2 Mar 2010

NY / CHILE EMERGENCY RESPONSE

UNICEF Director of Emergency Programmes Louis-Georges Arsenault says that the earthquake that struck Chile on Saturday was one of the strongest the world has ever seen, but the Chilean government “has the capacity to take care of its people” and neither UNICEF or the UN, will be launching an appeal for the time being. UNICEF

Posted at: March 2, 2010 2:58 pm

Duration: 01:02

Available in: SD

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STORY: NY / CHILE EMERGENCY RESPONSE
TRT:  1.02
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS

DATELINE:  1 MARCH 2010, NEW YORK CITY

SHOTLIST:

1.Close up, UNICEF signpost
2.SOUNDBITE (English) Louis-Georges Arsenault, UNICEF Director of Emergency Programmes:
"It's an amazing earthquake one of the strongest we have ever seen in world history and the infrastructure damage is absolutely humongous. We're talking about 500,000 households that have been partially or totally damaged, we're talking about huge infrastructure loss in terms of houses, the communications system down, the water system down; so it's a huge catastrophe for the country."
3.Med shot, entrance to UN building
4.SOUNDBITE (English) Louis-Georges Arsenault, UNICEF Director of Emergency Programmes:
"The government has the capacity to take care of its people; they have been very clear about this. There are areas where we are looking at the possibilities for UNICEF on protection especially and maybe also on water purification tablets or systems, but for the time being there is no formal request for an appeal. UNICEF is not going to launch an appeal, nor the United Nations, for the time being."
5.Med shot, entrance to UN building

STORYLINE

A top emergency relief official said that neither the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) nor the United Nations itself will be launching an appeal for the time being as the Chilean government is currently in control of the situation after Saturday's massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake.

UNICEF Director of Emergency Programmes Louis-Georges Arsenault noted that last weekend's catastrophic earthquake was "one of the strongest" the world has ever seen, with "absolutely humongous" damage to the country's infrastructure.

SOUNDBITE (English) Louis-Georges Arsenault, UNICEF Director of Emergency Programmes:
"It's an amazing earthquake one of the strongest we have ever seen in world and the infrastructure damage is absolutely humongous. We're talking about 500,000 households that have been partially or totally damaged, we're talking about huge infrastructure loss in terms of houses, the communications system down, the water system down."

Nevertheless, Arsenault highlighted the South American nation's strength as a country and said that help will be limited to very specific areas such as mobile hospitals, communications systems and expertise in assessing infrastructure after the shocks.

He stressed that the government has made it clear that it "has the capacity to take care of its people" and has made "no formal request for an appeal".

SOUNDBITE (English) Louis-Georges Arsenault, UNICEF Director of Emergency Programmes:
"The government has the capacity to take care of its people, they are very clear about this. There are areas where we are looking at the possibilities for UNICEF on protection especially and maybe also on water purification tablets or systems, but for the time being there is no formal request for an appeal. UNICEF is not going to launch an appeal, nor the United Nations, for the time being."

The death toll from the strongest earthquake to strike Chile in more than 50 years officially stands at 723 people.  Some 80 per cent of the South American country's population was affected by the quake, which occurred just off the coast of Chile in the early hours of Saturday morning, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).