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STORY: UN / MELISSA HURRICANE RESPONSE
TRT : 4 :34
SOURCE : UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS : PLEASE CREDIT WFP FOOTAGE ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 11 DECEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
11 DECEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Lola Castro, World Food Program's Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Region:
“What we really wanted to make clear today is that despite we have done a lot of work in emergency preparedness, in messaging, 3.5 million people received messages in Haiti saying that the storm and the rains will be coming. And also we managed as well World Food Programs to even distribute in advance cash transfers to over 50,000 people to be able for them to prepare themselves for this storm. Still, these people that suffer these shocks one after another.”
4. Wide shot, press briefing room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Lola Castro, World Food Program's Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Region:
“And what we are trying to do now, after reaching over 725,000 people in the four affected countries, most affected countries in the region, World Food Program we are trying now to really work on the recovery and rehabilitation through a number of tools. Homegrown, school feeding; working with the governments on social protection systems that register everybody who is affected by these shocks. But what is very clear in Haiti and in the whole region is that we need to invest much more, as we have done this time on anticipatory action. We did this time managed to do cash transfers, to send messages, to move the food from eastern Cuba to western Cuba and other non-food items before the storm strike, and then to help the people in immediate hours of the aftermath of the storm. “
6. Wide shot, press briefing room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Lola Castro, World Food Program's Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Region:
“So 90 percent of Port-au-Prince is occupied by gangs and part of the country. Like Artibonite and other places, other provinces also occupied by gangs. So this makes it very, very difficult to move by road many times. But we have an excellent UN security and access teams that negotiates the access of humanitarian assets, not only food but also water, medication, other needs that the population has. It is extremely important to understand that we follow all humanitarian principles and we basically are targeting very vulnerable, affected populations.”
8. Wide shot, press briefing room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Lola Castro, World Food Program's Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Region:
“And we ensure that that food reaches the people with our teams and with the NGOs and the civil society that ensure that the food and the non-food items also for other UN agencies reaches the people. We have monitors on the ground, we have presence on the ground and we confirm this happens. Obviously, it's extremely difficult. It's very dangerous. Our teams require it many times to load the trucks and to come back to the warehouses. Many times they go out and they come back just to ensure that they have adequate access. So it's still very complicated and it's not getting better unfortunately.”
10. Wide shot, press briefing room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Lola Castro, World Food Program's Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Region:
“So at this moment the situation is very, very delicate in Jamaica, in all the whole western Jamaica, we have been trying to work together with the government in both a mix of in-kind distributions, but also moving all these people into the social protection system of the government so that they can receive cash transfers if possible before Christmas. So they can as the markets are restarting already, they can go and buy what they need to restart their lives and livelihoods.”
12. Wide shot, press briefing room
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Lola Castro, World Food Program's Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Region:
“So there is quite a big challenge. And also access roads and infrastructure has been heavily damaged in Cuba, including the electricity that is barely working in this area while the government is trying to restart. So initially we started with around 185,000 people receiving the first days in the shelters, and almost 800,000 people were moved to shelters in Cuba, so there was no loss of life, which is very fortunate. The preparedness works. They are very well on that. And 185,000 people receive immediate food now.”
FILE – WFP - 31 OCTOBER 2025, ST ELIZABETH, JAMAICA
14. Various shots, aerial views, destruction
01 NOVEMBER 2025, KINGSTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, JAMAICA
15. Various shots, arrival of WFP Food Boxes at Kingston international Airport
02 NOVEMBER 2025, SANTA CRUZ, JAMAICA
16. Various shots, WFP-contracted trucks arriving in St. Elizabeth Parish with food boxes at a local high school where locals who have lost their homes shelter at night
17. Various shots, WFP Food Distribution
World Food Programme (WFP) is working on the recovery and rehabilitation with countries in the Caribbean after Hurricane Melissa, urging investing more on anticipatory actions to climate shocks, a WFP senior official said.
WFP's Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Region, Lola Castro, briefed reporters from Port au Prince, Haiti today (11 Dec) via video link.
On Haiti, Castro said that the Programme managed to distribute in advance cash transfers to over 50,000 people to prepare for the storm.
On the overall situation in the region, the Reginal Director said, “What we are trying to do now, after reaching over 725,000 people in the four affected countries, most affected countries in the region, World Food Program we are trying now to really work on the recovery and rehabilitation through a number of tools. Homegrown, school feeding; working with the governments on social protection systems that register everybody who is affected by these shocks.”
She reiterated the importance of investing more on anticipatory action. Castro said that the Programme this time managed to do cash transfers, to send messages, to move the food from eastern Cuba to western Cuba and other non-food items before the storm strike, and then to help the people in immediate hours of the aftermath of the storm.
Asked about humanitarian access in Haiti, Castro said that 90 percent of Port-au-Prince is occupied by gangs – making it “very, very difficult” to move by road.
“But we have an excellent UN security and access teams that negotiates the access of humanitarian assets, not only food but also water, medication, other needs that the population has,” she added.
The Regional Director reiterated, “It is extremely important to understand that we follow all humanitarian principles, and we basically are targeting very vulnerable, affected populations.”
Castro also said, “We ensure that that food reaches the people with our teams and with the NGOs and the civil society that ensure that the food and the non-food items also for other UN agencies reaches the people.”
She explained, “We have monitors on the ground, we have presence on the ground, and we confirm this happens,” adding that it's “extremely difficult. It's very dangerous.”
The Regional Director also said the access in Haiti is “very complicated and it's not getting better unfortunately.”
Moving onto Jamaica, Castro said that the situation is “very, very delicate.”
She said, “we have been trying to work together with the government in both a mix of in-kind distributions, but also moving all these people into the social protection system of the government so that they can receive cash transfers if possible before Christmas. So they can as the markets are restarting already, they can go and buy what they need to restart their lives and livelihoods.”
On Cuba, the WPF official said, “there is quite a big challenge. And also access roads and infrastructure has been heavily damaged in Cuba, including the electricity that is barely working in this area while the government is trying to restart.”
She added, “initially we started with around 185,000 people receiving the first days in the shelters, and almost 800,000 people were moved to shelters in Cuba, so there was no loss of life, which is very fortunate. The preparedness works. They are very well on that. And 185,000 people receive immediate food now.”
