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UN / UNWRA 60TH WRAP
STORY: UN / UNWRA 60TH WRAP
TRT: 2.54
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 24 SEPTEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY
RECENT 2009, UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN Headquarters
24 SEPTEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY
2. Zoom in, Palestinian delegation with Mahmoud Abbas and Riyad Mansour entering UN delegates room
3. Zoom in, unveiling UNRWA 60th anniversary banner
4. SOUND-UP (Arabic) Mahmoud Abbas, President, Palestinian National Authority:
“On this occasion I would like to give gratitude to the vital work of the UNRWA...”
5. Cutaway, delegates
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Queen Rania Al Abdullah, Jordan:
“In January I made a Youtube video for UNRWA describing Gaza as ‘hell on earth’, I never imagined that eight months on, after pledges of almost 4.7 billion dollars it would still be ‘hell on earth’. But that is the shameful truth; not one penny of the billions pledged for reconstruction has reached Gaza. A ban on the entry of building materials means reconstruction has not even started and right now it’s Eid al-Fitr, the holiday Muslims celebrate after Ramadan, traditionally a festive time when families eat meat, and parents give their children gifts. There is nothing to celebrate in Gaza today.”
7. Wide shot, Trusteeship Council
8. Wide shot council with panel and audience
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mahmoud Abbas, President, Palestinian National Authority:
“The plight of the Palestine refugees with their descendents who now number 4.7 million people and constitute more than half of the Palestinian people worldwide, remains at the core of the Palestinian historical narrative and search for justice and peace.”
10. Cutaway, meeting
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Karen Abu Zaid, Commissioner-General, UNRWA:
“I strongly appeal to the international community to raise the levels of financial and political support UNRWA requires to serve Palestine refugees better. Given the consensus on the significance of UNRWA’s mission, not least in terms of contributing to regional stability, it’s unacceptable that UNRWA should currently be facing a grave funding deficit that threatens its ability to continue delivering services.”
12. Wide shot, panel
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The Agency's work is too important for it to suffer budget crisis after budget crisis. Since 1974, the UN's regular budget has covered only a tiny share of the Agency's costs, with the rest coming from voluntary contributions. Perhaps the time has come for the Assembly to review this arrangement.”
14. Wide shot, panel
National leaders and senior government ministers from around the world gathered at United Nations Headquarters in New York today (24 September) to pay tribute to the efforts of the UN agency that has assisted Palestinian refugees across the Middle East for 60 years.
A series of public events were held to mark the 60th anniversary of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which was set up to provide humanitarian assistance in the wake of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
Events included a ministerial breakfast, a panel debate, the screening of a documentary film, and a high-level segment that featuring the UN Secretary-General.
Among the world figures paying tribute to the efforts of UNRWA in New York today were Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s Queen Rania al Abdullah.
Queen Rania said that it was a “shameful truth” that Gaza could still be described as “hell on earth”, despite pledges of 4.7. billion dollars for reconstruction, of which “not one penny” had reached Gaza. She said a ban on the entry of building materials meant that rebuilding has not even started there, and there was “nothing to celebrate in Gaza” this Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Mahmoud Abbas said that the plight of the Palestine refugees remained “at the core of the Palestinian historical narrative and search for justice and peace.”
Karen AbuZayd, UNRWA’s Commissioner-General, appealed to the international community to raise the levels of financial and political support to the Agency.
Last week Ms. AbuZayd warned that UNRWA may not be able to pay the salaries of its 29,000 staff through the end of this year because of a funding crisis. She urged UN member states to donate more generously than ever to the agency.
Most of UNRWA’s running costs go to staff salaries, the Commissioner-General said, and without an injection of nearly $17 million each month the agency will not be able to guarantee salaries into 2010.
Ban Ki-moon said that UNRWA’s work was “too important for it to suffer budget crisis after budget crisis”, and that it was perhaps time for the General Assembly to review the proportion of the Agency’s budget to be funded by the UN's regular budget rather than voluntary contributions.
UNRWA currently provides education, health care, social services, microfinance, camp improvement and other forms of emergency aid to an estimated 4.6 million refugees living in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
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