Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoGENEVA / YEMEN PLEDGING CONFERENCE
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: GENEVA / YEMEN PLEDGING CONFERENCE
TRT: 02:45
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / ENGLISH / FRENCH
DATELINE: 25 APRIL 2017, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
RECENT - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, Palais des Nations exterior
25 APRIL 2017, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Pan down, from ceiling Human Rights Room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“On average, a child under the age of five dies of preventable causes in Yemen every ten minutes. And this means fifty children in Yemen will die during today’s conference and all those deaths could have been prevented. Many of the children who survive will be affected by stunting and poor health for their entire lives. We are witnessing the starving and the crippling of an entire generation.”
4. Close up, photographer
5. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“We are here today to turn the tide of suffering and to create hope. The international community has the power and the means to end this crisis. A famine can be prevented if we act quickly and commit to funding crucial life-saving assistance, and if all parties fulfil their obligations under international humanitarian law.”
6. Medium shot, delegates
7. SOUNDBITE (French) Didier Burkhalter, Foreign Minister, Switzerland:
“We have to add a co-operative call directed to the parties in conflict to our financing effort. The humanitarian crisis is largely a human-made crisis and therefore it can be mitigated if all parties have the political will.”
8. Wide shot, Human Rights Room
9. SOUNDBITE (French) Didier Burkhalter, Foreign Minister, Switzerland:
"We call on all parties to the conflict to allow access to humanitarian aid along the lines of combat. The aid must reach those who need it most and must not be exploited.”
10. Close up, Delegate of Saudi Arabia
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Margret Wallstrom, Foreign Minister, Sweden:
“The international community has so far been slow in reacting to the enormous humanitarian needs in Yemen with only 15 percent of the humanitarian response plan funded. We can change that here today. Our combined support for the response plan will allow humanitarian operations in Yemen to reach millions of people in need regardless of their politics, religion and ethnicity or their geographical location. “
12. Med shot, António Guterres
13. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ahmed Obaid Mubarek Bin-Dagher, Prime Minister, Yemen:
“We also support the efforts of the United Nations and its humanitarian aid plan for 2017. There are millions who are waiting and in need of this. Some of them are writhing with hunger. We should work on raising a minimum of USD 2.1 billion in funds.”
14. Med shot, dais
15. Pan right, conference room
16. Med shot, delegates
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today (25 Apr) said the world was “witnessing the starving and the crippling of an entire generation” in Yemen and called on the international community to protect millions of lives by financing urgent humanitarian aid in the country.
The call was made at a pledging conference at the United Nations in Geneva, co-hosted by Switzerland and Sweden, which aims to raise USD 2.1 billion for relief efforts in Yemen. Guterres said the conflict in Yemen has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis as nearly two-thirds of the population, some 19 million people, were in need of emergency assistance. He noted that a child under five dies in the country of preventable causes every ten minutes on average which meant “fifty children in Yemen will die during today’s conference.” The Secretary-General stressed, “We are here today to turn the tide of suffering, and to create hope” adding that the international community has the power and the means to end the crisis.
Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter said humanitarian crisis in Yemen was “largely a human-made crisis and therefore it can be mitigated if all parties have the political will.” He called on the all parties to the conflict to allow access to humanitarian aid along the lines of combat and stressed that “aid must reach those who need it most and must not be exploited.”
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström said a political solution is the only way to reach sustainable peace and development in Yemen. She said the international community had been “slow in reacting to the enormous humanitarian needs in Yemen, with only 15 percent of the humanitarian response plan funded”, and called on delegates to “change that here today.”
Yemen’s Prime Minister Ahmed Obaid Mubarek Bin-Dagher said his government supported the UN’s humanitarian aid plan for his country as millions “are waiting and in need of” it and “some of them are writhing with hunger.” He said, “We should work on raising a minimum of USD 2.1 billion in funds.”
Saudi Arabia said it would provide an additional USD 150 million in addition to the USD 100 million it had provided since the beginning of 2017 and the bilateral humanitarian aid.
The two-year long conflict in Yemen has displaced more than 3.3 million people and resulted in a breakdown in public services. Access to health facilities and safe water is increasingly difficult, with an increased risk for the spread of communicable diseases.
