Fletcher Afghanistan visit - 2 May 2025
Description
STORY: OCHA / AFGHANISTAN FLETCHER VISIT
TRT: 10:46
SOURCE: OCHA
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT OCHA ON SCREEN
LANGUAGES: DARI / PASHTO / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 23, 29 APRIL 2025, KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN / 30 APRIL, KUNDUZ, AFGHANISTAN
Shotlist
29 APRIL 2025, KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN
1. Various shots, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher touring the Salamati Circle, a social enterprise offering vocational training to women with the support of UN Women
23 APRIL 2025, TAKHTA PUL RECEPTION CENTRE, KANDAHAR PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN
2. Various shots, Afghan returnees arriving at the reception centre, getting registered, receiving health and basic services
3. SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Juma Gul, Returnee from Karachi, Pakistan:
“We have just returned and kindly request the government to provide us with a place to live. We want our children to have a peaceful life, and we are capable of doing labor work ourselves. All we ask from them is to prepare shelter for us.”
29 APRIL 2025, TAKHTA PUL RECEPTION CENTRE, KANDAHAR PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN
4. Various shots, Fletcher meeting returnees and visiting the reception centre.
5. Wide shot, exterior, Mirwais Hospital
6. Various shots, Fletcher visiting the facility accompanied by hospital staff
7. Various shots, NICU unit and Fletcher visiting
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“We often talk about funding cuts in general terms, in terms of numbers and statistics. But I challenge anyone making these decisions to come and visit a hospital like this one in Kandahar, where in the region around us we've had to cut in the last few months, 400 clinics, 400 medical centres denying primary health care to over 3 million people. And you see the impact of that in major hospitals like this one, where you have three, four people to a bed, when you can see the newborn children not getting the support they need, where you can see doctors making the most horrific decisions about which lives to save and which lives not to save and where, when you spend time with the female health workers on whom this infrastructure relies, and they tell you that they are facing salary cuts of half, of two thirds, that they're struggling to carry on working and bring up their families - this is real. And this is the impact of aid cuts. And I can't sugar this pill. The impact of aid cuts is that millions die.”
30 APRIL, KUNDUZ, AFGHANISTAN
9. Wide shot, UN convoy on the move from Kunduz to the villages of Nawabad cluster of villages
10. Med shot, Fletcher conversing with mothers and families at the Mobile Health and Nutrition Team led by JACK (Just for Afghan Capacity and Knowledge, NNGO), funded by UNICEF / World Bank
11. Various shots of Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher Fletcher talking to Maryam, a midwife and Shabana, a teacher
12. SOUNDBITE (Dari) Mariam, Midwife:
“We sincerely request that these health services for communities are restored. People are desperately in need and are in a difficult situation, both financially and economically. In every respect, people are poor and vulnerable. If these services are resumed, we would be very happy and relieved.”
13. SOUNDBITE (Dari) Shabana, Teacher:
“The suspension of US aid, including USAID support, is truly concerning — even for me, as a teacher and the sole breadwinner for my family.”
14. Med shot, Fletcher in a focus group discussion with women beneficiaries, mobile health and nutrition team female staff, and female staff working in the Family Health House (JACK/UNFPA) impacted by the US funding cut which recently suspended services
14. Various shots, health centre
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“A brilliant female colleague on the frontline of the humanitarian effort said to me that, “as women in Afghanistan, we don't want to be saved. We want to be seen. We want to be heard.” And so, I've been listening to those voices of these powerful women in Kabul and Kandahar and here in Kunduz, and I've heard heartrending stories, but also stories of hope. Stories of women who are desperate to get back to school and to university, who've had their education stolen from them. Stories of women who are on the frontlines of the humanitarian effort, despite the huge challenges they face just operating, moving around every day. And then here in Kunduz, hearing from women who are losing everything because of the cuts that we've been forced to make even since April, the nearest medical facility is now a three-hour cycle away. The clinics have all been closed nearby. And so I'm hearing from women who have had to cycle while very, very heavily pregnant, the three hours along this bumpy road back to the nearest hospital, and they've lost their children as a result. And this is real. These cuts are not theoretical. They are hitting women like these women of great courage and hope and resilience. And we need their voices to be heard. And we need them to be seen to.”
16. Various shots, health centre
Storyline
The Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, visited Afghanistan and met with communities affected by the multi-layered crises now afflicting the country, including underlying poverty, climate-related shocks and the aftermath of four decades of conflict.
During his visit, USG Fletcher also met with the de facto authorities, women-led organizations and Afghan female humanitarian workers where he reinforced the centrality of Afghan women’s full and meaningful participation in the humanitarian response as being essential to continuing to meet the needs of women and girls.
He also drew attention to the plight of hundreds of thousands of Afghans forced to return from neighbouring countries, as well as the devastating impact of recent funding cuts on life-saving programmes, especially for vulnerable populations.