| United Nations | A/50/418 |
General Assembly
Distr. GENERAL
8 September 1995
ORIGINAL:
ENGLISH
Fiftieth session
Item 20 (d) of the provisional agenda*
STRENGTHENING OF THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AND DISASTER
RELIEF ASSISTANCE OF THE UNITED NATIONS, INCLUDING SPECIAL
ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE: STRENGTHENING OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
AND COORDINATION OF EFFORTS TO STUDY, MITIGATE AND MINIMIZE THE
CONSEQUENCES OF THE CHERNOBYL DISASTER
Report of the Secretary-General
CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
I. INTRODUCTION ...........................................1 - 43
II. THE HUMANITARIAN TRAGEDY ...............................5 - 414
A. Internally displaced persons .......................5 - 144
B. Extent of the human consequences ...................15 - 185
C. Chernobyl recovery-workers: the "liquidators" .....19 - 256
D. Increases in morbidity .............................26 - 287
E. Impact on children .................................29 - 318
F. Incidence of thyroid cancer ........................32 - 358
G. Incidence of stress-related illnesses ..............36 - 399
H. Potential for increase in other cancers and diseases40 - 419
* A/50/150.
95-27461 (E) 270995/...
*9527461*
CONTENTS (continued)
Paragraphs Page
III. CHERNOBYL IN THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONTEXT ...........42 - 5110
A. Economic hardship ..................................42 - 4610
B. Environmental contamination and its implications ...47 - 5110
IV. INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE TO COUNTER THE DISASTER .......52 - 6511
V. COORDINATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF RESPONSE ............66 - 7914
VI. CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS ................................80 - 8817
Annex. International organizations, Member States and other organizations
from which the United Nations received information on Chernobyl
activities .......................................................19
I. INTRODUCTION
1. The name "Chernobyl" has become synonymous throughout the world with
our fear of technological catastrophe: it symbolizes a penance for our
unchecked desire for progress. Yet in the countries on to which the
largest single quantity of radioactive material released descended,
Chernobyl signifies the reality of a prolonged humanitarian disaster of
major proportions. It means having endured nine-and-a-half consecutive
years of contamination and contamination risks, of forced displacements and
the persistent, albeit necessary, scrutiny of researchers, of conflicting
reports and growing scepticism for the guidance of authorities and the
ambivalence of the international community. Worse, however, it means
having witnessed many of the youngest struck down by the consequences of
radiation exposure, even so many years on.
2. Almost 400,000 people have been forced to leave their homes as a result
of the nuclear power plant explosion on 26 April 1986. According to some
estimates, at least 9 million people have been directly or indirectly
affected by the Chernobyl accident. According to the Belarus Ministry of
Health, the incidence of thyroid cancer, which has already shown marked
increase, may rise still further and could peak between the years 2005-
2010. An area the size of England, Wales and Northern Ireland combined -
over 160,000 square kilometres is estimated to have been contaminated by
the disaster. The humanitarian trauma itself caused by Chernobyl is as
frighteningly unnatural as it is difficult to quantify.
3. Despite other humanitarian disasters vying for the world's attention,
the evidence that has been accumulated in the years since the accident
attests overwhelmingly to the high priority that must continue to be given
to addressing the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, both within the
United Nations system and by the international community in general.
4. The present report, which has been prepared pursuant to General
Assembly resolution 48/206 of 21 December 1993, describes the extent of the
humanitarian disaster facing the three most affected countries -Belarus,
the Russian Federation and Ukraine, and examines the international response
to date in eliminating the consequences of the accident. It also
emphasizes the broader social and economic context in which this protracted
humanitarian crisis has, and is continuing to be, played out. Clearly, the
problems that stem directly from the Chernobyl accident cannot be viewed in
isolation, even if this would be preferable from the standpoint of
research. Indeed it may be seen in the present report that the three
affected countries do not have the capacity to face up to the enormous
costs of remedying the Chernobyl effects on their own, as their economies
make the transition to market economies and as the effects of the disaster
continue to manifest themselves. The report emphasizes the current and
obvious plight of the affected population, and our moral obligation to
support them.
II. THE HUMANITARIAN TRAGEDY
A. Internally displaced persons
5. The minimum estimate for the number of people forced to leave their
homes because of radiation dangers following the Chernobyl explosion is
almost 400,000: 150,000 in Belarus, 150,000 in Ukraine, 75,000 in the
Russian Federation.
6. These internally displaced persons have suffered the hardships typical
of other refugees and internally displaced persons: they were forced to
flee their homes and established community structures at very short notice,
unaware of where they were going or how they would end up and having to
endure temporary shelter and extremely poor living conditions.
7. Since everything in their homes had been contaminated by radiation they
were forced to abandon their homes with only the clothes on their back.
Upon reaching their final destination, they were required to remove and
burn the one set of clothes they had been allowed to bring.
8. Those who were displaced from the most contaminated area (the "Thirty
Kilometre Zone") will never be allowed to return to their homes: caesium
137, the most significant long-term radionuclide contaminant emitted during
the Chernobyl explosion, has a half-life of approximately 30 years. Even
its practical effect on agricultural and forest lands is estimated to range
between 8 and 20 years.
