The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster in 1986 sent five percent of the radioactive reactor’s core into the atmosphere and upwind into Belarus, Ukraine and parts of Russia – contaminating over 150,000 sq km of the region. The radioactive material spread over a 30 km radius from the plant, leading to the creation of an “exclusion zone” on both sides of the Belarus-Ukrainian border – an area of 2,600 square kilometers that is not inhabitable by people to this day.

UNDP and the UN family have worked closely together to promote an integrated approach to address the development issues of the affected areas

In December 2016, the General Assembly declared 26 of April as “International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day”, as an important global acknowledgement of the importance of keeping the Chernobyl incident high on the global agenda, drawing lessons from the emergency and recovery responses, and sharing them globally for the benefit of current and future generations.

Building on the 2016 Secretary-General’s report on Chernobyl and in the context of Agenda 2030, UNDP has been supporting local and economic development, environment and local governance activities in the Chernobyl affected areas as part of its larger development programme in Belarus and Ukraine.

UNDP Belarus, with EU support and in close cooperation with local authorities, has been leading a transition from emergency relief and humanitarian assistance to capacity-building and sustainable development. By providing support to more than 200 initiatives, UNDP and partners help local communities get back on their feet and start taking on the challenges of today and tomorrow.

In the future, realizing the economic potential of the affected territories will depend upon stronger cooperation with the private sector – which UNDP is attempting to broker through social impact investment.

Since the beginning of the decade there has been a considerable increase in economic activity — 37,000 small- and medium-sized businesses now operate in the areas directly affected by the disaster, up from only 2,375 in 2002.