UNifeed: UN / AFGHANISTAN

UN / AFGHANISTAN

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to brief the press after a closed meeting with the Security Council on Afghanistan. UNTV

Duration:03:10Date:29 October 2009

Categories:

United Nations Television, POLITICAL AND LEGAL QUESTIONS, MAINTENANCE OF PEACE AND SECURITY, AFGHANISTAN

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Full Script

STORY: UN / AFGHANISTAN
TRT: 3.10
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 29 OCTOBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY

SHOTLIST:

RECENT 2009, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

29 OCTOBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, Secretary-General approaches microphone
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The UN is being targeted, in this case precisely because of our support for the Afghan elections. Not counting peacekeepers, 27 UN civilian personnel have lost their lives to violence so far this year, more than half of them in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Yesterday, I said we will not be deterred. We cannot do it alone. We need the support of the Member States.”
4. Cutaway, hands taking notes
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“This morning I received a phonecall from President Karzai of Afghanistan who assured me of the tightened security support for UNAMA and I urged him again that he should take immediate action to strengthen the security measures for the premises and staff, for their safety and security.”
6. Cutaway, camerawoman
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Second round of the Afghan presidential election is only a week away. As I told the Security Council, we are considering a number of immediate short-term measures. Those include consolidating UN staff in Kabul and around the country. We are exploring the feasibility of bringing in additional security units to guard UN facilities and will ask international community to step up its support. This will be particularly important during the interim election period, with a special emphasis on areas outside Kabul where UN security is clearly insufficient.”
8. Cutaway, hands taking notes
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Primary responsibility for the safety and security of UN staff falls on Afghanistan government. At the same time what I said in here (Security Council) is that we need support from Afghanistan’s security forces as well as from international community.”
10. Wide shot, Ban Ki-moon leaving stakeout area
11. Wide shot, Permanent Representative of Afghanistan taking his seat at the Security Council
12. Med shot, delegates
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Le Luong Minh, Permanent Representative of Vietnam and President of the Security Council for the month of October:
“The Security Council expresses its strong support for the Secretary-General and all United Nations personnel in fulfilling the difficult but important tasks, further expresses solidarity for the United Nations staff on the ground and commends the determination of the United Nations not to be deterred by the tragic incident and to carry on its missions in Afghanistan.”
14. Wide shot, Security Council

STORYLINE:

The United Nations Secretary-General today (29 October) briefed the members of the Security Council on the terrorist attacks against the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) which happened yesterday claiming the lives of five staff members and injuring nine others.

Following the closed door meeting Ban met journalists and said that the organization was being targeted, “in this case precisely because of our support for the Afghan elections”.

He added that not counting peacekeepers, 27 UN civilian personnel had lost their lives to violence so far this year, “more than half of them in Afghanistan and Pakistan”.

Ban said that the UN will not be deterred, but he added that the job cannot be done alone. “We need the support of the Member States.”

Ban announced that this morning he had received a phone call from Afghan President Hamid Karzai who assured him of the tightened security support for UNAMA.

The Secretary-General reminded journalists that the second round of the Afghan presidential election was only a week away, and he added that the UN was considering a number of immediate short-term measures which included consolidating UN staff in Kabul and around the country, as well as exploring the feasibility of bringing into the country additional security units to guard UN facilities and also ask the international community to step up its support.

Ban stressed that the primary responsibility for the safety and security of UN staff “falls on Afghanistan government”. But he also added that at the same time “what I said in here (Security Council) is that we need support from Afghanistan’s security forces as well as from international community.”

Following Ban’s statement to the press, the Security Council issued a presidential statement in an open door meeting.

Vietnamese Ambassador Le Luong Minh, in his capacity as President of the Security Council for the month of October, said that the Security Council expressed its strong support for the Secretary-General and all UN personnel in fulfilling “these difficult but important tasks”. The statement further expressed solidarity for UN  staff on the ground and commended the determination of the United Nations “not to be deterred by the tragic incident and to carry on its missions in Afghanistan.”

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