9. The uncertainty that internally displaced persons have about their
future is compounded by general scientific uncertainty and lack of previous
experience of the aftermath of a nuclear disaster in which low levels of
radiation continue to be emitted. No comparable precedents exist through
which scientific knowledge could have been gained and predictions made as
to the likely effects of living in areas contaminated by Chernobyl. Those
events which might have appeared to be an obvious comparison - the
Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs of the Second World War -do not, in fact,
constitute useful evidence in this case. Those explosions resulted in a
single large dose of radiation in a short period of time. The Chernobyl
explosion released a total quantity of radioactivity magnitudes larger than
the two atomic bombs combined, but of longer half-life and lower-level
potency.
10. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reported that the
levels of radiation in some of the areas originally affected by the
Chernobyl explosion are now comparable with the levels of natural
background radiation in many parts of Europe and the rest of the world.
Other figures presented in the Journal of Radiation Research, based on a
study of a control group of 80,000 people who survived Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, suggest only 600 cases of cancer to be directly attributable to
radiation.
11. The World Health Organization (WHO) maintains that only an exacting
epidemiological study undertaken over several decades will be able to add
scientific weight to the effects that Chernobyl will have on the incidence
of most types of cancer. Consequently, there lacks a conclusive medical
foundation for asserting that certain types of cancers have increased as a
direct result of radiation exposure from Chernobyl. (An important
exception, however, is the incidence of thyroid cancer among children,
which has already registered a marked increase and will be discussed in
greater depth below.)
12. The reassuring statistics described above, which the scientific
community has produced, have nevertheless done little to allay the deep-
seated anxiety among people in the three most affected countries. By now
they have been subjected to every variety of opinion and none is as
convincing as the reality of their own experience. Many believe that they
have been affected much more than current evidence suggests. These fears
were no doubt heightened by the wall of silence that confronted citizens of
the then Soviet Union in the immediate aftermath of the explosion and the
consequent mistrust of authorities. And when the enemy is invisible, as is
the case for radiation, these fears become all the more difficult to
counter and weigh all the more heavily on the minds of the people. United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) studies
point to a marked increase in stress-related illnesses and social
dysfunction as a result of Chernobyl.
13. The stress associated with the uncertainty of living with radiation is
exacerbated by the fact that many cancers have a long latency period.
Consequently, the sentiment that the worst is yet to come is very
prevalent. Understandably, people from the affected areas are reluctant to
return to areas where they believe the radiation level is still elevated.
There are, however, far greater ramifications in terms of the uncertainty
about the latent and longterm effects of the accident, which prevent the
thousands of displaced persons from returning to their homes and resuming a
normal life. Social patterns and economic life have been severely
disrupted, the state of health of these individuals appears permanently in
doubt and the health facilities and diagnostic services available to them
are meagre. As will be seen below, concurrent socio-economic changes in
the countries are also a prominent compounding factor. They have meant
that health problems that otherwise would be limited to the affected
population have implications throughout the entire countries concerned.
14. The fact that there is as yet no conclusive scientific proof that
certain of the diseases that have shown increases since the Chernobyl
disaster have been caused by exposure to radiation has led to a reluctance
among the international community to offer decisive and meaningful
assistance. It is a situation that sharply demonstrates the danger of
wholly subordinating an obvious and urgent moral obligation to scientific
and statistical evidence.
B. Extent of the human consequences
15. The three affected countries officially estimate that overall at least
9 million people have in some way been affected by the Chernobyl disaster.
16. The Chernobyl Committee of the Belarusian Parliament estimates that
2.5 million people in its country have been affected. The United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF) cites a figure of almost 2 million people:
130,000 people displaced from the contaminated zones in Belarus, and 1.8
million people who still live in regions with a contamination of more than
5 curies per square kilometre.
17. The Ministry for Chernobyl of Ukraine estimates that in excess of 3.5
million people, including 800,000 children, have been affected. Some 3 to
5 million live in areas with varying degrees of contamination, while 3
million of these are claiming eligibility for free medicine, subsidized
food and early retirement. Moreover, in Ukraine the effects of Chernobyl
have spread as far south as the Black Sea owing to the seepage of
radionuclides from the nuclear fuel still inside the Chernobyl sarcophagus
into the water table and from there into the River Dnieper.
18. The Russian Federation estimates that 3 million people still live in
the territories with a radiation level of more than 5 curies per square
kilometre.
C. Chernobyl recovery-workers: the "liquidators"
19. Perhaps the group most at risk from its exposure to radiation
following the explosion was the group involved in extinguishing the fire
itself and undertaking immediate recovery work. They have become known as
the "liquidators".
20. These men, drawn mainly from the then Soviet army, including civilian
ranks, were employed to prevent radiation leaks from the destroyed reactor
building, as well as to conduct clean-up operations in highly contaminated
territories between 1986 and 1988. The men working inside the reactor
building were required to spend no more than 90 seconds there, each
transporting a block of cement or moving a lump of debris before departing
as quickly as possible from the vicinity of the reactor. In the time
since, these people have dispersed across the former Soviet Union. Much of
the registering and tracing of their whereabouts is highly inaccurate, in
part because of the break-up of the Soviet Union and subsequent socio-
economic changes. There is even uncertainty as to how many participated in
the liquidation efforts.
