International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day being observed today

Kathmandu, April 26: The International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day is being observed today. 

On 8 December 2016 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution designating 26 April as International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day. In its resolution, the General Assembly recognized that three decades after the disaster there remains persistent serious long-term consequences and that the affected communities and territories are experiencing continuing related needs. The General Assembly has invited all Member States, relevant agencies of the United Nations system and other international organizations, as well as civil society, to observe the day.

This day has been regularly celebrated since 2017. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster.

An explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986 spread a radioactive cloud over large parts of the Soviet Union, now the territories of Belarus, Ukraine and the Russian Federation. Nearly 8.4 million people in the three countries were exposed to the radiation.

Since the Chornobyl nuclear plant accident on 26 April 1986, the United Nations, along with the Governments of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, has been leading the recovery and development efforts to support the affected regions. 

While extensive humanitarian work was conducted immediately after the accident, additional recovery and rehabilitation activities were conducted in the following years to secure the area, limit the exposure of the population, provide medical follow-up to those affected and study the health consequences of the incident, the UN stated.(RSS)