Qatar: Robotic Camel Jockeys

by Mary Ferreira

Doha, Qatar – Camel racing has been a popular sport for centuries in the Gulf region.
In most countries children were used as camel jockeys. But governments along with the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, knew that it was dangerous work for children.

In 2005, children from several South East Asian countries were repatriated after a ban was implemented, prohibiting them from working as jockeys. Camel owners had to find a replacement to keep the sport alive. They turned to inventor, Rashed Ali, who came up with the idea of using robots. After several prototypes were developed, a robot weighing no more than three kilos, equipped with a thin whip, is getting the job done.

We were fortunate to cover several races in Doha – a spectacular moment as camels with colorful robots on their backs jostled for first place. Watch this short clip for a quick glimpse. The final story is coming soon.

“ELEPHANT MAN” FROM GABON

River Ivindo, Gabon

Malondo Pygmy Village

By Producer Gill Fickling
2011 was not a good year to be an elephant. Although trade in ivory has been banned since 1989, more ivory was seized during that year than any other on record, representing at least 2500 dead elephants. African elephants are being killed in ever larger numbers to satisfy a growing demand in Asia. Cameraman Antonio Tibaldi and I travelled deep into the rain-forest in Gabon with Joseph Okouyi who has dedicated his life to protecting these endangered animals. As chief warden of Ivindo National Park, covering some 1200 square miles of almost impenetrable forest, he and his team have their work cut out. Elephants in this country in Central Africa are increasingly the target of poachers chasing the rich-pickings. Also, it seems local poverty is driving the trade.

Joseph with his team

The indigenous pygmy population, known for their expert hunting skills and knowledge of the forest, are now struggling to survive as their livelihoods are squeezed. For some soap and lamp-oil and a few dollars, poor pygmies are recruited by ivory traffickers to do the killing. But Joseph, the animal-lover who shares his home with a pet wild-boar and who, as a boy, used to eat out of the same bowl as his dog, is determined to protect the forest elephants – at whatever cost. Watch our story, coming up soon on "21st Century".

Dwindling Fish Stocks

Fish stocks

Some one thousand fishermen living on the south western coast of the island depend on the sea for their livelihoods and to feed their families. But lately, they’re reporting smaller catches. They told UNTV Producer, Mary Ferreira, during an interview that pollution, trawling, and restricted fishing grounds are contributing to the current state of fish stocks in the region.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, fish is an ideal source of animal protein for more than two billion people worldwide who consume some 100 million tonnes each year. The Government of Trinidad & Tobago is working with private investors to introduce aquaculture to combat the problem of dwindling fish stocks in the country. It’s a solution that has been shared with local fishermen who hesitate to trade their small fishing boats for more lucrative “fish farming” businesses.

A recent report from UNEP also suggests that an investment of US$8 billion annually to rebuild the world’s fisheries would increase catches worldwide to 112 million tonnes per year. Watch this short clip of a fisherman’s story in Trinidad & Tobago.

Senegal: Beyond Tradition

By Mary Ferreira

Female Genital Mutilation, FGM, or genital cutting is an age-old custom that’s still practiced in many countries. It’s a custom that affects some 140 million women and girls worldwide.

In partnership with the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, a film crew from UNTV traveled to Senegal in West Africa to produce a film documenting efforts made by the Government to ban this practice.

But in a country where dozens of ethnic groups live according to their own traditional values and beliefs we found that even though the ban on FGM is in place, it’s still practiced, especially in the ethnic stronghold of the Pulaar people. A woman, believed to be a “cutter” living in the Pulaar region of Matam, received a jail sentence when caught performing excisions on young girls.

Upon learning of her release, we requested an interview through Tostan, a local non-governmental organization. We attempted to interview her after receiving permission but when we arrived at the home she was nowhere in sight.

Despite this setback, we managed to complete our mission with adequate elements to produce a compelling piece focusing on cultural perspectives, religious points of view and individual regrets. Watch this brief clip.

Youth Unemployment

By Mary Ferreira

NEW YORK  – My colleagues, Leslie Wade and Paul Simon, from the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) requested a short video for an upcoming event on 27 February “Breaking New Ground: Partnerships for More and Better Jobs for Young People” a topic that I’m very passionate about because my own family members are unemployed and some are struggling with jobs below their skill level.

Photo by Victoria Schultz

But that’s no surprise. The current global economic and financial crisis has affected many people in developed and developing countries and even staffers here at the United Nations.  We’ve had some lay offs in our editing and engineering staff making it difficult to honour DESA‘s request.  I didn’t want to say no, so I decided to charge my flipcam and one morning on my way to work, I filmed some footage that would prove useful for the final video.  With this fresh footage, I used some images from past filming missions and more from my colleagues for the edit.  I thought that it would work appropriately since the piece was intended for web use.

Strapped for footage from the Occupy Wall Street movement, I called a former colleague, Victoria Schultz, for permission to use some of her stills which were included in the video. Victoria has been covering OWS for her own photography project for several months now.

After screening the rough cut, there was one adjustment to the script. One of my colleagues in the TV Section, Dina Barazi, recorded the narration and I managed to finalize the piece by deadline. This is a good example of “DOING MORE WITH LESS” as requested by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

http://goo.gl/9gWtl

Reducing Maternal Mortality in Bangladesh

by Mary Ferreira

After filming the story on sexual harassment, the team captured material for an additional piece on United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 – reducing maternal mortality.

