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13 July, 2005 has seen the official signing ceremony of the Declaration of Principles of the CORE Programme (“Cooperation for Rehabilitation”) by UNICEF, 29th co-signatory of the Declaration. The Declaration has been signed by UNICEF Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States and Baltic States Ms. Maria Kalivis. In the words of Ms. Kalivis, UNICEF’s decision to join the CORE Programme is driven by a need to place children from the Chernobyl-affected areas in tighter focus. In her speech, Ms. Kalivis stated: “We are confident that our cooperation in this area will help address a range of social and economic problems faced by the affected population”. The signing ceremony was attended by representatives of the Committee on the problems of the consequences of the catastrophe at the Chernobyl NPP under the Council of Ministers Republic of Belarus, CORE Co-ordination Team, national mass media.
CORE Programme Coordinator Zoya Trafimchik noted: “The previous assistance programmes viewed the local population as ‘victims of the disaster’ primarily utilizing a passive approach to solution finding. The CORE Programme is unique in the sense that it uses an integrated approach to rehabilitation of living conditions in a contaminated environment: we view local people not as passive aid recipients, but rather as active contributors to the homeland revival process”.
Ms. Maria Kalivis expressed her intention to visit the Chernobyl-affected areas soon, familiarize herself with ongoing CORE projects, and consider how UNICEF may be involved in specific initiatives.
For further information, please refer to Alexei Tchistodarski, CORE Coordination Team’s Information Assistant, by telephone: 227-05-72 or by e-mail:
Source: www.un.minsk.by
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