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STORY: UN / SOUTH SUDAN
TRT: 02:12
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 25 APRIL 2017, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
RECENT - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, UN headquarter
25 APRIL 2017, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Med shot, delegate
4. SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in South Sudan:
“I have no doubt of thousands of civilians would not be alive today if not for the presence of UNMISS. Now more than ever 12,000 UN Blue Helmets and 2,000 UN police officers are vital to protect civilians.”
5. Med shot, delegates
6. SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in South Sudan:
“Since the beginning of this year, 60,000 civilians each month have fled from the Equatorias to Uganda. Most unfortunately again are the farmers depopulating from what once was the breadbasket of South Sudan. It means that when they leave these areas they are no longer involved in the production of food. It is estimated by FAO that around 1,000 metric tons of locally produced food are lost as a result.”
7. Med shot, delegates
8. SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in South Sudan:
“Despite what appears to be attempts by the parties to achieve victory through military means, a political solution is the only way forward for South Sudan. Military offensives are fracturing groups and intensifying ethnical divisions to a degree that will hinder reconciliation. Regrettably, no party has shown interest in reviving the peace agreement.”
9. Med shot, delegates
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Nikki Haley, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United
Nations:
“It is obvious that our presidential statement now joins the long list of other statements and resolutions from this Council that have been ignored by the warring factions in South Sudan. We have shown patience, and our patience has been rewarded with continued fighting and deepening suffering of the South Sudanese people. We have shown faith that certain steps by the South Sudanese government would help end the fighting and lessen the humanitarian crisis, but the opposite has happened.”
11. Wide shot, Security Council
Briefing the Security Council for the first time since taking up the role, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in South Sudan, David Shearer, today said (25 Apr) that “thousands of civilians would not be alive today” if not for the presence of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS.)
Shearer said “now more than ever 12,000 UN Blue Helmets and 2,000 UN police officers are vital to protect civilians.”
The Special Representative noted that since July last year, the security, economic and humanitarian situation has worsened markedly and that virtually no part of the country is immune from conflict.
He pointed out that “since the beginning of this year, 60,000 civilians each month have fled from the Equatorias to Uganda.”
“Most unfortunately,” he added, farmers are depopulating “from what once was the breadbasket of South Sudan” and “are no longer involved in the production of food.”
Shearer said that “despite what appears to be attempts by the parties to achieve victory through military means, a political solution is the only way forward.”
He said “military offensives are fracturing groups and intensifying ethnical divisions to a degree that will hinder reconciliation” and “regrettably, no party has shown interest in reviving the peace agreement.”
In the face of this escalation, Shearer said that the UN Mission has increased the robustness of its protection activities, with more patrols to the most conflict-affected areas.
In her address to the Council, United States Ambassador Nikki Haley said “We have shown patience, and our patience has been rewarded with continued fighting and deepening suffering of the South Sudanese people. We have shown faith that certain steps by the South Sudanese government would help end the fighting and lessen the humanitarian crisis, but the opposite has happened.”
