Statement Attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on the 20th Anniversary of the Chernobyl DisasterPublished: 26.04.2006 |
New York, 26 April 2006 - Today marks the
twentieth anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster,
the worst nuclear power plant accident in history.
As we look back over the past two decades, we need
to remember the selfless heroism of the emergency
workers who responded to the accident; the
suffering of the more than 330,000 people who were
resettled from contaminated regions; the risks and
fears experienced by millions of people living in
surrounding areas; and the painstaking and costly
measures undertaken over many years to limit the
population’s exposure to radiation and to mitigate
the accident’s impact on health and the natural
environment. These sacrifices must never be
forgotten.
Last year, the UN Chernobyl Forum, a consortium of
eight UN agencies and representatives of the
Governments of Belarus, the Russian Federation,
and Ukraine, reached a scientific consensus on the
impact of Chernobyl on health and the environment.
This consensus, while recognizing that there is
still a long way to go to achieve the full
recovery of the territories affected by Chernobyl,
also contained a vital message of reassurance to
the affected populations. The Secretary General
urges the widest possible dissemination of the
Forum’s findings.
Many hard lessons have 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.
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