28 Jun 2011

GENEVA / HORN OF AFRICA DROUGHT

The UN said today that more than 10 million people are now affected by the worst drought in 60 years in the Horn of Africa, warning that the situation continues to deteriorate and the number of people in need will increase. CH UNTV

Posted at: June 28, 2011 12:20 pm

Duration: 01:48

Available in: SD

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STORY: GENEVA / HORN OF AFRICA DROUGHT
TRT: 1.48
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 28 JUNE 2011, GENEVA SWITZERLAND

SHOTLIST:

RECENT, PALAIS DES NATIONS, GENEVA

1.	Wide shot, exterior Palais des Nations

28 JUNE 2011, GENEVA SWITZERLAND

2.	Med shot, journalists
3.	SOUNDBITE (French) Elizabeth Byrs, Spokesperson, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): 
"It is currently estimated that because of weak rains the drought situation has worsened and in certain places we haven't seen any rain at all. We haven't seen such a drought in sixty years; one can even go back to the fifties to find a situation so dramatic. More than ten million people need assistance and there is a serious food crisis." 
4.	Med shot, journalists
5.	SOUNDBITE (French)  Elizabeth Byrs, Spokesperson, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): 
"Child malnutrition is very serious. In a country such as Somalia, one in every three children suffers from malnutrition and we see an increase of more than thirty percent of people affected by this drought since the beginning of 2011."
6.	Med shot, journalists
7.	SOUNDBITE (English) Elizabeth Byrs, Spokesperson, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
"There are over 10 million people are affected and 9 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. They are affected in one way or another I mean, or more or differently affected if you see what I mean. In the more stricken or driest places people are more affected than the coastal region where they can maybe cope better with the situation. And we need more funding because as I said the Djibouti appeal is only 30 percent funded, which is almost nothing."
8.	Wide shot, journalists.

STORYLINE

More than 10 million people are now affected by the worst drought in 60 years in the Horn of Africa the United Nations said today (28 June).

At a press briefing in Geneva, Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told journalists that "because of weak rains the drought situation has worsened" and there is now "a serious food crisis."

She also warned that the situation is continuing to deteriorate, and the number of people in need will continue to increase.

In particular she pointed out that "child malnutrition is very serious" with one in every three children in Somalia suffering from malnutrition.

Byrs stressed that more funding is needed, noting that the 39 million dollar Djibouti appeal "is only 30 percent funded, which is almost nothing."

OCHA also warned that appeals for Somalia and Kenya, each about 525 million dollars are barely 50 percent funded.

The UN now classifies large areas of Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya as a crisis or an emergency. About 15,000 Somalis are leaving on average every month in 2011 and seeking refuge in Kenya and Ethiopia.