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STORY: LEBANON / AKKAR SYRIAN REFUGEES
TRT: 3:34
SOURCE: UNDP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ARABIC/NATS
DATELINE: 10 FEBRUARY 2014, AKKBAR, 12 FEBRUARY 2014, BEKKA VALLEY LEBANON
12 FEBRUARY 2014, AKKAR, LEBANON
1. Wide shot, settlement with sheep grazing
2. Med shot, settlement with sheep grazing
3. Wide shot, boy flying kite
4. Wide shot, woman walking
10 FEBRUARY 2014, BEKKA VALLEY LEBANON
5. Various shots, Syrian refugees at Zahle Registration Center
12 FEBRUARY 2014, AKKAR, LEBANON
6. Med shot, informal tented settlement
7. Various shots, farmland
8. SOUNDBITE (English), Luca Renda, UNDP Country Director, Lebanon:
“This is an agricultural area that lives on trade, lives on exporting their products. And when the, and with the Syrian War and the closing of the trade route, this region is suffering immensely.”
9. Various shots, UNDP built greenhouse nursery
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic), Hassan Awad, Lebanese Farmer:
“It was hard before. When UNDP built this nursery, the planting and everything improved.”
11. Rack focus, sprouts in the UNDP built greenhouse nursery
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic), Hassan Awad, Lebanese Farmer:
“We used to plant outside, but it would never work. In here, it works very well.”
13. Various shots, Syrian refugees working, planting seeds in the nursery
14. SOUNDBITE (English), Luca Renda, UNDP Country Director, Lebanon:
“Farmers can bring here their seeds, and the seeds are treated here, and are grown in a very clean, healthy environment. And when they get their seeds back, they get plants that are of very high quality. They’re free of pesticides and bacteria. And they can then sell these plants at a better price and increase their production.”
15. Various shots, farmers working in the nursery
16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic), Syrian Refugee, Nursery Employee:
“We come here, we work, and nobody bothers us.”
17. Various shots, Syrian refugee working in the nursery
18. SOUNDBITE (Arabic), Syrian Refugee, Nursery Employee:
“We thank the U.N. for helping us, and getting us registered.”
10 FEBRUARY 2014, BEKKA VALLEY LEBANON
19. Pan right, informal tented Settlement in Bekka Valley
20. Various shots, Syrian refugees at Zahle Registration Center
On the border of Syria, Akkar is one of the poorest regions in Lebanon.
Of the nearly one million refugees who have fled the neighboring conflict, 200,000 have settled in Akkar, doubling the population.
“This is an agricultural area that lives on trade. Lives on exporting their products and with the Syrian war and the closing of the trade route, this region is suffering immensely,” said UNDP Country Director for Lebanon, Luca Renda.
With support from donors, the United Nations Development Programme has set up a farmers’ cooperative to help increase productivity.
A Lebanese farmer, who lives and works in Akkar, Hassan Awad, said, “Before it was hard. When UNDP built this nursery, the planting and everything improved. We used to plant outside, but it would never work. In here, it works very well.”
This sustainable program supports 70 percent of the farmers in the area.
“Farmers can bring here the seeds. The seeds are treated here and grown in a very clean healthy environment and when they get their seeds back, they get plants that are of a very high quality. They can then sell these plants at a better price and increase their production,” continued Renda.
Syrian refugees who have settled here also benefit from this project.
“We come, we work and nobody would bother us. Thanks to the UN. They helped us and we are registered,” said one refugee who is employed at the nursery, and wished to remain anonymous.
The brutal conflict has seen the largest movement of refugees since World War II.
UNDP’s work is vital in supporting neighboring countries who host more than 2 million refugees that have fled the violence.
