The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News , Press Conferences | UNICEF , UNHCR , OCHA
UNHCR/OCHA/UNICEF Virtual Press Conference - Presentation of the Regional Refugee Preparedness and Response Plan for Afghanistan - 27 August 2021
Around 500,000 new Afghan refugees are expected in the region by the end of the year, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said on Friday, at the presentation of the Regional Preparedness and Emergency Plan for Afghan Refugees. Appealing to all countries neighbouring Afghanistan to keep their borders open to those seeking to escape the intensifying crisis, the agency envisaged this number as “a worst-case scenario”. Based on an analysis of ongoing social, economic, political and the security situation, “the purpose of the figures is to enable us to plan and preposition important assistance so that urgent interventions can be scaled up quickly, efficiently as possible and if needed” Kelly Clements, Deputy High Commissioner, UNHCR said.
The plan is seeking a total of $299 million dollars to support the activities of UN agencies this year, including the UNHCR, the World Food Program and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), as well as NGOs, with which the United Nations works. “This is about contingency planning. It is not the actual response,” said Ms Clements. “Increased and immediate funding will allow us to preposition core relief items and be ready for emergency interventions”. The UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner emphasized that significant movements across borders are not yet taking place and that the greatest needs remain inside the country, where the impacts of the conflict have been compounded by a severe drought and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We know that growing insecurity and violence this year alone has displaced more than half a million Afghans, 80 per cent of whom are women and children,” Ms Clements said. Najeeba Wazedafost, CEO Asia Pacific Refugee Network described the situation over the past week in Afghanistan as “heartbreaking”. APNOR has received “a vast amount of calls to our Afghan crisis helpline where people have been reporting executions, beatings and clampdown on media and radio stations' '. She added that the Taliban have been carrying out “door to door searches, targeted killings and looting in the capital,” as well as attacking thousands of schools, hospitals and homes.
“All roads leading to and going out of the cities are being closed by the Taliban,” and “hospitals have nearly reached full capacity,” she said. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) added their voice to the call for funding. “At the beginning of this year, we estimated that around 18 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance,” Wafaa Saeed Abdelatef, Director, Coordination Division, UN OCHA: said, describing it as a “staggering number”. She warned that “a lot has happened and we expect that these needs have actually increased, compounded by conflict, compounded by drought and by Covid-19”. Ms Abdelatef said “flexible funding” needs to be scaled up urgently “ because the level of supplies are being stretched and because winter is coming”.
TRT: 02:33”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 27 August 2021, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
1.Exterior wide shot, United Nations flag flying.
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Kelly Clements, Deputy High Commissioner, UNHCR:
“ We are preparing for around 500 thousand new refugees in the region, this is a worst case scenario. Our planning figures are based on an analysis of ongoing social, economic, political and the security situation. The purpose of the figures is to enable us to plan and preposition important assistance so that urgent interventions can be scaled up quickly, efficiently as possible and if needed”.
3.Exterior mid shot, United Nations flag flying
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Kelly Clements, Deputy High Commissioner, UNHCR: “ Increased and immediate funding will allow us to preposition core relief items and be ready for emergency interventions.
5.Exterior wide shot, United Nations flag flying
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Wafaa Saeed Abdelatef, Director, Coordination Division, UN OCHA: “Starting by the humanitarian situation at the beginning of this year, we estimated that around 18 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. This is almost half the population and it is a staggering number. And this was at the beginning of the year. So as we speak now, a lot has happened and we expect that these needs have actually increased. And this humanitarian needs are coming from decades of conflict, compounded by drought and by covid-19”.
7.Exterior mid shot, United Nations flag flying
8.SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Wafaa Saeed Abdelatef, Director, Coordination Division, UN OCHA: ”We remain short of 800 million dollars. This is needed urgently because the level of supply now are being stretched, because also we are coming to winter and we need there is also not only the scale of the funding, but the urgency of the funding and we need these funds to be flexible”.
9.Exterior wide shot, United Nations flag flying
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Najeeba Wazedafost, CEO Asia Pacific Refugee Network:”For us in APNOR, it has been quite heartbreaking, especially in the past week, receiving a vast amount of calls to our Afghan crisis helpline where people have been reporting executions and beatings and clampdown on medias and radio stations. They've been reporting to us about Taliban's, you know, door to door searches, targeted killings and looting in the capital. And again, we've been hearing about schools and hospitals and thousands of homes being attacked. All roads leading to and going out of the cities are being closed by the Taliban. Hospitals, as we already heard, have nearly reached full capacity and really can no longer accept patients”.
11.Exterior wide shot, United Nations flag flying
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Kelly Clements, Deputy High Commissioner, UNHCR: “So it's really prepositioning and what I want to underscore about this particular plan. This is about planning and contingency planning. It is not the actual response”.
- Exterior wide shot, United Nations flag flying.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , HRC
Volker Türk, the UN Human Rights High Commissioner, made the following remarks during a briefing to a Special Session on Iran at the Human Rights Council.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , UNOPS , UNIS
Amid the launch of President Trump's Board of Peace and reconstruction talks on Gaza, UN aid agencies insisted on Friday that what Gazans need most is immediate relief from the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe there.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IFRC , IOM , UNOPS , UNRWA , WHO
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the United Nations Office for Project Services, the UN International Organization for Migration, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
2
6
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences , Images | HRC
At UN, war crimes probe pledges to continue to work for all impacted by Hamas-Israel conflict
As President Trump launched the international Board of Peace plan for Gaza on Thursday, top independent rights experts tasked by the UN Human Rights Council with investigating grave abuses linked to the Hamas-Israel war pledged to continue their work seeking justice and accountability for all.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said Tuesday UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk was outraged by the repeated large-scale attacks by the Russian Federation on energy infrastructure in Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN warns against repeating abuses in South Kordofan that occurred in El Fasher.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Mozambique floods heighten disease, malnutrition risks – UN agencies
Catastrophic flooding in Mozambique is causing massive disruption to lives and livelihoods across the country, increasing the risk of disease and exposing urban areas to crocodiles, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OCHA , OHCHR , UNCTAD , UNICEF , UNECE
Rolando Gómez, Chief of Press and External Relations Section, United Nations Information Service (UNIS) at Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the United Nations Trade and Development.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OCHA
Yemen: Children are dying and it’s going to get worse, aid veteran warns
In Yemen, renewed political instability threatens and economic woes linked to the war to complicate the already difficult task of helping vulnerable people suffering from deepening hunger, illness and displacement, the UN's top aid official there said on Monday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , IFRC
Ukraine: Families in ‘survival mode’ amid Russian strikes and -18°C cold
Families across Ukraine are in “constant survival mode” amid ongoing waves of Russian missile and drone strikes that have left blocks without power for days at a time, while temperatures plunge to a deadly -18°C (-0.4°F), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC , UNICEF , IFRC , WFP , WHO , UNHCR
Rolando Gómez, Chief of Press and External Relations Section, UN Information Service at Geneva (UNIS), chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Children’s Fund, the International Federation of the Red Cross, the World Food Programme, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Health Organization.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva, UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence urges Iranian authorities to end violent repression and calls for accountability.