UN Delegation visits Chornobyl

3 February 2010. -  UN Delegation visits Chornobyl, calls to continue assisting social and economic recovery of the fall-out regions and communities Olivier Adam, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations and UNDP Resident Representative in Ukraine, and his Russian counterpart Frode Mauring have visited Chornobyl nuclear power plant site.

During the today’s working visit UN Delegation participants - comprised of Ricarda Rieger, UNDP Country Director, Joanna Kazana-Wisniowiecka, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, Elinor Bajraktari, UNDP Assistant Resident Representative in Belarus - called on the world to remember the sufferings caused by the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear accident. They also expressed confidence in the potential for the region’s social and economic recovery.

The working visit was organized as part of the three-day sub-regional meeting on UNDP’s response to Chornobyl in Belarus, Russian Federation and Belarus. The meeting was hosted by UNDP Ukraine in Kyiv on 1-3 February. 

The UN shifted its strategy on Chornobyl from emergency relief to long-term recovery and development in 2002. In line with this shift, UNDP assumed responsibility for UN-wide coordination of Chornobyl recovery issues in 2004. According to the UN Action Plan on Chornobyl to 2016 one of the tasks is returning to normal economic activities and infrastructure improvement at the Polissia areas that belong to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th zone of radiation contamination after Chornobyl accident.

UNDP sees a lack of social and economic opportunities and overall poverty – the result both of resettlements and economic restrictions imposed after Chornobyl, and of dislocations following the disintegration of the Soviet Union – as the biggest challenges equally facing Chornobyl-affected communities in Belarus, Russian Federation and Ukraine.

“The consequences of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster linger even now after almost 24 years. International community need to demonstrate continued generosity in supporting Chornobyl-affected regions as they strive for a long-sought return to normal life. UNDP and the Government of Ukraine are sharing the common understanding that return to normal life is a reasonable prospect for people living in the Chornobyl-affected regions,” Adam says.

“The new UN development approach is already yielding practical results, in three important areas: first, the provision of factual and credible information; second, community-based social and economic recovery; and third, policy advice,” Adam adds.

Since 2009 four United Nations agencies (International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), UN Development Programme, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the World Health Organization WHO) have been implementing  a new USD 2.5 million International Chornobyl Research and Information Network (ICRIN) Project designed to meet the priority information needs of affected communities in Belarus, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine.

Funded by the UN Trust Fund for Human Security, this three-year initiative aims at translating the latest scientific information on the consequences of the accident into sound practical advice for residents of the affected territories.

Activities planned under the ICRIN project include the dissemination of information, through education and training for teachers, medical professionals, community leaders, and the media; providing local residents with practical advice on health risks and healthy lifestyles; the creation of Internet-equipped information centers in rural areas; and small-scale community infrastructure projects aimed at improving living conditions and promoting self-reliance.

In Ukraine, the transition from humanitarian aid to a development strategy defined the coordination role of UN Development Programme, putting UNDP at the heart of these UN-led efforts. The development of Chornobyl affected territories through community development initiatives has been successfully implemented since 2002 within the UNDP-led ‘Chornobyl Recovery and Development Programme’ - a project operating in the country's four worst-hit regions - Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Chernigiv and Rivne Regions. 

The project has been funded by a number of international donors, including UN Trust Fund for Human Security (Government of Japan), CIDA, SDC, UNV, and UNDP. As a result, over 2004-2009 a total of over 300 community organisations were founded in 192 villages with over 20,000 people. Uniting their own resources with those of local authorities and the private sector, they are implementing projects focused on making a real difference in their lives.

“More significant than these numbers, however, is the impact on community attitudes, transforming a deep-seated helplessness into a spirit of activism,” Adam added.

Specifically, these community-based initiatives include reconstruction of water pipe-lines and gasification, reconstruction of schools, baths, village health centres and ambulatories, and establishment of youth, public and service centres, etc. The youth centres are especially important in the small villages where there is often no place for the young to gain computer skills, learn about healthy lifestyles, or participate in social activities.

In addition, ‘Chornobyl Recovery and Development Programme’ continuously supports the expansion of institutional opportunities, strengthening the potential of organisations and institutions that promote socio-economic development and ecological recovery of the Chornobyl-affected regions. This is being achieved via continuing support provided to the local communities, authorities and the Government of Ukraine in designing and implementing human development-oriented solutions for the affected regions.

Moreover, ‘Chornobyl Recovery and Development Programme’ promotes good governance and supports economic development of the region. It facilitates development of partnership and networking of local authorities of Ukraine and EU countries.

Last year [2009] 19 partnership agreements were signed between local authorities from Ukraine and Poland. It helps to transfer and adapt best practices of good governance, to understand better the role of local authorities in attracting investments to the region. It also helps to remove the stigma of the affected regions and create an environment for foreign partners to discover existing business opportunities.