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STORY: UN / LEBANON UNDP INTERVIEW
TRT: 04:55
SOURCE: UN NEWS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: SEE SHOTLIST FOR DETAILS
FILE - UNDP - FEBRUARY 2025, TYRE AREA, SOUTH LEBANON
1. Various shots, damaged and destroyed shops in the Tyre area
08 APRIL 2026, BEIRUT, LEBANON
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Blerta Aliko, Resident Representative in Lebanon, UNDP:
“The situation is very bleak, and I wish I were more optimistic. But considering what, actually when the news came out, we were all contemplating, ‘does it include Lebanon? Does it include Lebanon?’ I'm afraid that we are not as optimistic as we would have hoped in the early hours in the morning.”
FILE - UNDP - FEBRUARY 2025, TYRE AREA, SOUTH LEBANON
3. Various shots, street scenes in Tyre showing the surrounding area
4. Various shots, closed and damaged commercial shops
08 APRIL 2026, BEIRUT, LEBANON
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Blerta Aliko, Resident Representative in Lebanon, UNDP:
“And I don't want to put dramatic tones to it, but this is the reality that Lebanon and Lebanese are dealing with at the moment, with a very fragile economy, a very fragile and exhausted society, a very fragile overall system of reconciliation and how we bring the system and the country back to its feet, and for a very optimistic moment that we had - the government and the president, where the political blockage was really finally overcome - then we are facing this other big escalation of hostilities where we don't have visibility at the end day, or when is the ceasefire coming to play. So, it's a compounded crisis. It's very hard for everyone that is living in Lebanon these days, but more importantly for the displaced, which are in the streets, which are in the schools and in the shelters, wherever they can cope with at the moment.”
FILE - UNDP - 12 NOVEMBER 2024, QALAMOUN PUBLIC BOYS' SCHOOL, NORTH LEBANON
6. Various shots, at the Qalamoun Public Boys' School being used as a temporary shelter for displaced families
7. Various shots, displaced families inside the school
08 APRIL 2026, BEIRUT, LEBANON
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Blerta Aliko, Resident Representative in Lebanon, UNDP:
“Sorry, there is a bomb here happening just now. So, we are…I got to be distracted. Maybe it's a sonic bomb sight. Yes, it’s a sonic bomb. Oh my God, there are four of them. Five. Six. Sorry, it’s a carpet bombing. We have an emergency; I have to leave.”
FILE - UNDP - FEBRUARY 2025, TYRE AREA, SOUTH LEBANON
9. Various shots, damaged commercial buildings in Tyre
10. Various shots, rubble from destroyed homes piled in the area
08 APRIL 2026, BEIRUT, LEBANON
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Blerta Aliko, Resident Representative in Lebanon, UNDP:
“We are all safe and all colleagues are accounted for. So, majority of the office - our colleagues in the office are reported safe. We are in the basement of the UN house here in Beirut. And the rest of colleagues who are working from home have also reported safe. The situation is very critical since we last spoke - when we spoke, there were nine strikes that I was hearing, and then more than 40 in Beirut and more than hundreds across the country. And so far, the Red Cross Director-General has confirmed that there are more than 300 casualties of lives. So, we don't have good news. It seems like the strikes will continue during the day and the night. So, let's see where this madness takes us today.”
FILE - UNDP - FEBRUARY 2025, TYRE AREA, SOUTH LEBANON
12. Various shots, residents walking through the area surrounded by destruction
13. Various shots, a damaged car parked on the side of the street
14. Various shots, a street in Tyre showing damaged buildings, closed shops and signs of destruction
08 APRIL 2026, BEIRUT, LEBANON
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Blerta Aliko, Resident Representative in Lebanon, UNDP:
“I can tell you very frankly that 50 percent of the development program of UNDP is suspended. We have access issues. We cannot go in areas where they need us the most, where we need to rehabilitate maybe solar panels on the top of a roof of a union of principalities for that to work, or where we have to put solar panels to water pump for the entire village to access water. We stopped the work on Tirba station where 120,000 people are supposed by June to have access to fresh water, which was a station destroyed during the prior escalation in November 2024. So, this is the reality. So, we want access. We want access, and we want to be able then to operate as UNDP and as partners that are working with UNDP in full safety.”
FILE - UNDP - 12 NOVEMBER 2024, DEIR EL AHMAR, AKKAR, LEBANON
16. Various shots of members of a Lebanese family that is hosting a displaced family from south Lebanon inside their house in the far north of Akkar
UNDP Resident Representative in Lebanon Blerta Aliko told UN News the situation was "very bleak," describing a country burdened by a fragile economy, an exhausted society, and a political system still struggling to recover, just as a new escalation of hostilities has dashed hopes raised by the recent formation of a government.
Speaking from Beirut, Aliko was forced to interrupt the interview as a wave of strikes hit the city. She counted at least six impacts before announcing she had to leave due to what she described as carpet bombing. She later confirmed all UN staff were safe, sheltering in the basement of the UN house, while colleagues working from home also reported in safe. She said the Red Cross Director-General had by then confirmed more than 300 casualties, with strikes continuing across Beirut and hundreds more reported nationwide.
Aliko said 50 percent of UNDP's development programme in Lebanon is currently suspended due to access constraints, with teams unable to reach communities most in need. Among the projects halted is rehabilitation work on the Tirba station, which was destroyed in the November 2024 escalation and was set to restore fresh water access for 120,000 people by June.
"We want access," she said. "We want to be able to operate as UNDP and as partners that are working with UNDP in full safety."
