5 Jun 2012

GENEVA / SYRIA HUMANITARIAN AID

The director of operations for UN emergency relief John Ging said today that the Syrian government signed an agreement to allow the UN to enter the country and deliver humanitarian aid but emphasized that it will depend on whether access is granted to aid workers over the next few days, adding that “pieces of paper that purport to be agreements are meaningless.” CH UNTV

Posted at: June 5, 2012 12:16 pm

Duration: 02:34

Available in: SD

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STORY: GENEVA / SYRIA HUMANITARIAN AID 
TRT: 2:34
SOURCE: CH UNTV 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 5 JUNE 2012, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

SHOTLIST:

FILE – 2011, PALAIS DES NATIONS, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

1. Wide shot, exterior Palais des Nations

5 JUNE 2012, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

2. Wide shot, journalists at stakeout
3. SOUNDBITE (English) John Ging, Director of Operations, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): 
"After a long time of very intense negotiations, we now have an agreement in writing with the Syrian government on the scale, scope and modality of humanitarian action in Syria.  The proof of their good faith in that agreement will be in their action of the coming days.  So I report to you today progress in so far as we didn't have before now an agreement.  Whether it's a breakthrough or not will depend on the action on the ground.  I cannot predict what that will be but we will work very hard to make it a breakthrough because the people of Syria need us to breakthrough with a much bigger humanitarian response.   
4. Cutaway, cameras and journalists at stakeout
5. SOUNDBITE (English) John Ging, Director of Operations, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): 
"If we do not have unrestricted access to move the aid to the people in need, then we are blocked in our humanitarian action.  Pieces of paper that purport to be agreements are meaningless.  But we need those pieces of papers to start with - that's the significance of having an agreement.  The test of the agreement now is in its implementation and it starts with access."
6. Cutaway, journalists listening
7. SOUNDBITE (English) John Ging, Director of Operations, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): 
"It is very significant today that the Syrian government have adopted its responsibility on the whole issue of responding to the needs, the humanitarian needs, that we all agree exist."
8. Cutaway, Journalist sitting on floor writing
9. SOUNDBITE (English) John Ging, Director of Operations, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): 
"There's huge empathy, huge empathy, for the suffering of the Syrian people at this time.  Unanimous empathy, and a great desire to focus and challenge all our emotions into constructive action away from the dynamics of conflict, away from the politics of this conflict, but in an effective way that delivers for people who have been waiting far too long for humanitarian support in far too many places."
10. Wide shot, Ging leaves surrounded by journalists

STORYLINE

The Syrian government has agreed to allow the United Nations (UN) to enter the country and deliver humanitarian aid to those affected by the crisis.

John Ging, Director of Operations at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the Syrian government has signed a memorandum stipulating the scale, scope and modalities of the humanitarian response.

Whether the agreement is a major breakthrough for efforts by the international community to provide assistance to Syrians displaced by the conflict, Ging emphasized, will depend on whether access is granted to aid workers over the next few days  "Pieces of paper that purport to be agreements are meaningless", he said.

Speaking to journalists in Geneva today (5 June) following a meeting between international aid organizations and representatives of the Syrian Arab Republic, Ging, who was accompanied by Claus Sorensen, Director General ECHO (humanitarian aid department of the European Commission), said the Syrian's participation was significant.  This was the third of such meetings to discuss access for aid workers into the country and the first to result in an agreement, he added.

At least one million people in Syria are in need of urgent assistance, Ging said. UN agencies and their partners have sought 264 million dollars to respond to the humanitarian needs inside Syria and in neighboring countries.  People in Syria have been waiting far too long for support, Ging said.