STORY: As Somalia marks World Humanitarian Day, UN

calls for more protection of aid workers

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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NATURAL SOUND
DATELINE: 19/AUGUST/2018, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

SHOT LIST:

1. Wide shot, participants at a press briefing on World Humanitarian Day, in

Mogadishu
2. Med shot, participants attending
3. Med shot, Peter de Clercq, the Deputy Special Representative of the UN-Secretary
General for Somalia and UN Resident Humanitarian Coordinator; Hamza Said Hamza
- the Federal Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management;
Abdirahman Osman -Mayor of Mogadishu and Governor of Benadir Region and
Caroline Van Buren - the Country Representative of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
4. Wide shot, participants listening
5. Med shot, participants
6. Wide shot, participants at the event
7. Close up shot, a participant taking notes
8. Med shot, participants taking notes
9. Wide shot, various humanitarian aid organizations representatives attending
10. Close up shot, a participant listening
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Peter de Clercq, the Deputy Special Representative of the
UN-Secretary General for Somalia and UN Resident Humanitarian Coordinator
“As humanitarians deliver aid, and medical workers treat the sick and wounded, they
are directly targeted. They are still facing threats and they are being prevented at
times from bringing relief to those in desperate need. This must stop.”

12. Pan shot, Hamza Said Hamza, the Federal Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and
Disaster Management speaking at the event
13. Close up shot, a participant taking notes
14. Med shot, Peter de Clercq and Caroline Van Buren listening
15. Close up shot, Caroline Van Buren taking notes
16. Med shot, participants listening
17. Med shot, participants attending the event
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Hamza Said Hamza, the Federal Minister of Humanitarian
Affairs and Disaster Management
“Our ministry will work on getting strong policies that (works) and protects the
wellbeing of civilians, aid and health workers. This event is one way to commence
and start working towards the protection of aid workers.”

19. Med shot, Caroline Van Buren, the Country Representative of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Somalia taking notes
20. Med shot, participants taking notes
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdirahman Osman, Mayor of Mogadishu and Governor
of Benadir Region
“Addressing displacement is a development issue for Benadir Regional
Administration. The administration understands you cannot have a modern and
forward-looking capital city with thousands displaced. As the capital of Somalia,
Mogadishu can become a model for the country if it promotes an inclusive
progressive agenda to deal with displacement,”

22. SOUNDBITE (English) Caroline Van Buren, the Country Representative of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Somalia
“We welcome the commitments made by the Government and regional
governments to address the issue of evictions by issuing eviction guidelines in line
with international and regional standards,”

23. Med shot, Peter de Clercq - the Deputy Special Representative of the UN-
Secretary General for Somalia; Hamza Said Hamza - the Somali Federal Minister of
Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management; Abdirahman Osman - the Mayor of
Mogadishu and Governor of Benadir Region and Caroline Van Buren - the Country
Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

STORY

As Somalia marks World Humanitarian Day, UN calls for more protection of aid
workers

Mogadishu, 19 August 2018 – As the international community marked the World

Humanitarian Day today, a senior United Nations official warned of the grave threats
faced by aid workers in Somalia, where they continue to be targets of armed groups
which often abduct and detain them and steal desperately needed relief supplies.
“As humanitarians deliver aid and medical workers treat the sick and wounded, they
are directly targeted,” the UN Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for
Somalia and Humanitarian Coordinator, Peter de Clercq, said at a press briefing in
the Somali capital.

“They are still facing threats and they are being prevented at times from bringing
relief to those in desperate need – this must stop,” he added.

The UN official noted that 74 violent incidents affecting humanitarian personnel,

health facilities and assets had been registered in the Horn of Africa country since
the beginning of 2018. Seven humanitarian workers have died thus far this year and
another ten have been injured.

Of the 18 humanitarian workers who have been kidnapped this year, six remain in
the custody of their captors, including the German nurse Sonja Nientiet who was
working with the International Committee of the Red Cross when she was abducted
in the capital, Mogadishu, last May.

The Humanitarian Coordinator said that although the number of aid workers who
have been targeted in 2018 is lower than the figure for last year, the practice
remains a cause for concern.

Somalia’s federal government has vowed to take action to reduce the threats facing
aid workers.

“Our ministry will work on getting strong policies that protect the well-being of
civilians, aid and health workers,” the federal Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and
Disaster Management, Hamza Said Hamza, said at today’s event.

Plight of civilians

The plight of civilians caught up in humanitarian crises was also highlighted during
the press briefing, with Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) topping the list of priority
cases.

The Mayor of Mogadishu and Governor of the Benadir Regional Administration,

Abdirahman Omar Osman, estimates that the Somali capital and environs host at
least 500,000 IDPs.

“Addressing displacement is a development issue for the Benadir Regional

Administration. You cannot have a modern and forward-looking capital city with
thousands displaced,” noted Mr. Osman, adding that Mogadishu needs to adopt an
“an inclusive progressive agenda” to cope better with its IDP population.

While emphasizing the need for tangible solutions to reduce internal displacement,
the Country Representative of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees,
Caroline Van Buren, told the gathered journalists that 2.6 million Somalis have been
displaced internally across the country.

“We welcome the commitments made by the (federal) government and regional
governments to address the issue of evictions by issuing guidelines in line with
international and regional standards,” remarked Ms. Van Buren.

In 2008, the UN designated August 19 as World Humanitarian Day to commemorate

a suicide bomb attack on the UN offices in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad in 2003 which
killed 22 people and injured many more.

The Day aims to pay tribute to aid workers who risk their lives in humanitarian
service, and to rally support for people affected by crises around the world.