21. There are numerous claims that many have died as a result of their
exposure. These claims have so far not been substantiated. According to
WHO, however, medical monitoring of the liquidators within the three
affected countries is already indicating growing morbidity (illness,
disease, invalidity) and mortality rates among this group. A second phase
of the WHO International Programme on the Health Effects of the Chernobyl
Accident (IPHECA) will take a closer look at the registration and medical
care of the liquidators. There are, however, few funds available to
accomplish this.
22. WHO IPHECA figures suggest that there are some 800,000 liquidators in
total: Ukraine estimates it has 200,000 liquidators in the country, the
Russian Federation estimates at least 350,000, and Belarus some 130,000
liquidators, while the remainder have emigrated to other countries or have
not yet been registered.
23. Health officials have reported unanimously that those people who were
exposed to radiation in the first days after the explosion are at most risk
to their health. During that initial period, iodine-131, a dangerous
radionuclide, was present in the atmosphere. This element is the major
candidate in explaining the drastic increase in thyroid cancer as it is
actively taken up by the thyroid gland. It has a half-life of only eight
days, however, and thus would not have presented a danger thereafter. The
main health concerns for the liquidators include cardiovascular and heart
diseases, lung cancers, gastrointestinal inflammation, tumours and
leukaemia. Stress and anxiety about whether they have been affected may
also be a significant factor to account for the increase in disease in
addition to the liquidators' exposure to radiation itself.
24. However, a fundamental problem is that the countries concerned have
not been able to get all the liquidators to come forward and register.
Consequently, a full picture is lacking of the health consequences and
measures that Governments need to take.
25. None the less, it is estimated by a major non-governmental
organization, the Chernobyl Union, that in the Russia Federation, 10 per
cent of liquidators have become invalids (invalidity is here defined as the
inability to hold fulltime employment); and according to the Ministry of
the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of
Consequences of Natural Disasters, 38 per cent of Russian liquidators
suffer from some type of disease. The Chernobyl Union claims that 7,000
Russian liquidators have already died since the accident from various
causes, including suicide.
D. Increases in morbidity
26. All studies report a growing incidence of morbidity in the three
affected countries, some of which is attributed to Chernobyl: morbidity in
the most affected regions appears to be higher than in the three affected
countries as a whole.
27. The Belarusian Ministry of Health has reported that the overall
morbidity rate in the Gomel region (the southern and most severely
contaminated part of Belarus) is now 51 per cent. Significant increases in
diseases registered in Gomel include lung and stomach cancers and problems
with the urinary system.
28. According to Ukrainian sources, there are 1,521 diseases per 1,000
people in northern Ukraine, while the figure for Ukraine as a whole is
1,118 per 1,000. Cases of invalidity are 263 per 1,000 among the
liquidators, while the rate in the country as a whole is 47 per 1,000
people: in the Chernobyl-affected areas the rate is six times as high. As
a whole, according to Ukrainian Ministry of Health officials, the morbidity
level is 30 per cent higher among people living in the contaminated
regions, taking into account age and working and living conditions.
E. Impact on children
29. Children, especially those born between 1981 and 1987, are the most
susceptible to developing Chernobyl-related diseases. Both children and
embryos exhibit a particular sensitivity to the effects of radiation. Of
children's diseases related to Chernobyl, thyroid cancers have seen the
sharpest increase and are of the most serious concern. However, other
diseases are also expected to affect children. According to UNICEF
studies, they could include immunological deficiencies, anaemia,
neurocirculatory problems, respiratory ailments, diseases of the stomach
and intestinal tract, and defects of the cardiovascular system. Leukaemia
has not so far shown any signs of increase.
30. In Ukraine, 2 million children out of a total child population of 12
million live in contaminated zones (5 curies and above per square
kilometre), while 900,000 of these are still living in risk zones. In
Belarus, 500,000 children aged 14 years and below live in the contaminated
zones out of a total population 14 years and younger of 2.3 million. In
the Russian Federation some 500,000 children live in the contaminated
zones.
31. UNICEF has pointed out, however, that it is difficult to ascertain
definitively that the children living in the contaminated areas have a
worse state of health than children in other parts of Belarus, as children
(and the rest of their families) from the most contaminated areas have been
resettled to other parts of Belarus. Consequently, UNICEF has assessed
global statistics for Belarus between 1990 and 1994 and has noted
significant increases in many types of health disorders of the child
population: disorders of the nervous system and sensory organs have
increased by 43 per cent, blood circulation illnesses by 43 per cent,
disorders of the digestive organs by 28 per cent, disorders of the genito-
urinary system by 39 per cent, disorders of the bone, muscle and connective
tissue system by 62 per cent, illnesses of the haemogenic (bloodproducing)
organs by 24 per cent, iron-deficiency anaemia by 10 per cent, endocrine
system disorders by 8 per cent, diabetes by 28 per cent, congenital heart
and circulatory diseases by 25 per cent and malignant tumours by 38 per
cent since 1988.
