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STORY: UN / LRA
TRT: 2.40
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 20 NOVEMBER 2013, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
20 NOVEMBER 2013, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Abou Moussa, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Central Africa:
“With Critical support from US military advisers, Regional Task Force contingents are now fully operational. Military operations have degraded the LRA and limited it to pursuing survival tactics. However, recent attacks in South Sudan attributed to the LRA are a reminder that the group remains a serious and unpredictable threat to communities throughout the sub-region.”
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeffrey DeLaurentis, Alternate Representative of the United States for Special Political Affairs of the United States to the United Nations:
“Since its founding more than a quarter century ago the Lord’s Resistance Army has been a constant source of terror and suffering. Tens of thousands of Africans have died because of its rapacious violence and countless young people have been compelled to serve as underage soldiers and sex slaves. We commend the progress achieved against the LRA over the past several months and welcome the renewed vigour with which a number of regional and international partners have taken on the LRA threat. We would all like to see the day when Joseph Kony and those indicted with him are brought to justice and we can pronounce the LRA a thing of the past.”
5. Med shot, delegates
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Peter Wilson, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations:
“The concerted efforts of the affected countries, the African Union, the UN, and other partners have substantially weakened the LRA. A permanent eradication of the threat that they pose is closer now than ever before but this goal can only be achieved through sustained regional and international focus.”
7. Wide shot, Security Council
8. Wide shot, Moussa and AU Special Envoy on the LRA Francisco Madeira at the stakeout microphone
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
9. Close up, reporter’s notepad
20 NOVEMBER 2013, NEW YORK CITY
10. SOUNDBITE (English) U Special Envoy on the LRA, Mr. Francisco Madeira
“Joseph Kony is on the run. We give him no reprieve. He’s been moving effectively as Ambassador Moussa said, between the borders of Darfur, Darfur itself, and Central African Republic, but definitely he is no longer in peace and is feeling the pinch thanks to the pressure that the Regional Task Force is putting on him and thanks to the operation to encourage his men and all those who are with him to defect. And a good number of them are defecting.”
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
11. Close up, reporter’s notepad
20 NOVEMBER 2013, NEW YORK CITY
12. Zoom out, Madeira walks away
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Central Africa, Abou Moussa, said today (20 November) that military operations have degraded the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and limited it to pursuing survival tactics.
Moussa said that “with Critical support from US military advisers, Regional Task Force contingents are now fully operational.” However, he noted, “recent attacks in South Sudan attributed to the LRA are a reminder that the group remains a serious and unpredictable threat to communities throughout the sub-region.”
In a report presented to the Security Council today by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s envoy to Central Africa, the UN chief called on the international community to provide the resources needed to combat the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a violent armed group undermining stability in the region.
In presenting the Secretary-General’s report on the work of UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), Moussa also pointed to a host of issues undermining stability in the region, including conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR) with its flow of refugees straining the capacity of neighbouring countries.
He also expressed concern about the proliferation of armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and said that although the defeat of the M23 rebel group is a victory, a peace agreement has not been signed and several other rebel groups continue to threaten local communities.
Also addressing the Council, Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis of the United States said that “since its founding more than a quarter century ago the Lord’s Resistance Army has been a constant source of terror and suffering.”
He commended the progress achieved against the LRA over the past several months and said that “we would all like to see the day when Joseph Kony and those indicted with him are brought to justice and we can pronounce the LRA a thing of the past.”
For his part, Ambassador Peter Wilson of the United Kingdom said “the concerted efforts of the affected countries, the African Union, the UN, and other partners have substantially weakened the LRA. A permanent eradication of the threat that they pose is closer now than ever before but this goal can only be achieved through sustained regional and international focus.”
Outside the Council, Moussa was joined by the African Union Special Envoy for LRA Issues, Ambassador Francisco Madeira, who told reporters that “Joseph Kony is on the run.”
Madeira said Kony has been moving “between the borders of Darfur, Darfur itself, and Central African Republic, but definitely he is no longer in peace and is feeling the pinch thanks to the pressure that the Regional Task Force is putting on him and thanks to the operation to encourage his men and all those who are with him to defect.”
The LRA, notorious for carrying out massacres in villages, mutilating its victims and abducting boys for use as child soldiers and forcing girls into sexual slavery, was formed in the 1980s in Uganda and for over 15 years its attacks were mainly directed against Ugandan civilians and security forces, which in 2002 dislodged it. It then exported its activities to Uganda’s neighbours, such as the DRC, CAR and South Sudan.
The five-point strategy, endorsed by the Council last year, seeks to support the African Union task force hunting down the LRA; enhance efforts to protect civilians; expand current disarmament, demobilization, repatriation, resettlement and reintegration; coordinate humanitarian and child protection response; and support peacebuilding, human rights, rule of law and development.
