UN marks 20th anniversary of Chernobyl disaster with calls of ‘never again’

The United Nations today marked the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, the worst nuclear power plant accident in history, with calls for generous aid to help the communities still suffering the consequences and renewed determination to see that such a calamity never happens again.

From UN Headquarters in New York to the Vienna seat of its specialized nuclear agency, from Secretary-General Kofi Annan to UN volunteers in the field, the world organization rallied to remember the selfless heroism of emergency workers who responded on that April day in 1986, when explosions destroyed Chernobyl’s Unit 4 reactor core, spewing a cloud of radionuclides over parts of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.

In a statement issued by his spokesman, Mr. Annan said many hard lessons had been learned from Chernobyl, including the importance of providing the public with transparent, timely and credible information in the event of a catastrophe.

“The Secretary-General believes that the best way for the international community to pay homage to those who suffered from Chernobyl is to provide generous support to programmes designed to help traumatized communities regain self-sufficiency, and affected families resume normal, healthy lives,” the statement added.

A UN World Health Organization (WHO) report issued last week said 5,000 people who were children and adolescents at the time of the accident had so far been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and there might be up to 9,000 excess cancer deaths due to radiation contamination.

In Vienna, International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei said the disaster made painfully clear that the safety risks associated with nuclear and radiological activities extend beyond national borders.

The IAEA-sponsored Chernobyl Forum of scientific experts has highlighted the need to focus more effectively on better international cooperation to aid the affected people and regions, smarter approaches to safe food production and effective health care, and enhanced investments to give the people concerned control over their own livelihoods.

“We will not soon forget the Chernobyl accident. We will not forget the emergency workers who gave their lives. We will not forget the health and environmental consequences,” Mr. ElBaradei declared.

“And we should never forget the lessons we learned regarding nuclear safety and international cooperation. In remembering the Chernobyl accident, we should renew our determination to ensure that such a tragedy will not happen again.”

The UN Volunteers programme (UNV) stressed the importance of ordinary individuals on the ground, citing the example of a community organization called Dryzhba in the Ukrainian village of Kirdany, set up with UNV help to refurbish the local water supply.

More than 200 such organizations have been set up in 139 villages as part of the Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme (CRDP), a joint initiative of the Government of Ukraine, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UNV and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to address the economic, environmental and social problems stemming from the disaster.

“They’re not only working to improve the community, but also themselves,” said Yugesh Pradhanang, a UN Volunteer from Nepal in charge of overseeing the UNV component of the CRDP.

“Before, there was a dependency syndrome - people expected the government to take care of everything. Volunteering has given them a ‘magic stick’. They’re building partnerships and working together with local governments to improve their lives,” he added.