29 Nov 2012

DR CONGO / UPDATE

Moustapha Soumaré, Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) today briefed the press via video-link from Kinshasa. UNTV

Posted at: November 29, 2012 5:37 pm

Duration: 02:02

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: DR CONGO / UPDATE
TRT: 2.03
SOURCE: UNTV / MONUSCO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 29 NOVEMBER 2012, NEW YORK CITY

SHOTLIST:

FILE – 2011, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

29 NOVEMBER 2012, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, press conference with video link from Kinshasa
3. Cutaway, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Moustapha Soumaré, Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO):
"People have fled in different points because of the fighting, they have remained on the move constantly. Therefore it was very difficult for them to find help and it can be challenging for the humanitarians to keep up with the need of distressed people constantly moving, which has been really a challenge for all of us here."
5. Cutaway, press conference
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Moustapha Soumaré, Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO):
"Beyond really the M23 direct impact, South Kivu is also, you need to understand, a theatre of increased armed group activities with major violence carried out on civilians. As of today it is estimated that 877 thousand IDPs [internally displaced people], and it has almost doubled since the beginning of the year."
7. Cutaway, journalists
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Moustapha Soumaré, Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO):
"Security-wise we are now working with MONUSCO to make sure that they can really support the humanitarian community in the delivery of our work. On the physical part there are places where it is rather difficult today to go if then, if we have to go even if we have the security protection because of the issue of the terrain, which we need some different kind of means like helicopters and so on that we need to do."
9. Cutaway, journalists
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Moustapha Soumaré, Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO):
"If we do remain concerned on the underlying causes of this conflict and of the latest deterioration of the crisis which remains to be addressed: Until those underlying causes have been addressed there is really a great potential for further violence which can put a lot of people to be displaced."
11. Wide shot, press conference

STORYLINE:

Briefing reporters today (29 November) at the United Nations (UN) in New York via videolink from Kinshasa the Deputy Special Representative for the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) addressed the humanitarian situation in that country.

Noting that the Goma Kivu crisis was a very special one within the existing eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Moustapha Soumaré said that due to people fleeing in different directions because of the fighting, while remaining on the move constantly it was very challenging for the humanitarians to keep up with the need of the distressed population.

Fighters with the M23, a rebel group composed of soldiers who mutinied from the DRC national army in April, occupied Goma last week. But Soumaré said that beyond the M23's direct impact, South Kivu was also "a theatre of increased armed group activities with major violence carried out on civilians."

He added that it was estimated that there were presently "877 thousand IDPs and it has almost doubled since the beginning of the year".

Soumaré said that the humanitarian team in the country had already started addressing the most urgent needs of about 110 thousand displaced people around Goma, with water, hygiene and food.

While enumerating the humanitarian challenges he said that security-wise he was working together with MONUSCO to make sure the humanitarian community could deliver, but that apart from security concerns the terrain posed challenges that would require "some different kind of means like helicopters" to be able to reach difficult areas.

Noting that the immediate humanitarian needs for those near Goma were more or less under control for the short term and while expressing his concern over the medium and long term, he said that, "until the underlying causes of the crisis have been addressed, there is really a great potential for further violence, which can lead to further displacement".