13 Jul 2012

GENEVA / DRC DISPLACED

Posted at: July 13, 2012 11:10 am

Duration: 02:30

Available in: SD

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STORY: GENEVA / DRC DISPLACED
TRT:  2:30
SOURCE: CH UNTV 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 13 JULY 2012, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

SHOTLIST:

FILE – PALAIS DES NATIONES, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

1. Wide shot, exterior Palais de Nations

13 JULY 2012, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

2. Wide shot, room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, Spokesman, Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
"We are deeply concerned about the latest violence we have seen that broke out one week ago, and which has pushed into displacement over the past weeks, some 220,000 people. There are also thousands of people that have fled into to Uganda."
4. Cutaway, journalists listening
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, Spokesman, Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
"We are trying at the moment to establish exactly where the 220,000 newly displaced, exactly where they are and what their humanitarian needs are.  Our constraint is, as we've often seen in the eastern parts of Congo, is access constraints due to ongoing fighting and we have seen in the past couple of days, an intensification of hostilities."
6. Cutaway, journalist with laptop
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, Spokesman, Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
"There have been some reports that UN agencies and NGOs has left North Kivu, that's not the case.  No organization UN or NGO has left North Kivu.  Their operations are obviously restricted; they cannot implement their programs as they want to do due to the insecurity."
8. Cutaway, journalists
9. SOUNDBITE (French) Elisabeth Byrs, Spokesperson, World Food Program (WFP):
"Humanitarian agencies are a bit surprised at the magnitude and speed of the phenomenon in fact in north and south Kivu.  Close to 500,000 displaced people.  They are not only the newly-displaced, but overall, we have this figure of half a million displaced people, and with the flood of newly displaced, this means we urgently need funds to cover our operations."
10. Cutaway, journalists
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Melissa Fleming, Spokesperson, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, (UNHCR):
"We are noticing in particular into Uganda, increased numbers of people but also into Rwanda and we have been setting up camps and we have been assisting these people as best as we can.  What's very difficult is inside the country, where we are noticing also increased displacement and fluid movements of people moving immediately following the violence and some moving back as the violence moves on and spreads."
12. Med shot, journalists

STORYLINE

United Nations (UN) Humanitarian agencies today expressed concern at the large numbers of people fleeing the recent upsurge of fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and ask for urgent funding to deal with the situation.  Access to those in need is severely hampered, the spokesman for the Office of Humanitarian Coordination said, due to the ongoing fighting which has intensified over the last few days.

Jens Laerke, Spokesman, Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) denied reports that UN agencies and other aid organizations had left the area. Their movements were restricted due to the insecurity, he said, but they are still operating in the region.

Overall in the region, including the newly displaced, there are half a million people who have fled their homes, the spokesperson for the World Food Program said.  Although WFP is currently distributing food to 180,000 people, funds are urgently needed, Elisabeth Byrs said, to continue operations.

The representative of the UN refugee agency said that increasing numbers of people are fleeing across the borders into neighboring Uganda and Rwanda, and that funding was needed to help these people feeling the fighting.