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STORY: GENEVA / YEMEN CONFERENCE CLOSING
TRT: 2:30
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 25 APRIL 2017, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Exterior, Palais des Nations
2. Wide shot, press stakeout
3. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“We have asked for 2,1 billion dollars to respond to the humanitarian needs of Yemen until the end of 2017. In the pledging conference we have been able to achieve more than half of that amount. What is taken into account is the effect that we are only in April represents a very encouraging signal that indeed we will be able to achieve our target by the end of the year.”
4. Med shot, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Now what absolute matters is the possibility to make sure that the amount that was raised is translated into effective support to the people of Yemen and that is why in the closing session I said that we basically need three things: Access, access and access.“
6. Wide shot, press stakeout
7. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The Yemeni conflict is rather a remote one if you compare it with the Syrian conflict that is every day in the media in which people feel that there is a very direct link with our global security because all the connections between that conflict and the global threat of terrorism. If one takes into account that Yemen is a relatively forgotten crisis compared to with others, I think that this pledging conference represents a remarkable recognition by the international community of the needs to support Yemeni people.”
8. Med shot, cameramen
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Margret Wallstrom, Foreign Minister, Sweden:
“We think that this is a good result and we thank everybody that has participated and contributed in the way you have. And I think also – you know I put the heart on - I think it was with a heart that everybody spoke today and this is important not to forget.”
10. Pan, media representatives
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Didier Burkhalter, Foreign Minister, Switzerland:
“We need more access, more respect and also more peace. More access across the battle lines, more respect of international humanitarian law and above all, protecting the rights of children and more peace. If there is a cessation of hostilities and it can be the first step for resuming the peace talks, and as for Switzerland we are ready anytime to host peace talks.”
12. Wide shot, media representatives
13. Wide shot, press stake out
14. Close up, cameraman
15. Med shot, journalists
At the end of a one-day pledging conference for the humanitarian crisis in Yemen on Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced that donor countries pledged nearly USD 1.1 billion -- a little more than half the amount needed -- to help scale up life-saving aid to millions of people in need.
Speaking today (25 Apr) to reporters in Geneva, he said “We have asked for 2,1 billion dollars to respond to the humanitarian needs of Yemen until the end of 2017. In the pledging conference we have been able to achieve more than half of that amount. What is taken into account is the effect that we are only in April which represents a very encouraging signal that indeed we will be able to achieve our target by the end of the year.”
Yemen is the world largest humanitarian crisis with close to 19 million people – two thirds of the population – in need of humanitarian assistance. The pledging conference at the United Nations in Geneva, co-hosted by Switzerland and Sweden, aimed to raise funds for the relief efforts of the Yemeni population.
Guterres said “now what absolute matters is the possibility to make sure that the amount that was raised is translated into effective support to the people of Yemen and that is why in the closing session I said that we basically need three things: Access, access and access.“
The complex emergency in Yemen is man-made and has deteriorated significantly since hostilities between armed groups loyal to the Government ant Houthi militias escalated in March 2015. More than 10 million extremely vulnerable Yemenis require immediate assistance, according to UN estimates.
Guterres also said, “If one takes into account that Yemen is a relatively forgotten crisis compared to with others, I think that this pledging conference represents a remarkable recognition by the international community of the needs to support Yemeni people.”
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström, a co-host of the conference together with Switzerland, told reporters, “We think that this is a good result and we thank everybody that has participated and contributed in the way you have." Pointing to a read heart pin that she wore on her dress, Wallström said, "You know, I put the heart on - I think it was with a heart that everybody spoke today, and this is important not to forget.”
The two-year long conflict in Yemen has already 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.
Didier Burkhalter, the Swiss Foreign Minister, emphasized the need for "more access, more respect and also more peace."
He said, "More access across the battle lines, more respect of international humanitarian law and above all, protecting the rights of children and more peace." He added, "If there is a cessation of hostilities and it can be the first step for resuming the peace talks, and as for Switzerland we are ready anytime to host peace talks.”
