UN / TSUNAMI LESSONS LEARNED

Delegations from India, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand present a report which brings together lessons learned from the international emergency relief and recovery response, which will be handed to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and to former US President and United Nations Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery Bill Clinton. UNTV / UNICEF

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:28
• Production Date: 24 April 2009
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF
• Subject Topical: HUMANITARIAN RELIEF; DISASTER PREVENTION; DISASTER PREPAREDNESS; DISASTER RELIEF
• Geographic Subject: ASIA
• MAMS Id: U090424f

Description

STORY: UN / TSUNAMI LESSONS LEARNED
TRT: 2.28
SOURCE: UNTV / UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 24 APRIL 2009, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE

Shotlist

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters

24 APRIL 2009, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, meeting
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and Chair of the UN Development Group:
“We know what preventive measures need to be taken, and we know they save lives. What is needed is bold action – from governments, the UN, and other partners – to make sure that appropriate disaster risk reduction measures are established.”
4. Med shot, audience
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
“Our experience with the tsunami only reinforces the importance of sealing a deal later this year.”
6. Various shots, Clinton arriving
7. Med shot, audience
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Bill Clinton, former US President and UN Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery:
“We have factual data that these disasters are occurring at greater frequency and doing more damage as more and more people around the world seek to live near the waters. We’re going to have to deal with it.”
9. Wide shot, meeting
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Bill Clinton, former US President and UN Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery:
“I met Dalits in the refugee camp in southern India, in Tamil Nadu, who had access to the first sanitary facilities they had ever seen. Other people were suffering because the camps had tin roofs and they were too hot in the warm weather, but they were grateful that their children were going to learn how to live a life that might free them of future infections and diseases. So we need to really bend over backwards on this equity issue.”

FILE – UNICEF – DECEMBER 2004, BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA

11. Various, tsunami devastation scene

FILE – UNICEF – DECEMBER 2004, AKKARAPUTA, SRI LANKA

12. Wide shot, devastation scene

FILE – UNICEF – DECEMBER 2004, PHUKET, THAILAND

13. Wide shot, flooded field

FILE – UNICEF – DECEMBER 2004, BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA

14. Wide shot, pan left, wrecked car
15. Wide shot, tents at camp
16. Med shot, children at camp
17. Med shot, family at camp
18. Med shot, family at camp
19. Wide shot, crowds of displaced people

FILE – UNICEF – DECEMBER 2004, PHUKET, THAILAND

20. Wide shot, crane

FILE – UNICEF – NOVEMBER 2008, BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA

21. Various, construction of new school
22. Wide shot, children at school

FILE – UNICEF – DECEMBER 2008, TAMIL NADU, INDIA

23. Wide shot, school children

FILE – UNICEF – NOVEMBER 2008, BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA

24. Wide shot, classroom with children
25. Close up, girl washing

FILE – UNICEF – DECEMBER 2008, AKKARAPUTA, SRI LANKA

26. Wide shot, girls playing ball

Storyline

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and former US President Bill Clinton today (24 April) received a report on the lessons learned during the 2004 tsunami.

Delegations from India, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand presented their country’s experiences in a report entitled “The Tsunami Legacy: Innovation, Breakthroughs and Change.”

At the presentation of the report, the newly appointed head of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), former prime minister of New Zealand Helen Clark said the necessary preventive measures to reduce the risks from disasters were well-known, and called for “bold action” from governments, the UN, and other partners.

In his statement, Ban Ki-moon cited measures such as good building designs, proper land-use planning, public education, community preparedness and effective early warning systems.

The Secretary-General also noted that climate change was increasing the number and intensity of weather-related disasters and called on governments to reach agreement on a post-Kyoto framework to combat climate change at a UN conference in Copenhagen later this year. He said “our experience with the tsunami only reinforces the importance of sealing a deal later this year.”

Former US President Bill Clinton, who served as the UN Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery alongside former US President George Bush for two years after the disaster, also pointed out that “factual data” showed that natural disasters have become far more frequent and costly over the last decade. “We’re going to have to deal with it”, he said.

Referring to the report’s recommendations to take into account social and gender equity, Clinton recounted meeting Dalits in a refugee camp in southern India “who had access to the first sanitary facilities they had ever seen”. He said “we need to really bend over backwards on this equity issue” and realize that natural disasters can also be an opportunity to ‘build back better’.

The Indian Ocean tsunami on 26 December 2004 killed more than 228,000 people in 40 countries, displaced more than two million, and caused widespread devastation. India, Indonesia, Maldvies, Sri Lanka and Thailand were the five hardest-hit countries. The disaster also prompted an unprecedented humanitarian relief effort, with 13.5 billion US dollars pledged for recovery.