F. Incidence of thyroid cancer
32. All three countries have experienced dramatic increases in the
incidence of thyroid cancer in children and this increase has been
particularly severe in Belarus.
33. While Belarus registered only 21 cases of surgery for thyroid cancer
in children between 0-14 years of age between 1966 and 1985, according to
Belarusian authorities, since 1986, 379 cases have been registered,
according to the combined figures of Belarus and WHO. The growth in cases
has continued to increase over recent years and is thus consistent with the
cause being Chernobyl, there being a latency period before the cancer
manifests itself. While between 1986 and 1989 there were 18 such
operations, the number rose to 29 in 1990, 59 in 1991, 66 in 1992, 79 in
1993 and 82 in 1994, according to WHO. In the first half of 1995 there were
46 operations, according to Belarusian authorities.
34. While Ukraine registered only 25 cases of surgery for thyroid cancer
in children aged between 0-14 years from 1981 and 1985, according to WHO
208 cases were registered between 1986 and 1994. When examined more
closely, the incidence is again consistent with the cause being the
Chernobyl accident: while between 1986 and 1989 there were 34 such
operations, the number rose to 26 in 1990, 22 in 1991, 47 in 1992, 42 in
1993 and 37 in 1994, according to WHO.
35. While the Russian Federation registered a single case of child thyroid
cancer between 1986 and 1989, WHO registered 23 cases between 1990 and
1994.
G. Incidence of stress-related illnesses
36. According to UNICEF, at the time of the accident, those most directly
affected were not always informed of the possible effects or, in some
cases, even of the occurrence of the accident. This lack of information
or, in some cases, exposure to contradictory information, the uncertainty
regarding present and future health effects and the implications for future
generations and, in some cases, the stress of relocation have all had an
effect on the psychological well-being of the populations affected by
Chernobyl.
37. UNICEF has reported that investigations show that in Belarus, 62 per
cent of people surveyed in the contaminated zones feel an elevated level of
anxiety, while 75 per cent suffer from a degree of depression and 73 per
cent experience severe uneasiness.
38. In Ukraine, UNESCO has noticed similar trends. In the contaminated
zones the divorce rate is higher, there are more problems in relationships
between parent and child, and there is more alcoholism compared with the
levels in a control group from non-contaminated areas. Furthermore, the
social system is increasingly disintegrating as the young try to leave.
39. According to UNESCO surveys, children who live in the contaminated
zones in Ukraine are considered to have a life expectancy five to seven
years lower than children surveyed from non-contaminated areas. Children
from the contaminated territories have higher anxiety levels, they are
concerned about their health and the health of their family, and are more
introverted than their peers in non-contaminated areas. Interestingly,
however, children in the contaminated zones are also higher achievers than
others, as success in school is a means of leaving these zones.
H. Potential for increase in other cancers and diseases
40. Other areas of concern to health officials include oncological
diseases, endocrine disorders, leukaemia, tuberculosis, diphtheria,
cardiovascular and cardiological problems, lung and stomach cancers,
haematology problems, bone marrow diseases, in utero complications and
urinary tract problems. Although the increased instance of these diseases
cannot be directly linked with Chernobyl, health officials point out that a
general deterioration of the immune system will lead to an increase of such
diseases.
41. The Belarusian Ministry of Health has noted a general degradation in
the immunological condition of its citizens.
III. CHERNOBYL IN THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONTEXT
A. Economic hardship
42. All three affected countries have economies in transition from command
to market systems, while the recovery and growth that certain other former
communist countries have already experienced has not yet been achieved.
The shrinkage of the absolute size of the gross domestic product (GDP)
continued throughout 1994 in all three countries.
43. The Russian Federation's GDP was estimated by the Economic Commission
forEurope (ECE) to have reduced by 16 per cent in 1994 from its 1993 level.
44. Ukraine's GDP fell by 25 per cent in 1994 compared to 1993, according
to the United Nations Office at Kiev. That followed decreases of 14 per
cent in 1993 compared with 1992, 17 per cent in 1992 compared with 1991,
and 14 per cent in 1991 compared with 1990. However, it was observed that
the decline in production halted late in 1994. An average salary in
Ukraine in 1995 is estimated to be in the neighbourhood of $100 per month.
45. Belarus' total GDP in 1994 was $4.3 billion. That was a drop of 20
per cent compared with 1993, according to the United Nations Office at
Minsk. Per capita GDP in 1994 was $421. An average salary in Belarus in
1995 was estimated to be $70 per month.
46. Faced with having to respond to the most urgent needs of displaced
persons, remedying the health needs of liquidators, children and others
affected by Chernobyl and addressing the environmental and economic impacts
of the disaster at a time when their economies were shrinking, the three
most affected countries have been forced to dedicate enormous portions of
their budgets to addressing Chernobyl's consequences. Belarus has
consistently had to spend 20 per cent of its national budget for just that
purpose. Ukraine devotes 4 per cent of its annual budget to remedy the
problems caused by Chernobyl, although it maintains it would require 20 per
cent of the national budget to rectify the problems caused by the disaster.
The Russian Federation devotes 1 per cent of its budget on Chernobyl-
related affairs.
