The UN Round Table Discussion on Chernobyl

06-06-2016

On June 3, 2016, a special discussion on “Preventing and Overcoming Major Technological Accidents: A Case of UN Cooperation on Chernobyl” took place at the UN headquarters in New York.

The round table event was organised by the Permanent Mission of Belarus to the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme and the American non-governmental organisations “Project Chernobyl” and “Russian American Foundation”. The event’s main purpose was to showcase the global Chernobyl experience and to demonstrate its continued relevance and significance for global efforts to deal with technological accidents.

The Director-General for Multilateral Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Aleg Yermalovich, was the key speaker at the discussion.

The Belarusian diplomat presented the proposals by Belarus on the further international cooperation on Chernobyl under the UN auspices. Participants of the round table from a number of countries including Russia and Kazakhstan expressed their views in support of such cooperation.

The invited expert of the US State Department, Jan Fladeboe, presented an overview of development in the field of nuclear security triggered by international measures in response to the Chernobyl accident.

Assistant Administrator of the UN Development Programme, Regional Director for Europe and CIS, Cihan Sultanoglu, presented main achievements of the United Nations international Chernobyl cooperation in the framework of the UN Decade for recovery and sustainable development of the affected regions.

Assistant UN Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs, Lenni Montiel, drew attention to the peculiarities of the implementation of sustainable development goals in the regions affected by technological accidents.

Various aspects of the Chernobyl cooperation were highlighted in the statements of the representatives of International Atomic Energy Agency, UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, World Health Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme.

Much attention was attracted by the presentation of the Head of the NGO “Chernobyl Project”, Igor Branovan, on the results of medical research on innovative treatment methods of radiation-induced diseases.

Participants emphasised that the interdisciplinary nature of the round table organised at the initiative of Belarus enriched the ongoing discussion in the UN on Chernobyl related issues, including Sustainable Development Agenda, Sendai Framework of Disaster Risk Reduction, health and environmental protection.

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