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STORY: GENEVA / UNICEF CHILDREN UKRAINE
TRT: 3:05
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 7 APRIL 2017 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, exterior, Palais des Nations
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Giovanna Barberis, UNICEF Representative in Ukraine:
“We have as of today 1 million children in need of humanitarian aid, and this number has doubled basically compared to last year. We still have officially 220, 000 children internally displaced, children that were forced to leave their homes and communities because of violence”.
4. Close up, cell phone
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Giovanna Barberis, UNICEF Representative Ukraine:
“We are very, very concerned with the situation of children that are living along the contact lines, so very close to the fighting and shelling. These are children that are surviving death, that are living constantly with the sound of shelling, that have witnessed death, some children have even witnessed death of their loved ones. So, we are talking about around 200, 000 children that are living within the 50 kilometers area along the contact line, it is the contact line that divides the government to non-government controlled areas”.
6. Medium shot, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Giovanna Barberis, UNICEF Representative Ukraine:
“Parents, teachers, school directors and psychologists describe striking behavior changes among children as young as three years old. Children are very anxious, they wet their beds, they have nightmares, they - in some cases - they act quite aggressively and often withdraw from their family and friends. Yet, you have some of the children that are not seeking safety any longer in bomb shelters, because they think this is normal now”.
8. Close up, journalists
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Giovanna Barberis, UNICEF Representative Ukraine:
“The prolonged emotional stress of living in constant fear and uncertainty due to the violent conflict can cause, as we all know, significant harm to a child’s physical and mental well-being. We are, of course, working hard with the local organizations, with the government, some government institutions and partners to provide this support, psychosocial support, to vulnerable children and particularly to those 200, 000 that are living in conflict affected areas along the contact line. But this is unfortunately a support that is not appropriate”.
10. Medium shot, laptops
UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said they are “very, very concerned” for some 200,000 children living near the “contact-line” that divides Government-controlled and armed group-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine and who are severely affected by the three-year-long violent conflict.
Speaking to reporters Friday (7 Apr( in Geneva, UNICEF Representative in Ukraine Giovanna Barberis said that “we have, as of today, one million children in need of humanitarian aid, and this number has doubled basically compared to last year. We still have officially 220,000 children internally displaced, children that were forced to leave their homes and communities because of violence”.
UNICEF estimates that one in four children within 15 kilometres of each side of the 500-kilometre line of separation between Ukrainian Government forces and separatist forces require urgent and sustained psychosocial support to address the trauma of living through years of violence.
Barberis said "we are very, very concerned with the situation of children that are living along the contact lines, so very close to the fighting and shelling. These are children that are surviving death, that are living constantly with the sound of shelling, that have witnessed death, some children have even witnessed death of their loved ones. So, we are talking about around 200, 000 children that are living within the 15 kilometers area along the contact line, it is the contact line that divides the government to non-government controlled areas.”
According to UNICEF, seven schools were damaged during the most recent escalation of violence in February and March 2017, and more than 740 schools – one in five in eastern Ukraine – have been damaged or destroyed since the conflict began in 2014.
UNICEF Representative said “parents, teachers, school directors and psychologists describe striking behavior changes among children as young as three years old.”
She said that “children are very anxious, they wet their beds, they have nightmares, they - in some cases - they act quite aggressively and often withdraw from their family and friends. Yet, you have some of the children that are not seeking safety any longer in bomb shelters, because they think this is normal now”.
UNICEF is appealing for USD 31.2 million to support children and families affected by the conflict in eastern Ukraine. So far UNICEF has received less than a third of its funding requirements and child protection is critically underfunded.
Barberis said “the prolonged emotional stress of living in constant fear and uncertainty due to the violent conflict can cause, as we all know, significant harm to a child’s physical and mental well-being”.
She added that “we are of course working hard with the local organizations, with the government, some government institutions and partners to provide this support, psychosocial support, to vulnerable children and particularly to those 200, 000 that are living in conflict affected areas along the contact line. But this is unfortunately a support that is not appropriate”.
The majority of the 200,000 children in need of sustained psychosocial support in eastern Ukraine are not receiving adequate care. Services are stretched and underfunded. Additional investments are required to meet these children’s needs.