B. Environmental contamination and its implications
47. Huge tracts of formerly productive agricultural and forest land have
been rendered uninhabitable and unusable for generations as a result of the
Chernobyl disaster. The Chernobyl Committee of the Belarusian Parliament
estimates that 30 per cent of the country's 208,000 square kilometres has
been contaminated to various degrees. The Government of Ukraine estimates
that 7 per cent of its 600,000 square kilometres, an area equivalent in
size to the Netherlands, has been rendered unusable, and the Ukrainian
Ministry for Chernobyl further estimates that 40 per cent of its forests
are contaminated. The Russian Federation estimates that 1.6 per cent of
its European territory, or 57,650 square kilometres, is contaminated by
radioactivity of more than 1 curie of caesium per square kilometre. The
possibility of exploiting these lands productively has been severely
curtailed and has had a substantial impact on the economy, in particular
that of Belarus and Ukraine.
48. Since the economies of these countries are not expanding, there are
few, if any, opportunities for gainful employment in the locations in which
the people have resettled. Faced with such difficulties in maintaining a
livelihood, many will do whatever is necessary to survive, even if it means
spreading radionuclide pollution. Despite laws against such practices,
people still living near the Chernobyl power plant repeatedly obtain
contaminated wood - a major repository for radionuclides - for their own
use or to sell as building material or firewood. It has also been reported
that contaminated food has been exported from the polluted regions,
processed elsewhere and reimported as clean food. Such activities have
contributed to the continued spread of radionuclide contamination across
the affected countries and have increased the exposure of the general
population to the dangers of radioactivity.
49. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has reported that
contaminated forests also constitute a significant secondary danger. In
the hot summer period, particularly in Belarus and the Russian Federation,
which possess large tracts of forest land, forest fires released further
radionuclides into the atmosphere, spreading over vast areas of land.
50. Perhaps most disturbingly, however, in the face of economic hardship
throughout the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), people from even
poorer areas of the CIS have, according to UNESCO, moved back into the
contaminated regions in order to receive the special state benefits on
offer.
51. This all contributes to a widespread erosion of the social fabric in
the affected countries. All that could preserve a degree of social
cohesion in the affected countries, even in times of adversity, has
steadily disintegrated. Studies by UNESCO and other organizations have
shown how children no longer trust their parents or teachers, how the
professional workforce has abandoned the contaminated regions and how the
lack of adequate social and community services has exacerbated people's
profound disorientation and has left them feeling cast adrift.
IV. INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE TO COUNTER THE DISASTER
52. This composite picture of economic hardship compounded by
environmental devastation, and of social strife compounded by economic
hardship, has drawn only limited sympathy from the international community.
The desire for hard evidence before action has left the victims of the
Chernobyl disaster waiting nearly 10 years, and much inaction has hidden
behind what will always remain unquantifiable.
53. The response of the international community has been particularly
inconsistent. Large disparities in the amount and kind of assistance
offered by international organizations, bilaterally and by non-governmental
organizations have been recorded. A handful of international organizations
and Member States have, however, been outstanding in providing assistance
in their chosen or designated field of expertise. The United Nations is
particularly grateful for those bilateral and non-governmental
contributions which have constituted the backbone of the international
Chernobyl effort to date. (A full list of those international
organizations, Member States and non-governmental organizations which
informed the Department of Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat of their
activities related to Chernobyl is provided in the annex to the present
report.)
54. There have been repeated expressions of concern in the affected
countries, however, as to the imbalance between research activities and
tangible financial and material assistance offered to them to assist them
in their recovery. While research and testing to establish accurate
scientific knowledge and assessment of the radiation effects of Chernobyl
is the cornerstone of further work both in the scientific field and in
other areas, it should not preclude the execution of practical projects to
bring safety and relief assistance to the 400,000 displaced persons and
countless others who have been affected by Chernobyl.
55. Activities undertaken fall primarily into four categories: health,
scientific research, economic development and environmental aid. Many
countries and international organizations have put great effort into
studying the fallout from the Chernobyl disaster, mapping its effects and
likely developments, creating action plans and mechanisms for the response
to any future disaster, developing practical means to counteract the
radiation effects on the food chain and natural environment, and so on.
IAEA, the European Union (EU), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO) and WHO have been particularly active in this field,
among others.
56. The diagnosis and treatment of diseases associated with the Chernobyl
disaster and the creation of a public health infrastructure capable of
tracking and combating the future development of Chernobyl-related health
problems have been pursued to the extent that contributions have allowed.
WHO and several notable donor countries, including Austria, Finland,
Germany, Japan and Norway, as well as certain non-governmental
organizations have been particularly active in addressing health concerns
on the ground. There remain, however, substantial practical and material
requirements before the health, social and psychological effects of
Chernobyl can be effectively and widely addressed.
57. Despite generous grants from the Japanese, Finnish and the former
Czechoslovak Governments, which allowed the pilot phase of the programme to
be launched, resources for the WHO IPHECA are almost exhausted. The
Programme's pilot phase came to a close in 1994 and there are almost no
funds remaining to put into operation projects such as the recovery
workers, dosimetry and thyroid projects. Yet these activities seek to help
the people in the two most affected groups: the liquidators and children
with thyroid cancer. The third project would allow health officials to
predict more effectively the future impact and direction of Chernobyl-
related diseases by reconstructing the nature of radiation doses received
and their likely effects.
