5 Mar 2010

UN / CHILE EARTHQUAKE UPDATE

Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, announces an initiative to help women in need in the hardest hit areas of Chile. Chilean Ambassador Heraldo Muñoz provides an update on the situation on the ground after the massive 27 February seism. UNTV

Posted at: March 5, 2010 5:00 pm

Duration: 01:51

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / CHILE EARTHQUAKE UPDATE
TRT: 1.51
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS

DATELINE: 5 MARCH 2010, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1.	Wide shot, exterior UN building

5 MARCH 2010, NEW YORK CITY

2.	Med shot, speakers arrive at dais
3.	Wide shot, dais
4.	Med shot, Journalists
5.	 SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York: 
"I would be the general - bossy general - and under that I would be able right this very second to find the information out from a mother in Chile, in the worst hit areas, then I would appoint her as my colonel right now in Concepcion, and I would ask her immediately every day to give me a lowdown on what's going on. Then I can then go to all the mothers, whether it'd be Michelle Obama, or very famous mothers, and don't forget men have mothers too, so it's not just a women's thing."
6.	Med shot, reporters
7.	SOUNDBITE (English) Heraldo Muñoz, Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations:
"Chile is standing up, we are recuperating slowly. Santiago near normalcy right now and problems still remain in the area of Concepción, Talca, Curicó, that are still without – to a great extent, but not wholly – without electricity and water."
8.	Med shot, reporter
9.	SOUNDBITE (English) Heraldo Muñoz, Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations:
"Different countries have different needs. Chile is a middle income country so that our needs are very different from those of Haiti. Haiti needs everything, has need of food, clothing, medicines, rescue teams; well some of these things are not needed in Chile because we have the warehouses, the supplies and the question was how to distribute them, how to reach isolated communities rather than having the availability of those materials."
10.	Wide shot, dais

STORYLINE

Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York and philanthropist, announced today (5 March) the launching of an initiative aimed at mobilizing mothers around the world to look after the specific needs of women in crisis situations such as the recent earthquake in Chile.

The initiative, known as Mothers Army, would put "a mother in Chile, in the worst hit areas" in contact with Ferguson who would receive "a lowdown on what's going on" and in turn relay those needs to a network of other famous or powerful mothers in order to find solutions.

Chilean Ambassador Heraldo Muñoz – who co-hosted the press conference with Ferguson - provided an update on the situation on the ground after the massively destructive 8.8-magnitude earthquake which left hundreds of people dead on 27 February.

Muñoz gave a detailed account of the destruction, but said that "Chile is standing up" and slowly returning to normalcy in the Chilean capital, Santiago, while "problems still remain" in the areas of Concepción, Talca and Curicó.

Asked about the parallels with the situation in Haiti where and 7.2 seism killed over 200,000 people on 12 February, Muñoz said that "different countries have different needs" and added that Chile is a middle income country with no urgent need of food, clothing, medicines or rescue teams; instead the most pressing need was "how to reach isolated communities rather than having the availability of those materials."

The Chilean Government asked the UN for help setting up field hospitals, as well as for equipment such as generators and satellite phones.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Santiago today and was expected to meet President Michele Bachelet and President-elect Sebastián Piñera, as part of a two-day visit to see the earthquake damage and assess how the United Nations can help.

Tomorrow the Secretary-General will travel to Concepción, the second largest city in Chile, over 300 miles south of Santiago, and the adjacent port of Talcahuano, two of the most devastated areas close to the epicenter of the quake. He will also meet with the heads of the 22 UN agencies operating in Chile.