Fourteen years after the tragic nuclear accident, Chernobyl victims still need assistance

Geneva, New York - Seven million people in Ukraine, Belarus and the Russian Federation are still suffering the effects of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor which exploded fourteen years ago today, including 3 million children who require physical treatment.

Even if this accident, which released more than 100 times as much radiation as the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined, no longer appears in the headlines, it still has an important impact on the living. The total number of those likely to develop serious medical conditions will be known only two decades from now.

'We cannot afford the luxury of forgetting Chernobyl,' said Carolyn McAskie, Emergency Relief Coordinator a.i. and United Nations Coordinator of International Cooperation for Chernobyl. 'If we do, we risk more such technological and environmental disasters in the future. '

In 1997 the United Nations launched a humanitarian programme for the victims of Chernobyl. Unfortunately, due to insufficient funding, the original list of 60 projects had to be shortened to only three in each affected country. These priority projects compose the 'United Nations Appeal for International Cooperation on Chernobyl'. The projects focus on the decontamination of kindergartens, schools and hospitals; rehabilitation facilities and research on the health effects of the radiation; and the production and supply of dairy products enriched with vitamins in order to lower the incidence of radiation-related illnesses. These projects urgently require an outstanding amount of $ 9.51 million.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, stated in a publication released by OCHA, 'Chernobyl: A Continuing Catastrophe', that these projects 'may fairly be described as the minimum the international community should do, not only for the victims of Chernobyl themselves but also to ensure that future generations throughout the world can learn some lessons, and reap some benefits, from their ordeal.'

OCHA coordinates the Inter-Agency Task Force on Chernobyl, which is responsible for the implementation of these projects. Members of the task force are: ECE, FAO, HABITAT, IAEA, ILO, UNEP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNIDO, UNDP, UNSCEAR, WB/IBRD, WHO, WMO, EBRD, EC, IFRC and OECD.

Copies of OCHA's newly released publication 'Chernobyl A continuing catastrophe' are available upon request.

For further information, please contact: Phyllis Lee (tel.: 9634832) or Rosa Malango (tel: 963-2380) in New York or Donato Kiniger-Passigli (tel.: 9172653) in Geneva.