23 Oct 2012

GENEVA / SYRIA FOOD

The World Food Programme today said that with access to food in Syria becoming "more and more challenging", it hoped to use a ceasefire proposed for the Eid holiday to pre-position food aid. The agency distributed food to 1.5 million Syrians last month. CH UNTV

Posted at: October 23, 2012 2:07 pm

Duration: 02:11

Available in: SD

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STORY: GENEVA / SYRIA FOOD
TRT: 2.11
SOURCE: CH UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE:  23 OCTOBER 2012, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

SHOTLIST:

FILE – 2011, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

1. Wide shot, exterior, Palais des Nations

23 OCTOBER 2012, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

2. Wide shot, press room  
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Daly Belgasmi, Regional Director for the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, World Food Programme (WFP):
"We reached last month 1.5 million Syrians inside Syria and it's unfortunate that the condition of Syrians, the condition of the condition of quality life, access, it's becoming more and more challenging. People are internally displaced once, twice, three four times, moving from one area to another looking for shelter and for refuge. We believe that the situation is worsening."
4. Cutaway, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Daly Belgasmi, Regional Director for the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, World Food Programme (WFP):
"The crisis and the complexity of the crisis, it is beyond a single power...decision, and we are afraid it will take  some time and I am afraid that the winter will not be helpful. We see that the cost of fuel, the availability of fuel inside Syria may be an issue. We need to be able to make sure that fuel is available for cooking and for heating."
6. Cutaway, journalist taking notes
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Daly Belgasmi, Regional Director for the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, World Food Programme (WFP):
"It is not a situation where we can say we have access or we don't have access. It's very volatile. It's changing."
8. Cutaway, journalists
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Daly Belgasmi, Regional Director for the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, World Food Programme (WFP):
"I really hope that the ceasefire takes place to allow for the Eid. There are many reasons, to allow evacuation and to allow additional prepositioning of food in the region."
10. Med shot, group of journalists
11. Wide shot, briefing

STORYLINE:

The World Food Programme (WFP) distributed food to 1.5 million Syrians last month.

WFP Regional Director for the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, Daly Belgasmi told a news conference in Geneva today (23 October) insecurity in the region meant access remained a problem.

He described the situation as changing and volatile and said, "It's not a situation where we can say, we have access or we don't have access."

Belgasmi said the cost and availability of fuel would be a problem with the advent of winter.

Efforts would be needed to ensure its availability for cooking and heating.

The official hoped the proposed ceasefire for this weekend's Eid celebrations would take place, since it could allow the pre-positioning of food supplies in areas that are hard to reach.

WFP has reached about 120,000 people in neighbouring countries and hopes to increase food delivery to 460,000 people by June next year.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) today said that Lebanon has become the third country in the region to see its population of registered Syrian refugees and people waiting for registration exceed the 100,000 mark. According to UNHCR, Lebanon had more than 101,000 Syrian refugees in the country as of Monday. Refugee populations in Turkey and Jordan were already above that level. Across the region, the number has climbed to more than 358,000.