58. The continuation of the three principle projects within the IPHECA
programme should be assured. Many of the hospitals in the three countries
do not have diagnostic and adequate treatment equipment for cancers and
other diseases that may be associated with Chernobyl. Finally, medicines
are expensive and in short supply. Belarus, for example, estimates that it
has been able to obtain only 40 per cent of the medicines required to treat
diseases related to Chernobyl.
59. One of the most respected and valued projects is the UNESCO community
development centres project, which deals mainly with the social and
psychological consequences of the catastrophe. This project is today
expanding, both in the number of services rendered to the population and in
the number of the centres operating in each country, with the goal of
integrating Chernobylrelated assistance into the sustainable development
strategies of the countries concerned. Most of the operating costs of the
centres are, as originally intended, currently borne by the three countries
concerned. UNESCO (with the support of the United Nations Trust Fund for
Chernobyl, UNICEF, the Netherlands, and the non-governmental organizations,
Diakonie and CARITAS) will provide development funds for the existing
centres until June 1996.
60. Additional resources are, however, required to establish new centres,
for the development of the new activities within the existing centres, and
to assist the three most affected countries in integrating the experience
gained into their long-term development plans. Furthermore, UNESCO is
actively working on twinning schemes that will ensure the international
contacts of the centres in the future.
61. If there were more money available from international donors, the main
priorities, from the United Nations point of view, should be related to:
(a) health; (b) improvement in giving information to the population on the
consequences of the catastrophe; and (c) the creation of additional socio-
psychological support at the community level and in the schools.
62. Given the fact that the 400,000 internally displaced persons are
unlikely to return to their homes, every effort should also be made to
ensure that there is adequate housing, schools, job opportunities and other
infrastructural facilities in the towns to which they have moved. In this
context, the social and economic area scheme launched and supported by
UNESCO in the context of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force
deserves adequate support for its full implementation. The planning phase
of the project is currently funded by France, Denmark and EU and should be
completed in 1996.
63. Environmental projects are also important but should not outweigh
those addressing the more immediate and tangible human needs of maintaining
health standards and treating diseases that arise as a result of radiation
exposure. Environmental projects that bear careful study and perhaps
execution are, among others, devising means of preventing further
radionuclide seepage from the Chernobyl sarcophagus and into the water
table, and from there into the River Dnieper and the Black Sea; devising
means of reducing the dangers from and circulation of radioactive timber,
reducing the level of radionuclide contamination in agricultural lands; and
stabilizing radioactive waste. The UNESCO Energy, Development and the
Environment project has been conceived to provide a blueprint for
appropriate environmental education for the Chernobyl population.
64. IAEA has a consistent policy in the provision of assistance to the
countries still dealing with the consequences of the Chernobyl accident.
This policy is to concentrate the limited available resources to where they
can best be used, such as in alleviating social and economic adversity, for
example, in agricultural communities. Obstacles remain, however, in the
effective use of international assistance, which should be addressed by the
affected countries themselves. These include inappropriate compensation
schemes and equivocal public information about the risk from radiation
exposure. Addressing these obstacles would allow marked improvements in
efficiency by allowing existing resources to be concentrated in areas of
real need. Furthermore, focusing efforts at the national level in this
manner would be in harmony with the agreed policy of the Quadripartite
Committee for Coordination on Chernobyl to target international assistance
and would in turn improve the prospects for further international
assistance. IAEA would be willing to provide technical assistance and
advice to the relevant authorities upon their taking an initiative of this
kind.
65. Within the United Nations system, and in view of the extremely limited
resources available to it, projects to regenerate economic activity should
be given a lower priority. The route to regenerating economic activity
cannot lie in using such scarce means to fund isolated projects or studies
of an economic nature. Rather, the three affected countries themselves
should address more fundamentally the issues that generate economic
activity and growth.
V. COORDINATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF RESPONSE
66. The main mechanism for international coordination is the Quadripartite
Committee for Coordination on Chernobyl, which consists of the United
Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, acting in his
capacity as United Nations Coordinator of International Cooperation on
Chernobyl, and the ministers responsible for Chernobyl-related affairs in
the three most affected States. The Committee meets each year to: (a)
assess the progress of the international response to the Chernobyl
disaster; (b) determine what still needs to be and could be done at the
international level to address Chernobyl problems; and (c) coordinate
action based on the above conclusions.
67. In recent years the annual Quadripartite Committee meeting has been
expanded to include the participation of EU and the agencies of the United
Nations system that are members of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task
Force for Chernobyl; UNICEF; the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP); UNEP; ECE; the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements
(Habitat); the International Labour Office (ILO); FAO; UNESCO; WHO; the
World Meteorological Organization (WMO); the United Nations Industrial
Development Organization (UNIDO); and IAEA. These organizations prepare
and implement the various assistance and research projects of the United
Nations system to combat the consequences of the Chernobyl accident.
