Chernobyl needs new help: UN | World Breaking News | Breaking News 24/7 - NEWS.com.au (27-04-2005)
Chernobyl needs new help: UN | World Breaking News | Breaking News 24/7 - NEWS.com.au (27-04-2005): "Chernobyl needs new help: UN
From correspondents in the United Nations
April 27, 2005
From: Agence France-Presse
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan today made an anniversary plea for greater international help for Ukraine, Russia and Belarus to recover and rebuild after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the world's worst nuclear accident.
Mr Annan said that almost two decades after 'the worst technological catastrophe in history', the three countries 'continue to grapple with daunting social, economic and environmental consequences'.
Chernobyl's number-four reactor, in what was then the Soviet Union and is now Ukraine, exploded on April 26, 1986, sending a radioactive cloud across Europe.
Advertisement:
According to UN figures, between 15,000 and 30,000 people have died since. Nearly six million people still live in contaminated zones.
The Ukrainian health ministry says that about 2.3 million Ukrainians, including 450,000 children, suffer today from radiation-related illnesses, including many with cancer of the thyroid.
According to a UN spokesman, Mr Annan said 'the challenge posed by Chernobyl has evolved over time. In addition to the threat posed by radiation, the no less potent hazards of poverty, unemployment and inadequate infrastructure in the contaminated regions have come to the fore'.
He said communities need help to rebuild new, sustainable livelihoods.
Mr Annan 'urges the international community to provide the necessary financial support for programmes designed to assist communities traumatised by Chernobyl to regain self-sufficiency and help families to lead normal, healthy lives in the affected areas'.
The Chernobyl Forum, a UN-sponsored effort with Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, is to release a report in September on the environmental and health impact of the disaster.
Belarus and Ukraine will stage an international conference for the 20th anniversary.
Chernobyl was finally shut down in December 2000 under a $US2.3 billion ($2.95 billion) deal between Ukraine and the world's richest nations, only part of which has been paid out. "
From correspondents in the United Nations
April 27, 2005
From: Agence France-Presse
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan today made an anniversary plea for greater international help for Ukraine, Russia and Belarus to recover and rebuild after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the world's worst nuclear accident.
Mr Annan said that almost two decades after 'the worst technological catastrophe in history', the three countries 'continue to grapple with daunting social, economic and environmental consequences'.
Chernobyl's number-four reactor, in what was then the Soviet Union and is now Ukraine, exploded on April 26, 1986, sending a radioactive cloud across Europe.
Advertisement:
According to UN figures, between 15,000 and 30,000 people have died since. Nearly six million people still live in contaminated zones.
The Ukrainian health ministry says that about 2.3 million Ukrainians, including 450,000 children, suffer today from radiation-related illnesses, including many with cancer of the thyroid.
According to a UN spokesman, Mr Annan said 'the challenge posed by Chernobyl has evolved over time. In addition to the threat posed by radiation, the no less potent hazards of poverty, unemployment and inadequate infrastructure in the contaminated regions have come to the fore'.
He said communities need help to rebuild new, sustainable livelihoods.
Mr Annan 'urges the international community to provide the necessary financial support for programmes designed to assist communities traumatised by Chernobyl to regain self-sufficiency and help families to lead normal, healthy lives in the affected areas'.
The Chernobyl Forum, a UN-sponsored effort with Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, is to release a report in September on the environmental and health impact of the disaster.
Belarus and Ukraine will stage an international conference for the 20th anniversary.
Chernobyl was finally shut down in December 2000 under a $US2.3 billion ($2.95 billion) deal between Ukraine and the world's richest nations, only part of which has been paid out. "
posted by Greta Jane at Wednesday, April 27, 2005
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home