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UN / AMOS HUMANITARIAN SYRIA
STORY: UN / AMOS HUMANITARIAN SYRIA
TRT: 2.31
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS
DATELINE: 6 SEPTEMBER 2013, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
6 SEPTEMBER 2013, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Amos seen on monitor
3. Wide shot, audience
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Valerie Amos, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator and head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“In the conversations that I had with UN staff and with the staff of our partners, there is a serious commitment to continuing with our operations.”
5. Zoom in, journalist
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Valerie Amos, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator and head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“Please remember that a majority of our staff operating inside Syria are themselves Syrians, so they want to continue to work for the good of Syrians and to improve the situation of Syrians on the ground, but at the same time, they are also mindful of the impact that any possible military action might have on themselves and their families.”
7. Wide shot, audience
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Valerie Amos, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator and head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“More than one-third of the people of Syria urgently need humanitarian aid, but the crisis is affecting everyone with the depreciation of the currency and the destruction of essential infrastructure including health facilities. Here in Lebanon and in the other countries surrounding Syria, the refugee crisis is having a very damaging effect on the economy, on the social structure and on host communities. Inside Syria, protecting civilians is paramount. The rise in the level of sectarian and sexual violence and ongoing human rights abuses are a major concern.”
9. Wide shot, Amos seen on monitor
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Valerie Amos, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator and head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“We had an appeal for the first month of the year for 1.5 billion, we then revised that appeal. This is for Syria and for neighbouring countries to a total of 4.4 billion dollars that we were looking for the entire year and if you took away what we had requested at the time, against that 4.4 billion, we were left with 3.3 billion.”
11. Med shot, reporters
12. Wide shot, end of press conference
The United Nations humanitarian chief today (6 September) reiterated the Organization’s commitment to continue its relief operations inside Syria, as well as in neighbouring countries, adding that protecting civilians is paramount amid the spiralling violence.
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos told reporters in New York in a teleconference from Beirut, Lebanon that “there is a serious commitment to continuing with our operations” even in the event of foreign military action.
Amos, who is just back from a visit to Syria, pointed out that “a majority of our staff operating inside Syria are themselves Syrians, so they want to continue to work for the good of Syrians and to improve the situation of Syrians on the ground, but at the same time, they are also mindful of the impact that any possible military action might have on themselves and their families.”
The UN currently has some 4,500 staff in Syria working with non-governmental and community organizations to help people who need it the most in both Government and opposition-controlled areas.
More than one third of Syrians urgently need humanitarian aid but the crisis is affecting everyone, she said, as the currency has significantly depreciated and essential infrastructure has been destroyed, including health facilities.
“Inside Syria” she said, “protecting civilians is paramount” as “the rise in the level of sectarian and sexual violence and ongoing human rights abuses are a major concern.”
She also noted the “very damaging effect” the refugee crisis is having on Lebanon and other countries surrounding Syria.
Amos highlighted the scale of the humanitarian operation. She said the revised appeal for Syria and for neighbouring countries comes to a total of 4.4 billion dollars.
During her visit in Syria, Amos met with members of the Government and humanitarian partners, with whom she discussed ways to improve aid operations.
Since fighting began in March 2011 between the Syrian Government and opposition groups seeking to oust President Bashar Al-Assad as many as 100,000 people have been killed, more than 2 million have fled to neighbouring countries and a further 4 million have been internally displaced. In addition, at least 6.8 million Syrian require urgent humanitarian assistance, half of whom are children.
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