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STORY: UN / HOLMES
TRT: 2.34
SOURCE: UNTV / MONUC
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 10 MAY 2010, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
RECENT 2010, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
10 MAY 2010, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, John Holmes at microphone
RECENT 2010, NEW YORK CITY
3. Cutaway, hands taking notes
10 MAY 2010, NEW YORK CITY
4. SOUNDBITE (English) John Holmes, United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“At the moment MONUC is extremely important for the protection of civilians but also for the protection of humanitarian workers and provision of security in general and that is very important from the humanitarian point of view that MONUC should stay there and lessen until there is some type of alternative state presence, including the presence if an appropriate, organized, and disciplined, and effective security force. Those conditions are not there at the moment, and so we need to make sure those kind of objectives are being fulfilled before MONUC withdraws.”
RECENT 2010, NEW YORK CITY
5. Cutaway, hands taking notes
10 MAY 2010, NEW YORK CITY
6. SOUNDBITE (English) John Holmes, United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“Well, the risk obviously is that if the drawdown proceeds as its been discussed at the moment, in other worlds, rather quickly down to a relatively small number then MINURCAT not have either the mandate or the capacity to protect civilians in its area of operations or indeed protect humanitarian workers, except perhaps in the context of evacuation in the event of a lateral physical attack which puts humanitarian workers in jeopardy, and obviously we regret that very much, we would had hope that MINURCAT would had been able to stay longer, because of the benefits it was providing for the humanitarian community but that’s a discussion between the Security Council and the Chadian authorities which is not yet completed. We will have to adapt to the situation such as it is after the end of those negotiations and when the mandate is renewed in whatever form it is renewed and try and maintain our operation as best we can. But it will be more difficult, more costly and we may not be able to operate in some areas at all.”
RECENT 2010, NEW YORK CITY
7. Cutaway, hands taking notes
10 MAY 2010, NEW YORK CITY
8. SOUNDBITE (English) John Holmes, United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“MONUC is providing what support it can to the FARDC and of course they’re asking Ugandan troops operating in the area as well. But it is a very difficult task when they are so dispersed in small groups but they can cause so much damage. I think the answer has to lie in greater cooperation, greater intelligence provision to try and tackle these problems on the assumption that Kony will not be signing a peace agreement anytime soon.”
FILE - 30 APRIL 2010, MWENGA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
9. Various shots, mothers singing “there’s no Congo without women; there’s no Congo without mothers; they rape us, they bury us alive, but there’s no Congo without mothers.”
10. Wide Shot, John Holmes at the WFP distribution center
11. Various shots, Holmes at food distribution
John Holmes, the United Nations (UN) Emergency Relief Coordinator talked to reporters today (10 May) at the UN following his briefing to the Security Council on his latest trip to West Africa.
Commenting on a possible UN mission drawdown in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Holmes said that the mission in the country (MONUC) was extremely important for the protection of civilians, humanitarian workers and the provision of security in general. He added that it was also very important from the humanitarian point of view that MONUC stayed in the DRC until some alternative state presence, “including the presence of an appropriate, organized, and disciplined, and effective security force” was in place.
Commenting on consequences of the time table for the drawdown of MONUC on the UN Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) he said that the risk if the drawdown proceeded as discussed, MINURCAT will not have either the mandate or the capacity to protect civilians.
He added that he hoped that MINURCAT would have been able to stay longer, because of the benefits it was providing for the humanitarian community. He said that the discussion between the Security Council and the Chadian authorities on the mission has not been completed as of yet.
He added that after negotiations are finalized and the mandate renewed, the operation will be “more difficult, more costly and we may not be able to operate in some areas at all.”
When it came to dealing with the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) and ending their reign of terror, Holmes said that MONUC was providing what support it could to the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), and that he thought the answer laid in greater cooperation, and greater intelligence provision to try and tackle those problems.
