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STORY: GENEVA / HRC WOMEN
TRT: 2.55
SOURCE: OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 8 MARCH 2012, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Zoom in, Kim Phuc holding iconic photo
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Kim Phuc, victim of Vietnam napalm attack:
“I learnt that forgiveness is much more powerful than hatred. Love is more powerful than any weapon of war.”
3. Pan right, from Screen shot of photo at HRC to Kim Phuc at the podium
4. Zoom in, Kim’s burnt hand
5. Cutaway, Kim talking at council
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Kim Phuc, victim of Vietnam napalm attack:
“I wish no more war. I wish none of them suffer like me anymore.”
7. Cutaway, delegates
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“Women’s presence in the uprisings has put them at the forefront of the protests against dictatorship and tyranny, beyond their traditional image as sisters and mothers of male actors. Their role in these protests have highlighted that women are vital actors of change.”
9. Cutaway, delegates
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“In several cases, women were asked to stand by as constitutional changes were being formulated. Women are not adequately represented in transitional governments, and the formal systems in place to ensure their political participation have not yet lived-up to women’s aspirations.”
11. Wide shot,
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Bahrain’s human rights activist Maryam al-Khawaja:
“Whether we are talking about the mother in Bahrain who set herself on fire because she watched her son being beaten brutally in front of her as he was being arrested and she couldn’t handle it, or whether we are talking about the virginity test that are done by the military in rule in Egypt or whether we are talking about the arrest of a Saudi Woman who is arrested for driving a car, we see injustice everywhere.”
13.Cutaway, Stephen Lewis walking at the Palais des Nations
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Stephen Lewis, Former UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa:
“The reduction in funding is a death warrant, for large number of countries who are dependent on the Global fund to fight aids tuberculosis and Malaria, naturally women who bare the disproportionate brand of the virus will feel the consequences. The reduction in funding is unconscionable. It is criminal; I do not want to play with it. It is like conferring murder on countries where the virus is deeply rooted and where the prevalence are high.”
FILE – 2011, PALAIS DES NATIONS, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
15. Wide shot, Palais des Nations in Geneva
As the world celebrated International Women’s Day Kim Phuc, a victim of the Vietnam napalm attack, called for forgiveness and admonished conflict.
Phuc was one of the key speakers at a Panel event of the UN Human Rights Council titled: “Capitalizing On Women’s Potential In Times of Crisis.”
Phuch said that “forgiveness is much more powerful than hatred, love is more powerful than any weapon of war.”
Phuc, who survived the Vietnam war more than 40 years ago, called for peace around the world, noting that women and children bear the brunt of conflict. “I wish no more. I wish none of them suffer like me any more,” she said.
She explained how embarrassed she felt the first time she saw the world iconic photo of herself during the Vietnam war.
The photo shows her as a naked young girl severely burned by napalm bomb. But over the years Kim says she appreciated the role the photo provided saying it was a symbol to seek peace.
“I consider that picture is a powerful gift for me and I can work with it for peace.”
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, speaking at the event noted that women continue to claim their rights but observes that there are still some setbacks.
“Women have stood alongside men to demand change. Women’s presence in the uprisings has put them at the forefront of the protests against dictatorship and tyranny, beyond their traditional image as sisters and mothers of male actors. Their role in these protests have highlighted that women are vital actors of change.”
Citing the Arab Spring, Pillay observed that some developments are discouraging.
“In several cases, women were asked to stand by as constitutional changes were being formulated. Women are not adequately represented in transitional governments, and the formal systems in place to ensure their political participation have not yet lived-up to women’s aspirations.”
Bahrain’s human rights activist Maryam al-Khawaja charged that injustice is indiscriminate saying both men women have had to pay a price.
“Whether we are talking about the mother in Bahrain who set herself on fire because she watched her son being beaten brutally in front of her as he was being arrested and she couldn’t handle it, or whether we are talking about the virginity test that are done by the military in rule in Egypt or whether we are talking about the arrest of a Saudi Woman who is arrested for driving a car, we see injustice everywhere.”
Former UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis, emphasised that the 52 per cent of the world’s population cannot be marginalised and ever expect to approximate social justice.
Lewis highlighted the diminishing funding for HIV and equated it to a "death warrant."
“The reduction in funding is a death warrant, for large number of countries who are dependent on the Global fund to fight aids tuberculosis and Malaria, naturally women who bare the disproportionate brand of the virus will feel the consequences."
The reduction in funding is unconscionable. It is criminal; I do not want to play with it. It is like conferring murder on countries where the virus is deeply rooted and where the prevalence are high.”
