26 Feb 2013

GENEVA / MALI APPEAL

UNICEF says it urgently needs US$ 45 million to help children in conflict-strickenMali, where political instability has severely aggravated an already fragile situation for women and children. CH UNTV

Posted at: February 26, 2013 12:34 pm

Duration: 01:51

Available in: SD

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STORY: GENEVA / MALI APPEAL
TRT: 1.51
SOURCE: CH UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 26 FEBRUARY 2013, GENEVA SWITZERLAND

1. Wide shot, exterior Palais des Nations 
2. Wide shot, conference
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Marixie Mercado , spokesperson for the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF:  
"Without additional funding soon, UNICEF will be unable to continue life-saving interventions for internally displaced persons and host communities, or for refugees in neighbouring countries. Over 420,000 have fled their homes since last year, including around 250,000 displaced inside the country. Mauritania has about 69,000 refugees, Burkina Faso has registered over 47,000, and Niger has over 54,000 registered refugees."
4. Cutaway, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Marixie Mercado, spokesperson for the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF:    
"The region as a whole is still in the grips of a nutrition crisis, and in Mali, UNICEF estimates that 660,000 children will suffer from acute malnutrition this year, including 210,000 who will require life-saving treatment."
6. Cutaway, Conference 
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Marixie Mercado, spokesperson for the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF:  
"Children are always much more vulnerable, in these refugee camps. They're much more vulnerable to sexual abuse, they're much more vulnerable to violence, they're much more vulnerable to all sorts of risks. So for us, protection is an integral- an absolutely necessary- part of the humanitarian response."
8. Cutaway, WFP News Release
9.( SOUNDBITE (English) Marixie Mercado, spokesperson for the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF: 
"The funding we are appealing for will cover an integrated response to the nutrition crisis; this means that in addition to the nutrition-specific interventions, this will include safe water for displaced people and for refugees, plus diseases such as Malaria, Cholera, and other water-borne diseases. Support to education protection services are also part of the plan response."
10.  Wide shot, conference

STORYLINE:

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) today (26 February) said it urgently needs US$ 45 million to help children in conflict-stricken Mali, where political instability has severely aggravated an already fragile situation for women and children.

The conflict comes on top of years of drought in Mali and other nations in the Sahel region, where millions face famine as a result.  UNICEF estimates that 660,000 children will suffer from acute malnutrition this year, including 210,000 who will require life-saving treatment.

UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado told reporters at the United Nations (UN) in Geneva the money was needed to address basic needs such as healthcare, nutrition, education and protection over the next three months.  She said, "Without additional funding soon, UNICEF will be unable to continue life-saving interventions for internally displaced persons and host communities, or for refugees in neighbouring countries. Over 420,000 have fled their homes since last year, including around 250,000 displaced inside the country".

Hundreds of thousands of Malians fled their homes in the wake of last year's seizure of a swathe of the north by Islamists, and in the face of a French-led offensive launched by the Malian army in January against the militants.

Mercado said that, "Children are always much more vulnerable. They're much more vulnerable to sexual abuse, they're much more vulnerable to violence, they're much more vulnerable to all sorts of risks. So for us, protection is an integral- an absolutely necessary- part of the humanitarian response," and added that the crisis had also disrupted schooling for some "700,000 children".