UN General Assembly adopted resolution on Chernobyl initiated by Belarus

09-12-2016

On December 8, 2016 at the UN Headquarters in New York the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus a resolution “Persistent Legacy of the Chernobyl Disaster” initiated and prepared by the delegation of Belarus.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Valentin Rybakov, presented the draft resolution at the UN General Assembly plenary meeting.

V.Rybakov emphasised the priority issues for the country of the Chernobyl disaster consequences liquidation and the recovery of the affected areas. He welcomed with appreciation the contribution of the international community, including the UN system, to the reconstruction and development of the affected regions. A special coordinating role in such international activities belongs to the United Nations Development Programme.

The Deputy Minister noted that Belarus has accumulated the unique experience in restoration and socio-economic development of the affected areas and is ready to share its experience.

Besides Belarus, 60 countries of the world co-sponsored a new important document of the UN General Assembly on Chernobyl.

The UN General Assembly resolution adopted upon initiative of Belarus is a clear evidence of the international community's solidarity with the efforts of affected countries and of the willingness to continue to cooperate with them on the post-Chernobyl problems and to provide appropriate assistance.

The resolution calls for the retaining of attention from the international community to the post-Chernobyl problems and for coordinated international action to address the long-term consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. The main message of the new resolution of the UN General Assembly is the need to continue Chernobyl cooperation under the auspices of the United Nations in order to achieve sustainable development of the affected regions and populations through partnerships, innovation and investment.

The document calls on Member States and United Nations agencies to coordinate the approaches to the development of international cooperation on Chernobyl, following the completion in 2016 of the Decade of Recovery and Sustainable Development of the Chernobyl Affected Regions.

An important symbolic element of the resolution is designation of April 26 as the International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day. The UN Member States have expressed their support for this idea which was originally announced from the rostrum of the United Nations in April 2016 during the UN General Assembly commemorative meeting in observance of the 30th Anniversary of the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster by Adi Roche, a renowned Irish humanitarian, the founder of Chernobyl Children International.

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