25 Apr 2012

UN / BORDER SECURITY

The Security Council today asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to report in six months’ time on the UN system’s work in combating trafficking of weapons, drugs, people and various illicit materials, with the aim of streamlining such efforts. UNTV / FILE

Posted at: April 25, 2012 3:46 pm

Duration: 01:55

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / BORDER SECURITY
TRT: 1.55
SOURCE: UNTV / UNODC / UNICEF / IAEA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 25 APRIL 2012, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – UNTV – 2011 – NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, United Nations Headquarters

25 APRIL 2012, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations:
"There are no quick solutions to illicit flows.  There is only a sustained process that requires the commitment of all. Our watchtowers must be accompanied by watchwords: information, intelligence, data collection and analysis. This is an area where the United Nations, with its ability to provide objective and balanced information, can play a key role."
4. Med shot, delegates
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Susan Rice, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
"This complex, cross-cutting challenge cannot be tackled effectively by any single body alone. Many UN actors play a role in these capacity building efforts, and it is logical that they work better together as one UN system to assist Member States. We therefore welcome the Security Council's request to the Secretary-General to provide a diagnostic assessment of these efforts. The Security Council needs a bird's eye view of them across the UN system."

FILE – UNODC – 16-17 MARCH 2010, GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA

6. Zoom out, pile of small firearms
7. Med shot, magnetic arm moving firearms to be melted down in foundry oven
8. Med shot, firearms being dropped into foundry oven to be melted down

FILE – UNTV – 5 MAY 2006, DUSHANBE, TAJIKISTAN

9. Close up, drugs box opened 
10. Med shot, drug bags being opened 
11. Wide shot, drugs thrown at incinerator

FILE – UNICEF – 26 JANUARY 2011, OUANAMINTHE, HAITI

12. Med shot, UNICEF Child Specialist with trafficked boy
13. Wide shot, UNICEF Child Specialist and two trafficked children walking up path
14. Med shot, UNICEF Child Specialist and trafficked children going into car

FILE – IAEA – 1-3 JULY 2009, AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH INSITUTE, AL FANAR AREA, LEBANON

15. Med shot, radioactive source being lowered into transport container during an IAEA-supported operation to prevent the risk of theft of high activity material 
16. Zoom out, gloved hands to team from the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission.
17. Close up, radiation detector scanning the transport container showing a radioactive sign

STORYLINE:

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today (25 April) stressed the need for effective strategies to help States monitor, control and secure their borders against the illicit flows of materials and goods, as well as people, highlighting how the United Nations is playing a crucial role in this area.

Speaking at an open meeting of the Security Council in New York, Ban said there were no quick solutions to illicit flows and that "our watchtowers must be accompanied by watchwords: information, intelligence, data collection and analysis." He pointed out that the UN, with its ability to provide objective and balanced information, could play a key role.

Ban noted that, across the globe, insecure borders enable the trafficking of drugs, weapons, contraband, terrorist funding, materials related to weapons of mass destruction, conflict minerals, wildlife and people. He said that preventing illicit flows was important for security, development and human rights.

The gravest threat, the Secretary-General warned, was the possibility of weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of terrorists.

The United States, which holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council for the month of April, initiated the meeting in an effort to streamline the UN's work on cross-border security.

US Ambassador Susan Rice read out a presidential statement in which the Council requested the Secretary-General to report on the UN system's efforts to combat illicit trafficking in six months' time.

Speaking in her national capacity, Rice told the Council that it was "logical" for the various UN actors involved in the issue to work together "as one UN system to assist Member States". She welcomed the request for a "diagnostic assessment" of the UN's efforts and insisted that "the Security Council needs a birds-eye view of them across the UN system".