16 Oct 2009

HORN OF AFRICA / FOOD CRISIS

With the failure of four consecutive rainy seasons, the impact of drought, hunger and disease is not only felt in eastern Kenya and throughout the Horn of Africa. Across the region, some 24 million people in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia and parts of Uganda are now in need of humanitarian aid, up from 20 million earlier this year. Among them nearly five million are children under five years of age. UNICEF

Posted at: October 16, 2009 1:52 pm

Duration: 03:31

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: HORN OF AFRICA / FOOD CRISIS
SOURCE: UNICEF
TRT: 3:31
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: KISWAHILI / BORAN / ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 8-9 OCTOBER 2009, ISIOLO, EASTERN KENYA

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, pastoralists and their livestock in search of pasture
2. Pan right, wide shot, dried river bed of Ewaso Nyiro River in Eastern Kenya
3. Wide shot, women carrying firewood walking through the dried river bed
4. Med shot, dried river bed 
5. SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Ekwam Joseph, 20, Pastoralist: 
"One hundred and fifty-five of my cattle have died, there are only six remaining. Now that the whole herd of cattle is finished, I don't know what to do – to die or to move elsewhere."
6. Med shot, Ekwam's younger brother herding their remaining livestock
7. Med shot, Ekwam herding livestock
8. Wide shot, pan left, women and girls and their water cans queuing up at a water point
9. Med shot, pan up, water cans and girls fetching water
10. Close up, water running out of pipe
11. Med shot, women and girls fetching water at another water point
12. Close up, cans being moved at the water point
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Elhadj As Sy, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa:
"One of our constraints is that in times of emergencies like the one we are experiencing in the Horn, it's the difficulty to capture the real situation and the real stories of people which numbers and figures will never tell."   
14.Wide shot, pan right, a local primary school in Basa, Eastern Kenya
15.Med shot, pan left, a empty classroom
16.Wide shot, Basa village
17.Med shot, children sitting next to their hut
18.Med shot, women and children next to their hut
19.Med shot, Fatuma, 40, and her two children inside their hut
20.Med shot, Fatuma's two children, Amina Mandera, 9 and Nuria Mandera, 5 who suffers from diarrhoea
21.Med shot, Fatuma and her children
22.Close up, relief food given to Fatuma
23.Close up, three-year-old Sophia drinking from a cup
24.Med shot, Sophia's mother Fatuma, 30, stirring food in a pot
25.Close up, a pot of maize and beans
26.Close up, Sophia, who suffers from diarrhoea
27. SOUNDBITE (Boran) Fatuma Abduba, 40, mother of two:
"Women are the most affected - they trek for long distances to look for water, they wake up at 4 in the morning and come back at 6 in the evening when the sun has set, finding their children thirsty and hungry and they have suffered."
28. Wide shot, pastoralists and their livestock in search of water
29. Wide shot, women collecting dried sticks to bring back home for their cattle
30. Med shot, a woman carrying dried grass returning home
31.Wide shot, a dead cattle and a woman walking
32. SOUNDBITE (English) Elhadj As Sy, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa:
"We appeal to the donor community to urgently increase their support and to help us strengthen the capacity of governments and humanitarian actors in the Horn to assist children and families in need. It is also urgent that we draw lessons from the past, preparedness and proactive response are key. If we wait until the emergency hits—of course we can always respond—but the response may not be as adequate as if it was prepared well in advance."
33.Med shot, Fatuma and Sophia going home
34.Med shot, Fatuma's two older daughters
35.Med shot, a child in a group in Basa village

STORYLINE:

This arid land used to be covered with green pasture.

Once the lifeline for nearby population and their livestock, this part of Ewaso Nyiro River in Eastern Kenya is now completely dried up.

SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Ekwam Joseph, 20, Pastoralist: 
"One hundred and fifty-five of my cattle have died, there are only six remaining. Now that the whole herd of cattle is finished, I don't know what to do – to die or to move elsewhere."

With the failure of 4 consecutive rainy seasons, the impact of drought, hunger and disease is not only felt here in Kenya, but throughout the Horn of Africa.

Across the region, some 24 million people, including nearly 5 million children under five are in need of humanitarian aid, up from 20 million earlier this year.

SOUNDBITE (English) Elhadj As Sy, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa:
"In times of crises like this, numbers and figures will never tell us the true impact these crises have on the most vulnerable children and families. We are talking about a region where up to 50 percent of children under five are chronically malnourished and one in eight children die before reaching their fifth birthday. If we don't manage to reduce the severe vulnerability of children and their families we will see situations like this occurring over and over again."

This primary school in Basa, Eastern Kenya has been closed because of a cholera outbreak. Five Basa villagers have died, and more than 80 adults and children have been treated for diarrhoea and vomiting.

Fatuma's children are suffering from diarrhoea and malnutrition. The family's survival now depends on relief food.

With the loss of cattle, three-year-old Sofia no longer has milk to drink. The 20 liters of relief water they get once a week can hardly meet the family of 9's cooking and washing needs.

SOUNDBITE (Boran) Fatuma Abduba, 40, mother of two:
"Women are the most affected - they trek for long distances to look for water, they wake up at 4 in the morning and come back at 6 in the evening when the sun has set, finding their children thirsty and hungry and they have suffered."

Despite the increasing humanitarian needs, aid agencies like UNICEF are faced with funding shortages. By the end of September, UNICEF had only received a third of the 189 million us dollars the agency appealed for its emergency operations in the Horn of Africa.

SOUNDBITE (English) Elhadj As Sy, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa:
"We appeal to the donor community to urgently increase their support and to help us strengthen the capacity of governments and humanitarian actors in the Horn to assist children and families in need. It is also urgent that we draw lessons from the past, preparedness and proactive response are key. If we wait until the emergency hits—of course we can always respond—but the response may not be as adequate as if it was prepared well in advance."

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