking at a press conference in New York, Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Director John Ging said that “we have to restore people’s belief” in the effectiveness of accountability mechanisms in order to build confidence in the population that “they will be protected into the future”.
Responding to questions from reporters, Ging acknowledged that “political parties have claimed that they have influence over a number of my staff” as a result of recent staff union elections. He said that he has issued a reminder to all his staff to abstain from political influence, and that “if they stray across that line, then they will lose their job”.
Restrictions on imports and exports, in addition to limitations on humanitarian deliveries, continue to seriously affect the living conditions of the population of Gaza.
The UNRWA chief reiterated his call for the full opening of the crossings into Gaza, saying that current access “is totally inadequate in terms of the needs on the ground”.
The latest field update from the office of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory states that, in the week ending 28 March, 721 truckloads of goods were allowed into Gaza, slightly down from 728 during the previous week.
Food supplies accounted for nearly 80 per cent of imported commodities, and this week items such as tea, yeast and salt that were barred since late October 2008 were allowed entry.
No construction materials, industrial or electrical appliances, livestock, petrol or diesel fuel was allowed entry into Gaza during the week. In addition, some 35,000 people are without any access to water, down from 40,000 last week.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Council announced today that the former chief prosecutor of two United Nations criminal tribunals, Richard J. Goldstone, will lead an investigation into violations of human rights and international law during the recent conflict in the Gaza Strip.
The 22-day Israeli military operation in Gaza, launched on 27 December 2008 with the stated aim of ending Hamas rocket attacks against Israel, killed some 1,300 Palestinians, injured more than 5,300, 34 per cent of them children, and caused widespread damage and destruction in Gaza.
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