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34 new projects were approved in the framework of the Chernobyl Cooperation for Rehabilitation (CORE) Programme at an Approval Board (AB) session held yesterday in Chechersk, Gomel region during which representatives from the 30 signatories to the CORE declaration met to review the progress of the programme.
The projects were part of a package of 40 project initiatives submitted by four CORE participating districts from Belarus Chernobyl affected areas to the CORE Preparation and Assessment Committee (PAC) a day earlier.
The German charity organization Children of Chernobyl, from Lower Saxony, became the 30-th signatory of the Declaration at a ceremony which took place during the PAC session on 23 November.
“The projects approved are the expression of the needs of the affected population,” UNDP Resident Representative in Belarus, the CORE Programme PAC Chairperson, Ms. Cihan Sultanoglu, noted. The majority of the new projects are related to one of the four CORE priority areas, ‘Culture and education of children and youth, transmission of the memory of the Chernobyl disaster’.
Ms. Sultanoglu presented the newly recommended projects for the consideration at the AB highlighting five key areas that required the attention of CORE members: (1) mobilization of financial, informational and technical resources in support of the programme; (2) the need to fasten the process of projects registration; (3) the possibility of scaling up the scope of the projects; (4) the importance of building up networking between the projects to share information, expertise and experience; and (5) the sustainability of the projects.
As of today, 105 projects have been approved within the CORE Programme procedures since its inception. So far national and international partners have contributed over 3.5 million euros to CORE. 23 projects are under realization in the framework of the CORE Programme, 48 projects are in different stages of registration or searching for partners. District presentations of the first results of the projects during the PAC session on 23 November 2005 suggested the projects are being successfully implemented, giving local people some confidence and optimism.
“People understood that it is impossible to overcome all the consequences of Chernobyl catastrophe, but there is a need to make everything possible to minimize its impact on the life and health of the people”, Chairman of the Chechersk District Executive Committee, Mr. Vasily Maksimenko, said.
The CORE Programme – is a new generation programme in post-Chernobyl cooperation, which supposes openness and dialogue, collegiality in taking decisions and practical orientation by local, national and international partners.
For further information please contact the CORE Programme Public Information Assistant, Alexei Tchistodarski, at telephone number 227-05-72, or UNDP Public Information Assistant Vladislav Khilkevich at 227-38-17.
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