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STORY: UN / HOLMES
TRT: 3.58
SOURCE: UNTV / UNMIS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 4 JUNE 2010, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
RECENT 2010, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
4 JUNE 2010, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, John Holmes sits down at press conference room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sir John Holmes, Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations:
“Our concerns in Eastern Chad are to make sure that we continue to give the assistance that the refugees and the IDPs need; that we do that without creating more than we absolutely can help a dependency syndrome if you like. Unfortunately there is not much prospect of the refugees able to go back to Darfur until there is a settlement there and that doesn’t look particularly close.”
4. Med shot, photographer
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sir John Holmes, Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations:
“There are obviously concerns on the part of the humanitarian community about security –there was an attack on an NGO, a bandit attack essentially I think just before I arrived there in Eastern Chad- and of course these concerns have been sharpened, if you like, now that the decision that MINURCAT should progressively withdraw over the next few months. Many of the humanitarian would’ve preferred that MINURCAT stay longer but that is now ‘water under the bridge’ we accept that we want to stay in these areas to continue the humanitarian work we’re doing because the need is very great; we accept that we need to adapt to the new situation and we want to see the government fulfil the commitments its made –at every level and including while I was there- publicly and privately that they will ensure the security, not only of the refugees, and the IDPs, and the local population but also of the humanitarian actors there on the ground.”
6. Cutaway, reporters
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Sir John Holmes, Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations:
“There is a second crisis in Chad at the moment which is part of the crisis along the Sahel belt in western and central Africa caused by the failure of the rains in late 2009, very much the same sort of crisis as I saw in Niger three weeks ago; and I was able to visit part of western Chad where the effects of this drought in terms of food and security of people, and malnutrition rates rising rapidly, but also the effects on animals, the herds -which are such a feature of life there- because of lack of fodder as well as lack of food, these are dramatic.”
8. Cutaway, press conference
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Sir John Holmes, Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations:
“In Southern Sudan we face a deteriorating humanitarian situation this year. Again wide spread food insecurity; 40 percent of the population are either severely or moderately food insecure at the moment because again of failure of rains, particularly last year but over successive years, exacerbated by the kind of violence that we’ve seen between different tribal groups in the last few months particularly with large numbers of people killed, more than seven hundred killed, ninety thousand people displaced and this is again disrupting trade, disrupting agricultural production leading to displacement and increasing the humanitarian needs in a dramatic way.”
FILE / 27 MAY 2010, KWACJOK, SUDAN
10. Wide shot, John Holmes arriving
11. Med shot, women and children
12. Close up, child breastfeeding
FILE / 27 MAY 2010, WAU, SUDAN
13. Med shot, women at a clinic
15. Med shot, John Holmes talking to group of women
16. Wide shot, group of women and children
17. Med shot, mother and child under a tree
Following his four-day mission to southern and western Sudan to address the chronic food shortages there, the United Nations (UN) Emergency Relief Coordinator briefed reporters today (4 June) on the situation in the impoverished country.
John Holmes also discussed the security concerns in Chad, where the long running humanitarian crisis has been affecting a quarter of a million Darfuri refugees in camps. In total, about 170 thousand internally displaced people (IDPs) are still in camps including fifty or sixty thousand refugees from the Central African Republic.
Although the situation with respect to the refugees and IDPs in the country has not changed overall, John Holmes said that he remained concerned about refugees and IDPs receiving the assistance they need without creating a “dependency syndrome.”
Although there were no present prospects for refugees to be able to return to Darfur from Chad until a settlement was reached, Holmes said that there were “decent prospects” for IDPs to return to their villages. But there is still the need to ensure that the security situation was right for that to occur.
Holmes emphasized that there were obvious concerns from the humanitarian community about security, and those concerns were exacerbated after recent attacks on NGOs. Holmes also noted that those concerns were also sharpened by the decision that the UN Mission in Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) should progressively withdraw over the next few months.
Holmes said that the humanitarian crisis in Eastern Chad was partly caused by the drought in late 2009. He added the drought caused not only widespread malnutrition amongst people but also had a “dramatic” affect on animal feed.
Holmes said that the humanitarian situation in southern Sudan has been deteriorating over the course of this year. He said that forty percent of the population were either experiencing severely or moderate food insecurity because of lack of rain, particularly last year. He added that the violence between different tribal groups in the last few months had caused “disrupting agricultural production leading to displacement and increasing the humanitarian needs in a dramatic way.”
During his visit to the region, John Holmes called for urgent action to avert a possible natural disaster in parts of southern Sudan. Speaking during a visit to feeding centers in Wau and Kwacjok, Holmes voiced his concern about food insecurity, malnutrition among children and tribal violence. He described the situation as "a humanitarian crisis" and urged donors not to forget the region.
