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STORY: UN / MALI–JOHN GING
TRT: 1.40
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 26 FEBRUARY 2013, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
26 FEBRUARY 2013, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, dais
3. Med shot, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) John Ging, Director of the Coordination and Response Division at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“Some 700,000 children have been affected by the conflict and there are 200,000 without any education at all since January 2012. So, the numbers are huge and the disruption is very profound and the urgency to recover the education sector is, as I said, a very high priority for everybody.”
5. Various shots, journalists
6. SOUNDBITE (English) John Ging, Director of the Coordination and Response Division at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“Mali is also part of the Sahel food and nutritional crisis, so the harsh effects of climate are also felt there. There are 585,000 people in need of immediate food assistance and there are one million more at risk of food insecurity in the north.”
7. Med shot, journalist
8. SOUNDBITE (English) John Ging, Director of the Coordination and Response Division at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“The neighbouring states are hosting a large number of refugees. In the case of Niger is 53,000, in the case of Mauritania it is 69,000, and so that immediately put a lot of strain and stress on the infrastructure of those countries.”
9. Med shot, journalists
10. Zoom out, dais
After a period of brutal violence and economic collapse in Mali, access was now stable enough so that aid, if adequately funded, could help hundreds of thousands rebuild their lives, a top United Nations humanitarian official said today (26 February) after a visit to the West African country.
Conveying his impression that much of the population was traumatized by events of the past year, as well as reports of rape and brutalities against children, John Ging, Director of Operations for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told correspondents in New York that education seemed to be a huge priority for most people.
Ging said some 700,000 children have been affected by the conflict and there are 200,000 children “without any education at all since January 2012.”
He stressed that security and humanitarian access had improved, which should erase doubts that aid would be effective at this point, including the necessary development aid that could restore people’s ability to support themselves.
Ging noted that Mali “is also part of the Sahel food and nutritional crisis, so the harsh effects of climate are also felt there” and there are currently 585,000 people in need of immediate food assistance and as well as “one million more at risk of food insecurity in the north.”
He said that most people were preoccupied with restoring their ability to feed themselves and that development assistance was critical for that purpose.
Ging said that since the conflict began in January 2012, more than 430,000 people have been displaced – more than 260,000 internally and more than 170,000 having fled as refugees to neighbouring countries.
He said Niger was hosting 53,000 displaced persons and Mauritania another 69,000 which “immediately put a lot of strain and stress on the infrastructure of those countries.”
The latest humanitarian appeal for Mali seeks $373 million, including $153 million for the most urgent interventions in the next six months. However, only $17 million has been received so far.
Northern Mali was occupied by radical Islamists after fighting broke out in January 2012 between Government forces and Tuareg rebels. The conflict prompted the Malian Government to request assistance from France to stop the military advance of extremist groups.
During his four-day visit, during which he visited the historic city of Timbuktu and the central town of Mopti in the north, Ging said community representatives emphasized to him that they did not want to become dependent on international aid but were seeking basic support.
