SOUTH SUDAN / WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL

Two South Sudanese teams lay aside their prosthetic limbs to take part in a wheelchair basketball game held as part of activities to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. UNMISS

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:11
• Production Date: 5 December 2013
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS MINE ACTION CENTRE; UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN SOUTH SUDAN – UNMISS
• Subject Topical: PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
• Geographic Subject: SOUTH SUDAN
• MAMS Id: U131205g

Description

STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL
TRT: 2:11
SOURCE: UNMISS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS

DATELINE: 3 DECEMBER 2013, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN

Shotlist

1.Med shot, tracking, artificial limbs
2. Close up, man on wheelchair
3. Various shots of wheelchair basketball game and audience
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Gabriel Nyambuki, South Sudan Basketball Association Manager:
“They should not be neglected nor discriminated in the society; they are also part of the society.”
16. Various shots, basketball game
17. SOUNDBITE, (English) Hilde F. Johnson, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General:
“We have cleared thousands and thousands of kilometers, lots of land and also unexploded ordinance. There are many things, not only land mines that are exploding on people. Not all the areas are cleared yet, and we are systematically moving with partners to clear the rest. Hopefully not too far from now the whole of South Sudan will be clean and cleared from those terrible vices which actually limbs and kills people.”
18. Wide shot, pan right, game.

Storyline

Two South Sudanese teams lay aside their prosthetic limbs to take part in a wheelchair basketball game held as part of activities to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

The match, which was played on Tuesday (3 December) - a day recognized by the United Nations as the International Day for Persons with Disabilities - was an opportunity to support the disabled.

One of the objectives of the match, played under the theme “Break barriers, open doors for an inclusive society for all” was to raise awareness on issues surrounding disability and disabled persons in South Sudan, including many victims of landmine incidents and the challenges they face.

“This will help to break the barriers in South Sudan and the rest of the world,” said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General Hilde F. Johnson, “South Sudan still has too many disabled people who need to be supported.”

A dozen players, including victims of landmine incidents, participated in the match, organized by the South Sudan Wheelchair Basketball Association in collaboration with UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and Handicap International

According to the basketball association manager many of the players are victims of war, including landmines, or of polio and road accidents, and they and others should not be discriminated on no matter what caused the disability, as they are part of the community.

“They should not be neglected nor discriminated in the society; they are also part of the society.” – he adds.

Talking to media after the game, Johnson said that the United Nations has cleared thousands of kilometers of land since 2005 but more needs to be done to clean and clear area of land infested by landmines during the war.

“We have cleared thousands and thousands of kilometer s, lots of land and also unexploded ordinance. There are many things, not only land mines that are exploding on people. Not all the areas are cleared yet, and we are systematically moving with partners to clear the rest. Hopefully not too far from now the whole of South Sudan will be clean and cleared from those terrible vices which actually limbs and kills people.” – says Johnson..

In an UNMISS press release ahead of the game, Johnson said exclusion of the disabled and physically impaired from society has damaging consequences to the lives of persons with disabilities and to the progress of communities.