Syria - Fletcher Damascus visit - 17 December 2024

STORY: OCHA / SYRIA FLETCHER VISIT

TRT: 04:50

SOURCE: OCHA

RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT OCHA ON SCREEN

LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / ARABIC / NATS 

DATELINE: 17 DECEMBER 2024, AL TAMAYOZ HEALTH CENTRE, DAMASCUS, SYRIA

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, tracking, UN convoy in Damascus
2. Various shots, USG Fletcher entering Al Tamayoz health centre and greeting staff
3. Various shots, USG Fletcher in conversation with staff
4. Closeup, child waiting to be visited
5. Medium shot, USG Fletcher and UN delegation at check-in
6. Various shots, photo collage of paediatric patients of Al Tamayoz
7. Various shots, medical staff with patients
8. Various shots, USG Fletcher in conversation with mothers of patients
9. Various shots, the centre
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:

“I'm hearing first-hand from the women and children who are receiving essential, essential medical supplies. At the moment, there aren't enough demands are huge. And they're telling me that they need these life-saving drugs in order to rebuild their lives and support their families. I think it's essential that we are here as a humanitarian community. Hearing their stories. I just spoke to one mother of two orphans. She lost her husband in detention. She's living with five other widows in one house, trying to bring up those families. These women are going through incredible hardship, and we need to be here with them.”

11. Pan left, USG Fletcher in conversation with a woman
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mother of patients (Name withheld):

“My husband was detained”

13. Closeup, USG Fletcher listening

14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mother of patients (Name withheld):

“After one year of detention, they gave me documents saying that he had died”

15. Medium shot, USG Fletcher in conversation with mother of patients
16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mother of patients (Name withheld):
17. Medium shot, USG Fletcher in conversation with mother of patients

 “I didn’t have any income and my children were so young – I was referred to this centre. Two of my children have thalassemia and they need regular care. And they need also medication. All of this, I found at this centre.”

STORYLINE:

Emergency Relief Chief Tom Fletcher met with the transitional authorities and United Nations partners to discuss the humanitarian response in Syria where seven in ten people continue to need humanitarian aid.

During a visit to Al Tamayoz center, which provides medical services and food assistance to thousands of families in Damascus, Tom Fletcher said, “The demands are huge. I think it's essential that we are here as a humanitarian community.”