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STORY: GENEVA / LEBANON UNFPA UNICEF INTERVIEW
TRT: 4:13
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS
DATELINE: 30 AND 31 OCTOBER 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
FILE – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations in Geneva
31 OCTOBER 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Pamela Di Camillo, UNFPA Lebanon Representative a.i:
“The population is on the move. It's very difficult to reach all the women everywhere. So, more efforts needs to be done. The response needs to be scaled up, as we speak today, also there have been intensive strikes on Baalbek. We know that all the population is on the move, and we expect among them to be many pregnant women as well that they need to reach safely a shelter where they can get information, or where they can safely deliver.”
FILE – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
3. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations in Geneva
31 OCTOBER 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Pamela Di Camillo, UNFPA Lebanon Representative a.i:
“Our partners are basically distributing in the shelters information, including leaflets, including cards of those offline numbers they can call, if there are pregnant women that they need medical attention. And this is also the way that we are basically reaching out more pregnant women. And we work very closely as well with the Ministries. The schools are made available for Ministry of Education. The Government of Lebanon is leading the response, and we make sure that the coordination mechanism, the line ministers also know of those hotlines, and they can disseminate so that the women can call and get help. There is also an online up and running from Ministry of Health. They can call directly the Ministry and get them coverage for us from us for the delivery.”
FILE – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
5. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations in Geneva
31 OCTOBER 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Pamela Di Camillo, UNFPA Lebanon Representative a.i:
“Dignity kits are packs full of hygiene items. Women and girls don't stop menstruating during conflict. They will continue to menstruate, and they need those sanitary items to manage their menstruation. So those dignity kits are bags full of sanitary pads. So, they also have a flashlight, this very helpful for the women and girls to reach the toilets at night when they need to and there are leaflets inside about key messages about their mental health key messages, who they can call to seek help if they are survivor of gender-based violence, or if they need to speak with someone. So, we arrive at the shelter with those kits, and it's also a good entry point, to speak with the women and to tell them we are here, and we are here to help. And then we do have specialized consular case manager for cases of violence.”
FILE – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
7. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations in Geneva
30 OCTOBER 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
8. SOUNDBITE (French) Jean-Jacques Simon, UNICEF Spokesperson:
“We estimate that 400,000 children fled the fighting and became displaced with their families, but more than 170 lost their lives, more than 1,000 were injured, so it's extremely worrying and it's not as if there is a solution in sight at the moment, so it continues, and therefore it puts a lot of psychological pressure on the children, because many of them have lost loved ones have seen their homes destroyed, no longer have access to education.”
FILE – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
9. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations in Geneva
30 OCTOBER 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
10. SOUNDBITE (French) Jean-Jacques Simon, UNICEF Spokesperson:
“So it is absolutely necessary that we bring these supports to the children, just as we work on from a nutritional point of view, to bring them supplements because it is extremely important that the children can maintain this health can maintain this nutrition, even if they are displaced, even if they are affected from a psychological point of view. And finally, well, there is the whole education aspect. We are working with the Ministry of Education to find a solution to regain a form of stability, resume a form of education to ensure that children can return to school.”
FILE – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
11. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations in Geneva
30 OCTOBER 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
12. SOUNDBITE (French) Jean-Jacques Simon, UNICEF Spokesperson:
“There are approximately a fifth of the population of Lebanon, who are on the move, who have had to find refuge in especially the shelters which have been installed in public spaces such as the country's public schools 60 percent of the country's public schools are occupied by displaced people that the government installed to protect them and to provide them with a minimum of services.”
FILE – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
13. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations in Geneva
UNFPA Representative in Lebanon Pamela Di Camillo and UNICEF Spokesperson Jean-Jacques Simon spoke about the growing dangers facing children and pregnant women in Lebanon due to the conflict.
Speaking to UN News via a video link, UNFPA Representative in Lebanon Pamela Di Camillo recalled her recent visits to shelters in Beirut and in Mount Lebanon. She described the displaced people living in crowded space with no privacy. And it is of high concern the low number of bathroom and toilet facilities.
Di Camillo also said “The population is on the move. It's very difficult to reach all the women everywhere,” emphasizing that more efforts need to be done.
“The response needs to be scaled up, as we speak today, also there have been intensive strikes on Baalbek. We know that all the population is on the move, and we expect among them to be many pregnant women as well that they need to reach safely a shelter where they can get information, or where they can safely deliver,” she added.
Explaining how UNFPA provide service to pregnant women, the Representative in Lebanon said, “Our partners are basically distributing in the shelters information, including leaflets, including cards of those offline numbers they can call, if there are pregnant women that they need medical attention.”
She added, “we work very closely as well with the Ministries. The schools are made available for Ministry of Education. The Government of Lebanon is leading the response, and we make sure that the coordination mechanism, the line ministers also know of those hotlines, and they can disseminate so that the women can call and get help. There is also an online up and running from Ministry of Health. They can call directly the Ministry and get them coverage for us from us for the delivery.”
Di Camillo added that UNFPA has been providing dignity kits to women and girls in the shelter, which are packs full of hygiene items.
She said, Women and girls don't stop menstruating during conflict. They will continue to menstruate, and they need those sanitary items to manage their menstruation.”
The dignity kits are bags full of sanitary pads, as well as a flashlight, “this very helpful for the women and girls to reach the toilets at night when they need to,” Di Camillo explained, adding that leaflets about mental health and helpline for survivor of gender-based violence are also included.
“We arrive at the shelter with those kits, and it's also a good entry point, to speak with the women and to tell them we are here, and we are here to help. And then we do have specialized consular case manager for cases of violence,” the UNFPA Representative stressed.
Also via video link, UNICEF Spokesperson Jean-Jacques Simon spoke about the “extremely worrying” situation for children in Lebanon, where it is estimated that “400,000 children fled the fighting and became displaced with their families, but more than 170 lost their lives, more than 1,000 were injured.”
He also highlighted the continuous conflict has put a lot of psychological pressure on the children, “because many of them have lost loved ones have seen their homes destroyed, no longer have access to education.”
Simon reiterated the absolute necessity to bring supports to the children. Speaking from a nutritional point of view, he said that it is important to bring nutrition so they can maintain health, even if they are displaced, even if they are affected from a psychological point of view.
The UNICEF Spokesperson also said that the agency is working with the Ministry of Education to “find a solution to regain a form of stability, resume a form of education to ensure that children can return to school.”
Simon said, “There are approximately a fifth of the population of Lebanon, who are on the move, who have had to find refuge in especially the shelters which have been installed in public spaces such as the country's public schools, 60 percent of the country's public schools are occupied by displaced people that the government installed to protect them and to provide them with a minimum of services.”
