23 Apr 2012

MAURITANIA / UNICEF AID

A UPS flight carrying 46,000 kgs of lifesaving UNICEF supplies touched down in Nouakchott, Mauritania on Sunday to respond to the needs of children and communities affected by the worsening nutrition crisis caused by drought, rising food prices and failed harvests. UNICEF

Posted at: April 23, 2012 4:46 pm

Duration: 01:30

Available in: SD

DOWNLOAD

Full script

STORY: MAURITANIA / AID 
TRT 1:30 
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE:  FRENCH / NATS
 
DATELINE: 22 APRIL 2012, NOUAKCHOTT AIRPORT, MAURITANIA
 
SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, UPS plane with UNICEF supplies arriving at the airport
2. Various shots, UPS plane with compartment open
3. Various shots, UNICEF Representative in Mauritania, Lucia Elmi and Brahim Ould Isselmou, Communication specialist at the tarmac
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Mohamed Abdallah Ould Zeidane, President of the National Commission in charge of Malian Refugees:
"We are receiving Health Kits and some of them are dedicated to nutritional recovery. Since the crisis hit us past few months after rains failed, UNICEF has been delivering us with health items and also in nutritional and school areas. So, we thank UNICEF a lot for its help." 
5. Various shots, UNICEF truck arrives on site
6. Med shot, packed UNICEF supplies in plastic wrapping 
7. Med shot, labeled case sticker 
8. Various shots, airport workers unpacking boxes with supplies

STORYLINE:

The supplies will also assist refugees who have fled conflict in nearby Mali as well as the communities hosting them.

Mauritania is afflicted by its worst lean season in years, part of the drought and food crisis occurring throughout the Sahel region of Africa.

According to UNICEF, 25 percent of households are food insecure and of these, 52 percent severely food insecure.

Many children are now suffering from malnutrition, and many more are expected to be affected before the end of the lean season in late September.

The situation has been complicated by the arrival of more than 56,000 refugees from Mali, who are pouring into one of the most food insecure regions of Mauritania.

The pressure of these two overlapping crises places impoverished communities at great risk. But Mauritania is a vast country with a dispersed population, making it difficult to reach those most in need.

The flight donated by UPS allows UNICEF and its partners to respond more rapidly, getting supplies to those who need them faster.

Among the supplies are ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUFT) which will treat 460 children suffering severe acute malnutrition, hygiene kits will provide soap, towels and other materials for 10,000 people and medicines including 10,000 folic acid tablets and 12,000 doses of paediatric antibiotics.