Bangladesh has had significant success in lowering the rate of deaths during childbirth, particularly in urban slums. BRAC, or the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was one of the key players contributing to this achievement.

Ruby with Newborn Baby

Covering mainly urban slums and serving more than 350,000 women, Bangladesh is geared to achieve MDG 5 by 2015. That means a reduction of 5.4 percent in maternal deaths each year on average. Earlier this year, BRAC indicated that over the last nine years, maternal deaths dropped some 40% from 322 to 194 per 100,000 live births putting Bangladesh on track to meet MDG Five.

The film crew followed health care workers in one of Dhaka’s slums to document their work in teaching women how to stay healthy during pregnancy and care for their newborns. BRAC told UNTV Producer, Mary Ferreira, that it intends to partner with the United Nations Population Fund to recruit more midwives to enhance its team of skilled birth attendants.

Link to full story: http://goo.gl/zImD1

New video clip.

Bangladesh Women Seek Justice

By Mary Ferreira

After filming in India, we hopped on Jet Airways to Dhaka, Bangladesh. Our assignment — to cover a story on sexual harassment, a common phenomenon in this South East Asian country.

I took a big risk on this mission because I didn’t have an entry visa for Bangladesh and was advised to pick it up in New Delhi because approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not been granted prior to departure from New York to India. Unsure of how this would unfold, I boarded the plane for New Delhi.

Fortunately, the day before we left for Bangladesh, visa approval was granted for cameraman, Joaquim, and me.

As if that wasn’t enough to cause anxiety – the young women who granted us permission to follow their story pulled out at the last moment. A few days earlier, I had a premonition that this might happen and asked the attorney representing the women to find alternative characters. Emran, our local fixer, together with the attorney, found a second character — a young university lecturer — who had an amazing story to tell.

But it didn’t end there. We arrived in Bangladesh on Sunday, checked into a hotel, and immediately met with UN officials for a briefing. They told us that we couldn’t film on Monday due to anticipated political protests. This would cut one day from our 8-day schedule. Needless to say, we accomplished our mission. See clip.

Audio MP3
Link to full story: http://goo.gl/S6ZSG

Mexico Streets Not Paved with Gold

By GILL FICKLING

When I asked fifteen year old Lupita what she would like most if she had all the money in the world, she told me “a toothbrush”.  Lupita is one of the thousands of kids who live in the dangerous environment of the Mexico City streets.

Lupita (15) and Adrian (14) - she is pregnant with their first child

Official estimates cite just over 3000 young people in their teens and twenties; many believe the figure to be ten times higher.  I was in Mexico City recently with cameraman, Patrick Fries, to shoot features for “21^st Century” and for the launch of the United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) global initiative to mark the world’s population reaching 7 billion in October 2011.  As the world becomes ever more crowded, the trend is a movement of people from rural areas to cities creating vast urban sprawls like Mexico City. With a population of over 20 million, it is now rated as the eighth largest mega-city in the world.

Marisol with her baby, Diego

Me sharing a peaceful moment with Diego

Not Safe in Her Own Home in Azerbaijan

By Francis Mead

WATCH THIS

A brave woman uses a small camera to capture what is happening to her: she discovers she isn’t safe in her own home. (excerpt)

After a year of rumours Nuriya Khalikova was forced from her home – to make way for a new park in the centre of Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku. Because of her film, activists picked up on her case – and now her plight, along with that of hundreds of others, has come to the attention of the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights. The city authorities in Baku say they offered adequate compensation to evicted residents, but Nuriya disputes this.

I travelled to Baku with cameraman Richard Gibb and we filmed there before the story made international headlines. We found Nuriya to be a strong and articulate woman, a survivor who’s determined to move on with her life.

Nuriya surveys the rubble that used to be her home

Baku itself is booming on the back of Azerbaijan’s plentiful supplies of oil and gas – and the country has seen a huge reduction in poverty over the past decade, as well as a massive increase in construction. We were agog at the chic, very expensive shops in the city centre, and at Baku’s elegant architecture.

Watch out for the full story which we’ll shortly be releasing for 21st Century.

Saving Elephants

by Mary Ferreira

For a long time — more than five years — I’ve had a burning desire to produce a story about the plight of elephants around the world. According to CITES, elephants appear on Appendix II of the endangered species list. While in India filming stories about women and population growth, I was able to capture some elephant footage and record a few interviews.

But it wasn’t an easy task since we had to wait, almost in hiding, to spot the elephants. These gentle giants are so intelligent and alert that they sense when humans are on their heels and they simply keep moving. Fortunately, we found them eating tea leaves in one of the tea gardens in Assam — an area close to the border with Bangladesh.

Our friends at WWF helped us track the elephants, shared photographs with us, and accompanied us throughout our elephant chase. But one day, we had to cross the river because villagers told us that the elephants had just passed through damaging rice fields and other crops in the neighborhood. In a very tiny wooden canoe, more than 10 people with camera gear, boarded in an attempt to find the elephants. It was frightening but no one thought of the danger since we were all excited to finally get some footage of the elephants hanging out in the nearby forest. On the way back the cameraman, Carlos, suggested that we cross the river in two groups. We took his advice and returned safely.

On a previous shoot in South Africa, the team was also able to film elephants for one day. Experts believe there’s an over-population of elephants in that country. The real argument is whether there are too many elephants or if, in fact, a rapidly growing human population is encroaching on land once known as elephant territory.

Can elephants and humans co-exist in a sustainable way? Our friends at WWF believe that it’s possible. Final video coming soon…