Humanitarian Aid: November 2007 Archives

Over the past several days, I have seen many bloggers writing about the recent UN resolution regarding Chernobyl aid. Many people are apparently confused by the announcement that the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) emphasis on Chernobyl assistance efforts will shift from emergency and disaster relief to rehabilitation and sustainable development.

People are taking this to mean that radiation levels have returned to near normal levels and the area is again safe for habitation. This is a huge and grossly incorrect assumption. What these people do not understand is that the UN concentrates its Chernobyl aid efforts on several oblasts (provinces) and districts surrounding the Chernobyl area, but does not include the Chernobyl District itself.

The United Nations General Assembly has promoted a new resolution shifting the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) emphasis on Chernobyl assistance efforts from emergency and disaster relief to rehabilitation and sustainable development.

Cihan Sultanoglu, UNDP's Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Director of the Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, said, “UNDP is trying to change the legacy of Chernobyl from one of despair and hopelessness to one of hope and prosperity and health.... 20 years of treating the residents of those regions as victims has created a culture of apathy.”