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UN / HOLMES
STORY: UN / HOLMES
TRT: 3:15
SOURCE: UNTV / OCHA / UNAMID / MONUC / MINUSTAH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 20 AUGUST 2010, NEW YORK / FILE
FILE – OCHA - 14 OCTOBER 2009, INDONESIA
1. Various shots, Holmes inspecting a map of the affected areas
2. Med shot, Holmes on a suspended walkway
3. Pan left, post-landslide devastation
UNTV - 20 AUGUST 2010, NEW YORK
4. SOUNDBITE (English) John Holmes, Under Secretary-General, Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations:
“The response is never perfect. Disasters are by definition chaotic, disorderly events in which we are trying to impose a degree or order. That search is going to go on but as I say, I think the main point is we have improved and we’ll go on improving. The expectations on us is arising, the media experts to see humanitarian workers there in a few hours giving out everything that’s needed.”
FILE – UNAMID - 25 NOVEMBER 2008, KALMA CAMP, DARFUR
5. Various shots, John Holmes with IDPs and local leaders in Kalma camp
UNTV - 20 AUGUST 2010, NEW YORK
6. SOUNDBITE (English) John Holmes, Under Secretary-General, Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations:
“I think sometimes the most challenging parts are to try to help people in a particularly country and having to deal with a government which regards your activity with suspicion. So instead of facilitating what you are doing and giving you every possible help, there’s somehow impression that at times they are putting spokes in the wheel or they sometimes regard you as having some other kind of agenda or prying too much in their affairs.”
FILE - MONUC - 1 MAY 2010, NIANGARA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
7. Various shots, Holmes arriving and meeting local authorities
8. Med shot, local with banner awaiting Holmes’ arrival
FILE – MONUC - 30 APRIL 2010, MWENGA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
9. SOUNDBITE (English) John Holmes, Under Secretary-General, Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations:
“We have to find again the right balance, speak out and say things that governments don’t want to hear but while working with them and respecting their sovereignty to the full. Those are some of the difficult challenges I have faced in my time.”
FILE – MINUSTAH - 12 JULY 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
10. Tracking shot, John Holmes walking with locals in the camp
11. Pan left, from Holmes to a handicapped man
12. Med shot, Holmes talking to a group of handicapped people
UNTV - 20 AUGUST 2010, NEW YORK
13. SOUNDBITE (English) John Holmes, Under Secretary-General, Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations:
“I think the most gratifying aspect is that you feel you are doing something worthwhile, you feel you are helping people and hopefully you feel you are saving lives and restoring minimum amount of dignity to people. The problem is that disasters are relentless; as you have seen this year with Haiti and now Pakistan and many other things in between. There’s never any time to sit back and say well we really did a good job there or we really made a difference there.”
FILE – OCHA - 16 AUGUST 2010, PAKISTAN
14. Med shot, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari greets, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Emergency Relief Coordinator Sir John Holmes
15. Med shot, John Holmes and Pakistani official in helicopter
16. Aerial shot, view of flooded area
17. Various shots, John Holmes at military briefing
UNTV - 20 AUGUST 2010, NEW YORK
18. SOUNDBITE (English) John Holmes, Under Secretary-General, Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations:
“I often say to my staff, ‘can you bring me some good news?’ The answer is no, they can’t because it’s their job to bring me the bad news and to move on to the next disaster, the next crisis and the next bunch of misery. So that’s why I think you need a certain and of mental resilience but also physical stamina to continue in a job like this.”
FILE – UNTV - 2 MARCH 2007, NEW YORK CITY
19. Various shots, John Holmes being appointed as Emergency Relief Coordinator
In an exclusive interview with UNifeed, the United Nations (UN) Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes, who will be leaving the organization at the end of the month, talked about the “mental resilience” and “physical stamina” needed to respond to the world’s relentless humanitarian emergencies.
John Holmes, who has been the longest serving UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, has been in charge during some of the most devastating humanitarian emergencies ranging from Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, landslides in Indonesia to the earthquake in Haiti and recent floods in Pakistan.
Holmes said that the humanitarian response to many of these disasters, be it natural or manmade, “is never perfect.” He said that despite the chaotic nature of the disasters the humanitarian community has improved its response over the years and added that “we’ll go on improving.”
Other than the ongoing challenges responding to the unfolding crisis in Pakistan, Holmes also had to recently deal with the politically-driven deadly violence over the Darfur peace process in Kalma camp, one of the largest sites sheltering people uprooted by fighting in Darfur.
Earlier this month, the local authorities had denied NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and UN agencies access to the camp for 15 days amid suggestions that they wanted to get rid of the camp altogether.
During his tenure, Holmes said that “having to deal with a government which regards your activity with suspicion” has been one of the most challenging aspects of his job.
Holmes also talked about deteriorating humanitarian situations during conflicts. Earlier this year, during his trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Holmes expressed concern about the safety of civilians and the humanitarian community in the eastern province as the drawdown of UN peacekeepers began in the country.
As another grave example of both the level of sexual violence and the insecurity that continue to plague the country, this month 154 Congolese civilians were assaulted and raped during an attack by armed elements of the Mai-Mai and the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR) in eastern DRC.
Despite the violence, the Congloese government had proposed that the UN withdraws all of its eleven-year-old peacekeeping force (MONUSCO) in the country by August 2011.
Trying to “speak out and say things that governments don’t want to hear while working with them and respecting their sovereignty to the full,” has been another challenge Holmes often faces.
Ultimately, Holmes said that the most gratifying aspect of the job “is that you feel you are doing something worthwhile and hopefully you feel you are saving lives and restoring minimum amount of dignity to people.”
During another trip this year, six months after the earthquake in Haiti, Holmes visited many Haitians still recovering from the aftermath of the disaster.
He added that disasters, however, “are relentless.” In Pakistan today, the UN is struggling to meet the humanitarian needs of the millions of people affected by the catastrophe. It is currently asking for more helicopters to reach people cut off by the floods.
In the midst of all these countless crises, Holmes said “I often say to my staff, ‘can you bring me some good news?’ The answer is no, they can’t because it’s their job to bring me the bad news and to move on to the next disaster, the next crisis and the next bunch of misery.”
Holmes, who has been the Emergency Relief Coordinator since January 2007, was a veteran British diplomat who joined the United Kingdom’s (UK) Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1973.
When he was sworn in as the organization’s humanitarian chief that year, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon commented on his proven record of dedication and hard work.
Holmes will be moving back to the UK to head the Ditchley Foundation, which promotes international relations, from September. At Ditchley, he will be replacing the United Kingdom’s former Ambassador to the UN, Jeremy Greenstock.
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