68. The United Nations offices at Kiev, Minsk and Moscow have
responsibilities for activities related to Chernobyl and participate in
coordination with the national authorities and institutions. UNESCO has
also established an office at Kiev to coordinate activities related to the
community development centres and to support implementation of its 30 other
Chernobyl projects that are currently under way. Finally, under IPHECA,
WHO has established a project office at Kiev for the International Thyroid
Project.
69. EU has been particularly active in addressing the Chernobyl problem.
Its activities are principally coordinated and implemented by four offices
of the Commission of the European Communities: (a) the Directorate of G24
Nuclear Safety, Industry and the Environment, Civil Protection; (b) the
Directorate of Nuclear Safety, both within Directorate-General XI
(Environment, Nuclear Safety and Civil Protection); (c) the Directorate of
Research and Technical Development, within Directorate-General XII
(Science, Research and Development); and (d) the European Community
Humanitarian Office.
70. Frequent contact in the past two years has facilitated the
coordination and rationalization of projects initiated to remedy the
consequences of Chernobyl. However, it has also frequently highlighted the
fact that a shortage of funds continues to hinder efforts to resolve the
problem adequately.
71. In November 1993, a meeting of the Quadripartite Committee was
convened with the expanded participation of members of the Inter-Agency
Task Force, representatives of the principal donor countries, EU and the
World Bank. This was envisaged as an opportunity to rekindle donor
interest and to exchange views on country policy with respect to Chernobyl
and the implementation of the United Nations approach. Although monetary
pledges were not made, support for a continuing role of the United Nations
as a catalyst for international support was affirmed and a division of
labour was outlined.
72. An expanded meeting of the Quadripartite Committee was held on 19
September 1994; the ministers from Belarus, the Russian Federation and
Ukraine pointed out that international attention to the Chernobyl problem
had become weaker, but the continued commitment of EU, IAEA, UNESCO, UNIDO
and WHO was noted.
73. It was also noted at the meeting that important WHO projects were
being jeopardized because of lack of financial contributions from donor
countries. In general, it was stated that the financing of Chernobyl
programmes in the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Belarus was inadequate;
however, none of the States represented at the meeting or other donors
pledged greater support. The three ministers appealed to the international
community to provide further support to action on Chernobyl.
74. The Russian Federation proposed at the meeting of the Quadripartite
Committee to set up a significant new initiative, an International Centre
on Chernobyl. The activities of the Centre would include the collation of
the large amount of research undertaken by different countries,
international and regional organizations, and it would summarize the
findings and create a unified programme of addressing the consequences of
the Chernobyl accident. However, significant work still needs to be done
on elaborating the mandate, structure, location, sources of financing and
staffing for this body before a decision on its establishment can be taken.
75. In view of the approaching tenth anniversary of the Chernobyl
accident on 26 April 1996, Belarus proposed a number of initiatives to mark
that date. They included a symposium, Ten Years After Chernobyl, and the
presentation of commemorative medals to the most prominent contributors of
assistance to Chernobyl victims, to be held in April 1996 at United Nations
Headquarters, or at the United Nations Office at Geneva. Belarus was
willing to donate the cost of producing these medals and of hosting one of
the meetings of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Chernobyl, to be chaired by
the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Belarus also wanted the
responsibilities of the United Nations offices in the three most affected
countries to be widened to include Chernobyl-related activities in an
official manner.
76. In January 1995 the ministers charged with remedying the effects of
the Chernobyl disaster from the three republics most affected - Belarus,
the Russian Federation and Ukraine - appealed to the Secretary-General of
the United Nations to renew his efforts to bring international attention
and resources to fight the consequences of Chernobyl. They noted that, as
the tenth anniversary of Chernobyl approached, the incidence of disease
caused by the disaster had not yet reached its peak.
77. The ministers recommended the following actions as a means of drawing
attention to and mobilizing resources in favour of Chernobyl: (a) to
declare 26 April (the anniversary of the disaster) a world day of mourning
and remembrance of the victims of the nuclear disaster; (b) to convene an
international conference sponsored by the United Nations on the
consequences of the accident and their effect on the health of the world's
population and environment, and on the expansion of international
cooperation; (c) to appeal to potential donor countries to explore
possibilities for increased cooperation on Chernobyl-related problems on
both a multilateral and bilateral basis, and on the basis of business
relations; and (d) to do everything possible to ensure that Chernobyl-
related problems continued to receive the attention of the United Nations
and its specialized agencies, Governments and organizations of individual
countries.
78. In late June and early July 1995 the United Nations Coordinator for
International Cooperation on Chernobyl visited Minsk and the affected
region of Gomel, in southern Belarus, where he saw first-hand the vast
extent of the human tragedy and upheaval that the Chernobyl disaster had
caused. Particularly impressive were the "dead" regions that had been
evacuated in the wake of the explosion and in which there was no sign of
human activity: the area had become nothing more than one vast laboratory
for studying the effects of radiation on flora and fauna. Equally
impressive was the underfinanced, overpopulated children's hospital in
which almost all of the child thyroid patients in Belarus were treated.
The children, many of whom have had their thyroid glands surgically
removed, will be dependent on medication for the rest of their lives.
