UNPROFOR BASIC VIDEO [Main Title]

UNPROFOR sets out what its role is in the Former Yugoslavia and asks for the cooperation of the people to help it achieve its objectives.

Title captions with voiceover 'The following is a production of UNPROFOR'. Cuts to interviews with people on the street. The first man says that UNPROFOR are not doing very much unless they are doing something behind the scenes. A woman with glasses says that UNPROFOR is not always objective and does not evaluate things correctly. A young man says that Croatians want to know when they can return to their homes without living in fear for their lives. An older man says that at the moment they are 'clumsy like an elephant in a china shop'. Shots of other people on the street. Voiceover: 'Wherever you go everyone has an opinion about UNPROFOR. What is the UN Protective Force? This video seeks to explain what its role is and what your role is.' The soldiers have become a familiar sight. Shots of UNPROFOR soldiers gathered around a map at the front of a jeep, a soldier mans a gun on top of a UNPROFOR APC, UNPROFOR vehicles enter a UN compound, a column of UNPROFOR soldiers march past the camera, three men in UN uniforms wait to cross a busy street. The force is made up of 14,000 soldiers, police and civilians. Voiceover: 'It is also made up of you, the people of the country that they are working in'. All of these people are here for one purpose - to help keep the peace. Shot of two UNPROFOR soldiers, in an APC, manning a road checkpoint. One soldier looks through a pair of binoculars, leaning his elbows on a wall of sandbags. Below him, four children lean against the sandbags, smiling and waving at the camera. The Force Commander of UNPROFOR is Lieutenant General Satish Nambiar from India. Close up on UN beret insignia, zooming out to show Lieutenant General Namiar at his desk. He says that the ordinary person is the person who most wants peace to return to the area. He says this is their country, they have got to learn to live together and there is no other place for them. How did UNPROFOR come to be here? Shots of UN Headquarters in New York. In 1991 Cyrus Vance was appointed as Personal Envoy to Yugoslavia by the UN Secretary General. After visits to the region in 1991 and 1992 he came up with a plan for peace. This came to be known as the Vance Plan. Footage of Cyrus Vance at a press briefing and the Security Council in session. The Security Council passed Resolution 473, on the 21st of February, establishing UNPROFOR. Cedric Thornberry is UNPROFOR's Director of Civil Affairs. Cedric Thornberry says that the UN's role in the Vance Plan has been agreed by both Croatia and Yugoslavia, by Franjo Tudjman and Borislav Jović (Serbia's representative on the Federal Presidency). He says that the UN is not imposing itself as they have been asked to be there. What exactly is UNPROFOR's role? Shot of officers around a map, UN medical vehicles moving in convoy, UNPROFOR soldier on patrol, UNPROFOR officers, including a CANBAT officer, greeting civilians. UNPROFOR is mainly deployed in three Protected Areas. Lieutenant General Satish Nambiar says that their job in these areas is to ensure its demilitarisation so as to create the environment for further political negotiations. This demilitarisation will take place in carefully agreed stages. Footage of UNPROFOR checkpoint. Monitoring movement of arms is one of the ways to ensure that the withdrawal of all units of the JNA and the Croatian National Guard is taking place. Active patrol is another means of monitoring the progress of demilitarisation. Footage of an UNPROFOR unit on patrol in a small town. Cedric Thornberry argues that UNPROFOR is in no way biased. He says that they must be seen to be totally impartial because if they lose that quality, they lose their whole authority. He says 'this is the quality that we guard more jealously than any other'. UN Military Observers are unarmed officers who conduct independent patrols. Footage of one such patrol showing an UN Observer meeting local officials. UNCIVPOL monitors the work of local police forces. Footage of UN police on patrol, meeting local police officers. UNPROFOR also has civilian support . Office shots showing UN employees taking down box files from a shelf and typing up documents. UNPROFOR'S aim is the restoration of normal life. Shots of a woman at work in a field, people walking along city streets. Lieutenant General Satish Nambiar says that UNHCR will work to return displaced persons and refugees to their homes and that UNPROFOR must assist UNHCR. What is UNPROFOR not responsible for? The Force is not responsible for humanitarian support except in extraordinary circumstances. That is the work of UNHCR. Footage of displaced people being loaded onto trucks with what possessions they can carry. UNPROFOR is also not responsible for negotiating with political parties at the highest level. This is the responsibility of Lord Carrington, as part of European Communities Commission on Yugoslavia. Shots of Lord Carrington meeting with leaders, Milošević and Tudjman. Cedric Thornberry says that UNPROFOR's main task is to create conditions in which peace can live and thrive, but they are not 'magicians', they can only work where they have the cooperation of governments and the people of these countries. Shots of people in town centre, working in the fields, meeting at a village crossroads. Thornberry says that it is these people that want peace and that desire for peace is one of the strongest assets that the UN can call on. Final voiceover: UNPROFOR cannot stop the fighting. This can only be done by the parties involved. Our work requires your help, understanding and cooperation.

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