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UNEP / YAYA TOURÉ
STORY: UNEP / YAYA TOURÉ
TRT: 1.40
SOURCE: UNEP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ FRENCH
DATELINE: 29 OCTOBER 2013, NAIROBI, KENYA / FILE
1. Med shot, dais
2. Med shot, reporters
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director:
“It is today for us a very special privilege because, not only in terms of Yaya Touré the star of football, Yaya Touré the, if you want, leader for so many young people in terms of their visions, their dreams. To have him come all the way to Nairobi Kenya, to accept this designation as a UNEP Goodwill Ambassador, is something that we are deeply grateful to you.”
4. Med shot, Steiner and Touré shake hands and hold Goodwill Ambassador document
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Yaya Touré, Football Player and UNEP Goodwill Ambassador:
“I want to do something different, you know, something different from the sport. Because for me it was a main target to try to be involved in something out of the football, you know. Especially in my country, but also in the continent, because I consider myself like a proper African.”
6. Wide shot, Steiner and Touré playing football
7. SOUNDBITE (French) Yaya Touré, Football Player and UNEP Goodwill Ambassador:
“I am from Côte d'Ivoire and the elephant is like a symbol of my country, it is very important for us, and it was a very good reason for me to join this programme.”
FILE - MAY 2013, SAMBURU NATIONAL RESERVE, KENYA
8. Various shots, elephants in the wild
9. Various shots, slaughtered elephant carcass
International football star Yaya Touré today (29 October) joined the roster of Goodwill Ambassadors for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), pledging to combat the illegal ivory trade that sees thousands of African elephants slaughtered each year.
UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner welcomed Touré to the UNEP family and said he was “a leader for so many young people in terms of their visions, their dreams.”
Steiner said the agency was honoured that Touré, African Footballer of the Year in 2011 and 2012 and an inspirational figure for Manchester City and his national side Côte d'Ivoire, travelled to the headquarters of UNEP in Nairobi, Kenya, a country that is facing a massive spike in poaching, to accept his nomination.
In his new role, Touré will help generate public awareness and understanding of the illicit trade in ivory, including the poaching of animals.
Côte d'Ivoire’s national team is named ‘The Elephants’. Yet in that country alone, there may be as few as 800 individual elephants left.
Touré said he wanted to be “involved in something out of the football” and represent not only his country, “but also in the continent, because I consider myself like a proper African.”
Increased poaching and loss of habitats are decimating African elephant populations, especially in Central African countries, according to a report released earlier this year at a meeting of the UN-backed Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Touré said “the elephant is like a symbol of my country, it is very important for us, and it was a very good reason for me to join this programme.”
Touré has already demonstrated his commitment to tackling this issue. In September this year, he and other players at a World Cup qualifier between Côte d'Ivoire and Morocco held up slogans to raise awareness of the killings of elephants and other wildlife.
The UN estimates that over 17,000 elephants were illegally killed in monitored sites in 2011 alone. Overall figures may be much higher, UNEP noted in a news release.
The international community is looking at measures to address the crisis, including collaborative action to combat the illegal trade in wildlife and timber. This would include improved law enforcement, better international collaboration, and action to reduce ivory demand, among other measures.
The illegal ivory trade has tripled since 1998, according to the report. Criminal networks are responsible for the illegal trafficking of ivory between Africa and Asia, and large-scale seizures of ivory destined for Asia have more than doubled since 2009 and reached an all-time high in 2011.
UNEP said that the international community is looking at measures to address the crisis, including improved law-enforcement across the entire illegal ivory supply chain and training of enforcement officers in the use of tracking, intelligence networks and innovative techniques, such as forensic analysis.
Strengthened national legislative networks, better international collaboration across range States, transit countries and consumer markets, as well as action to fight collusive corruption, identifying syndicates and reducing demand are also vital, the agency noted.
UNEP’s roster of Goodwill Ambassadors includes renowned personalities such as Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen, United States actor Don Cheadle, Chinese actress Li Binging, French photographer Yann Arthus Bertrand and Indian economist Pavan Sukhdev, all of whom help generate public awareness and understanding of environmental causes.
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