Statement of the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN

Mr. Yuriy Sergeyev

on October 31, 2013 at

the official presentation of the draft resolution on Chernobyl issues

 

Dear colleagues,

Distinguished delegated,

I have a pleasure to welcome you at the official presentation of the draft resolution on Chernobyl issues. I assume that my distinguished colleagues from Belarus and the Russian Federation will share the floor and say some words on the topic.

I would like to leave the room for discussions on the draft resolution to our experts and focus on the general remarks. This year we have marked the 27 years after the Chernobyl disaster and we honoured the emergency workers who risked their lives responding to the accident, the more than 330,000 people uprooted from their homes and the millions of people living in contaminated areas who have long been traumatized by lingering fears about their health and livelihoods.

To pursue the changes and mitigate the consequences of the Chernobyl accident the Member-States decided to bring this issue to the General Assembly as an example one of how the international community should address the man-made disaster, which was not known before.   

 Further on the General Assembly proclaimed 2006-2016 a “Decade of Recovery and Sustainable Development” for the affected regions. The United Nations Action Plan on Chernobyl reflects full commitment of the international community to achieving the aims of the Decade by focusing on social and economic development, the promotion of healthy lifestyles and community self-reliance.

Dear friends, 

The international community has learned a number of important lessons from dealing with the human consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. In 2004, the UN Secretary announced the transfer of responsibility for UN coordination of Chernobyl activities from UN-OCHA to UNDP. Since then we closely cooperate with the United Nation Development Program by bringing the conclusions and outcomes that can be applied in other nuclear disaster situations worldwide. The Secretary-General calls for follow-up on the recommendations of these studies.

The immense sources of relevant information are also the Reports of the Secretary-General on Optimizing the international effort to study, mitigate and minimize the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. The recent one was officially released earlier this month and is an integral part of the draft resolution.

Dear colleagues,

After 27 years of the Chernobyl tragedy, the Secretary-General reiterates the commitment of the United Nations system to stand by those affected by the Chernobyl disaster, and to work for greater nuclear safety and sustainable energy worldwide.

The anniversary events are important in order to attract the international attention. Therefore I appreciate the inputs and contributions made by your States, international organizations and financial institutions, which participated in high-level events in Ukraine in 2011.

However, we need the new approach for the future of this draft resolution and emphasizing the significance of the upcoming thirtieth anniversary of the accident we should elaborate the further vision of the international cooperation on Chernobyl after 2016. This could be the overview and application of the all experiences and lessons learned from tackling the human consequences of nuclear accident and risk management of  other nuclear disaster situations.

Dear friends,

I wish you fruitful consultations and invite your delegations to become a co-sponsors the resolution.