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UN / PEACEKEEPERS DAY WRAP
STORY: UN / PEACEKEEPERS DAY WRAP
TRT: 2.51
SOURCE: UNTV / FILE
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
29 MAY 2013, NEW YORK / FILE – 7 APRIL 2013, AKOBO, SOUTH SUDAN / FILE – 6 MARCH 2013, PIBOR, SOUTH SUDAN / FILE – 10 APRIL 2013, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
29 MAY 2013, NEW YORK
FILE – RECENT, UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS IN NEW YORK
1. Exterior shot, United Nations Headquarters in New York
29 MAY 2013, NEW YORK
2. Wide shot, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon bowing in front of a wreath, with a tattered UN flag in the background, and soldiers in salute mode.
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon:
“We are working hard to improve safety for our personnel around the world. But peacekeeping is inherently dangerous. And the risks are growing.”
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon:
“Please join me in observing a minute of silence in honour of all peacekeeping officers who have lost their lives while serving in the United Nations.”
5. Wide shot, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and soldiers in salute mode observing a minute of silence.
6. Wide shot, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon shaking hands with soldiers.
7. Wide shot, press conference room podium
8. Med shot, journalists
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Under-Secretary-General Hervé Ladsous:
“We must make sure that the missions are given whatever is necessary for them to fulfil their mandates in sometimes increasingly high-risk environments.”
10. Cutaway, photographer
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Under-Secretary-General for Field Support Ameerah Haq:
“We are adapting not only to new challenges, but we’re also adapting to larger mandates that are being given to the peacekeeping and to the political missions.”
12. Cutaway, journalist
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Under-Secretary-General for Field Support Ameerah Haq:
“Our aim is to provide the best possible support in a timely manner, in a nimble way, and to make sure that all the peacekeepers on the ground have what it is they require in order to fulfill their mandates.”
14. Wide shot, press conference room podium
FILE – 7 APRIL, AKOBO, SOUTH SUDAN
15. Med shot, UN flag as seen from inside of a UN patrol
16. Med shot, UN peacekeeper from India inside car, doing a patrol
17. Wide shot, UN peacekeeper from India walking through a field, with rifle in hand
FILE – 6 MARCH 2013, PIBOR, SOUTH SUDAN
18. Wide shot, UN tank patrolling the street
FILE – 10 APRIL 2013, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
19. Med shot, UN peacekeepers carrying the casket of a dead UN peacekeeper, and placing it next to other caskets of UN peacekeepers
20. Med shot, woman crying in front of caskets of UN peacekeepers
21. Wide shot, UN peacekeeper carrying a wreath
22. Med shot, UN peacekeeper placing the wreath down and saluting
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon led the United Nations today in honouring those who lost their lives over the past year serving under the blue flag, while also raising awareness about new developments in the field of peacekeeping.
On this International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, observed annually on 29 May, the world body honoured 111 peacekeeping personnel who died last year and paid tribute to the some 3,000 others who have fallen in the line of duty since the first peacekeepers were deployed 65 years ago.
During a wreath-laying ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York, Ban said:
“We are working hard to improve safety for our personnel around the world. But peacekeeping is inherently dangerous. And the risks are growing.”
Last year, UN personnel were killed during attacks on patrols in Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Sudan, and South Sudan, the Secretary-General recalled.
He added that in the coming months, members of the UN intervention brigade will arrive in the eastern DRC and the UN will field a new operation in Mali, where terrorism poses a real threat.
At a press conference following the wreath ceremony, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous noted that peacekeeping constantly needs more and better tools, and more and better skills, to meet new challenges.
He said: “We must make sure that the missions are given whatever is necessary for them to fulfil their mandates in sometimes increasingly high-risk environments.”
An example of the new tools being used, according to Ladsous, is the deployment of unarmed aerial vehicles (UAVs) in eastern DRC which will take place in a few months. The UAVs will help improve the awareness of peacekeeping troops on the ground, he said, to help deter any potentially dangerous situations.
At the same press conference, Under-Secretary-General for Field Support Ameerah Haq, emphasized that the UN was seeking to improve the way it supports its missions in the field.
She stated that the UN is “adapting not only to new challenges, but we’re also adapting to larger mandates that are being given to the peacekeeping and to the political missions.” She added that her recent visit to Mali was a stark reminder of the challenges the UN faces in setting up a new operation.
SOUNDBITE (English) Under-Secretary-General for Field Support Ameerah Haq:
“Our aim is to provide the best possible support in a timely manner, in a nimble way, and to make sure that all the peacekeepers on the ground have what it is they require in order to fulfill their mandates.”
The Department of Field Support (DFS), headed by Haq, provides support to field missions in the areas of finance, logistics, information and communication and technology (ICT), human resources and general administration.
In addition to events at UN Headquarters, the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers is being marked at various peacekeeping missions worldwide. Currently, there are more than 111,000 UN personnel serving in 15 peacekeeping missions.
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