SHOTLIST:
1.Wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying, a cloudy day.
2.Wide shot, podium with speakers in a near-empty Room XIV in line with COVID-19 distancing measures, Palais des Nations.
3.SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“South Sudan is facing its highest levels of food insecurity and malnutrition since independence 10 years ago. The South Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan for 2021, which is being launched today, aims to reach 6.6 million people at life-saving assistance and protection this year.”
4.Med shot, podium with speakers, side shot, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
United Nations Food Agencies Ask for $5.5 Billion to Avoid Multiple Famines Worldwide
The world is facing multiple conflict-driven famines, aggravated by climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, and without immediate action, millions of people from the Sahel to Afghanistan could well find themselves on the brink of extreme hunger and death this year, António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, warned the Security Council today.
His dire warning delivered at the start of a videoconference Council debate on conflict-induced food insecurity came as the United Nations’ two leading food-related entities the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are appealing for the emergency mobilization of $5.5 billion to help 34 million people who are facing emergency levels of food insecurity worldwide.
Following the Virtual High-Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Situation in Yemen, UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications Melissa Fleming moderates a press conference with panelists Mark Lowcock, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Per Olsson Fridh, Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, and Manuel Bessler, Delegate of the Federal Council and Head of Swiss Humanitarian Aid.
The World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) appealed today for US$266 million to end food ration cuts for over 3 million refugees in East Africa. UNTV CH
Hunger in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua has increased almost fourfold over the past two years - from 2.2 million people in 2018 to close to 8 million people in 2021 – a result of the economic crisis caused by COVID-19 and years of extreme climate events. WFP