79. The United Nations Coordinator is currently preparing another expanded
meeting of the Quadripartite Committee to take place in autumn 1995 in New
York. The main topics of discussion will be determining which priority
projects still needed to be executed and the means required for refocusing
public interest and donor attention on Chernobyl, with special attention
paid to ways of marking the tenth anniversary of Chernobyl on 26 April
1996.
VI. CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS
80. Chernobyl remains a humanitarian tragedy of international magnitude
that can only be addressed through a strong and consistent international
response. While at least 400,000 people have been forced or have chosen to
leave their homes because of radioactive contamination, health risks, both
physical and mental, continue to affect great numbers of people.
81. Thyroid cancers have shown a marked increase in the three countries
and their incidence can be unequivocally attributed to radiation from the
Chernobyl catastrophe. Cardiovascular and heart diseases and
gastrointestinal inflammations are also expected to increase in incidence
as a result of sustained, elevated levels of stress and anxiety associated
with the effects of the accident. General increases in morbidity, as well
as increases in immunological deficiencies, anaemia, neurocirculatory
problems, respiratory ailments, diseases of the stomach and intestinal
tract and defects of the cardiovascular system, have already been noted.
82. Environmental effects have been equally catastrophic, with over than
10 per cent of the total area of Belarus, 7 per cent of Ukraine and 1.6 per
cent of the European territory of the Russian Federation currently
contaminated.
83. The response of the international community, however, has been
inconsistent throughout. Certain countries have given generously and some
international organizations have been very active, but the magnitude of the
health problem still to be tackled is so great that more must be done.
Public information campaigns, environmental education and the development
of the UNESCO network of community centres, as well as contributing to the
democratic mobilization of the population in the economic and social
development of the affected zones, will be of key importance to the
successful management of the catastrophe. Most importantly, Chernobyl-
related assistance must be integrated into the sustainable development
strategies of the three countries concerned.
84. A concerted effort needs to be made to alert the international
community and in particular donors to the fact that Chernobyl is still a
major humanitarian tragedy and that the magnitude of its effects will
continue to grow over the next 10 years. The tenth anniversary of
Chernobyl on 26 April 1996 offers an excellent opportunity to galvanize
widespread media interest in the problem. Several international
organizations, led by EU, IAEA and WHO, are already planning international
conferences to mark the occasion. However, in view of the magnitude of the
problem and lack of international donor response, more will need to be done
to focus the attention of the world on the gravity of the problem. The
expanded meeting of the Quadripartite Committee in autumn 1995 must
consequently agree on concrete steps to take to mark the tenth anniversary
in a manner not simply of remembrance, but to encourage generous and
tangible assistance measures.
85. The resources available in the United Nations Trust Fund for Chernobyl
have been exhausted and without further support from the international
community, the United Nations efforts will simply cease, at a time when the
years of study that have gone before have finally begun to reveal that the
apprehensions expressed were valid and to confirm a devastation that is
both real and long term. The international community cannot remain
indifferent to the plight of the Chernobyl victims and must provide
assistance, both financial and in kind, to ensure that the consequences of
this disaster are addressed.
86. In addressing the consequences of the disaster, donors must ensure
that they target the most essential issues, as the benefits of any
intervention will be lessened if the net is cast too wide. A limited but
effective range of practical, health-related projects should receive first
priority. Healthrelated projects should endeavour to isolate, treat and
reduce illnesses associated with the Chernobyl accident, whether caused
directly by radiation or by the profound stress and the anxiety that has
characterized life over the past 10 years in the affected countries. This
will involve epidemiology and diagnosis, the provision and maintenance of
adequate equipment, medicine and treatment facilities, and programmes to
address stress and its ramifications.
87. Economic projects should focus on creating a full legal framework to
encourage and protect foreign investment, and in providing the necessary
supporting infrastructure to ensure a lasting impact. An example of what
can be achieved in the economic field in terms of regenerating economic
activity given the right infrastructure and adequate support is the UNESCO
economic and social area development at Gagarin.
88. The expanded Quadripartite Committee meeting to be held in New York
will be an important opportunity for donors to be informed first-hand by
the Chernobyl ministers of the three affected countries on the nature and
extent of the problem still facing their countries. It will also provide
an occasion for renewing support and making pledges or financial
contributions, whether to the Trust Fund for Chernobyl, directly to
implementing agencies of the system that are members of the Inter-Agency
Task Force for Chernobyl, or indeed bilaterally, for the international
community to combat decisively this severe and persistent humanitarian
tragedy.
ANNEX
International organizations, Member States and other
organizations from which the United Nations received
information on Chernobyl activities
I. UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM
Department for Development Support and Management Services of the
Secretariat
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
Economic Commission for Europe (ECE)
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
World Food Programme (WFP)
International Labour Organization (ILO)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
World Health Organization (WHO)
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
II. OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
European Union (EU)
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
III. MEMBER STATES
Austria
Belarus
Colombia
Ecuador
Finland
Germany
Japan
Kenya
Lesotho
Russian Federation
Syrian Arab Republic
Ukraine
IV. OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
Chernobyl Help
The Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation
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