For information only. Not an official
record
UNEP closes environmental clean-up operations
in Serbia
BELGRADE/NAIROBI, 7 May 2004 - Two of the health-threatening environmental "hot-spots" identified for urgent remedial action in the wake of the Kosovo Conflict in 1999 have been satisfactorily dealt with.
The conflict-related concerns at two other seriously polluted environmental "hot-spots" in the Republic of Serbia have been significantly reduced.
As a result, fresh drinking water has been secured for tens of thousands of people, hundreds of tons of hazardous waste has been taken away for treatment and environmental management capacities strengthened.
The findings are released today as a pioneering four-year environmental clean-up operation in the war torn Balkans comes to an end.
Established in the aftermath of the Kosovo war, the $US 12.5 million United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) clean-up programme has successfully identified, assessed and completed the first UN-led clean-up of environmental threats as a result of armed conflict.
"Environmental conditions have a crucial influence on the success of efforts to rebuild shattered communities and livelihoods," said Klaus Toepfer, UNEP Executive Director. "Only by ensuring environmental security can the wider goals of post-conflict reconstruction and human development be sustained."
"The closure of UNEP's post-conflict activities in the Balkans is a positive signal. It demonstrates that, overall, South Eastern Europe is progressing from conflict to peace," he said.
Today, the clean-up programme is being officially handed over to the Government of the Republic of Serbia. As an integral part of the handover, the environmental authorities in the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro worked together with UNEP on a joint final assessment of the environmental conditions at the four hot-spot sites.
The report, Assessment of Environmental Hot-spots Serbia and Montenegro April 2004, says that the conflict-related environmental consequences at Kragujevac and Bor have been largely dealt with.
It also says that in Novi Sad, the risk of serious contamination affecting drinking-water supplies has been substantially reduced and conflict-related environmental impacts are being systematically monitored. At Pancevo, the place that suffered the most damage during the war, conflict-related concerns have been significantly reduced, but important "pre-war" environmental problems have yet to be addressed.
At most locations the conflict-related impacts represented only a part of the environmental and health challenges present, as serious contamination also pre-dated the Kosovo conflict, and there were long-term deficiencies in the storage and treatment of hazardous waste.
Note to Editors
In May 1999, UNEP established the Balkans Task Force with a mandate to assess objectively and scientifically immediate threats to human health and the environment arising from the conflict.
This was the first time that environmental issues had been recognized and integrated as a central part of the immediate United Nations post-conflict humanitarian effort.
In October 1999 UNEP presented its findings in the report entitled The Kosovo Conflict Consequences for the Environment and Human Settlements. This drew a number of important conclusions on the post-conflict situation in the region and in particular singled out four heavily polluted environmental hot spots (Pancevo, Kragujevac, Novi Sad and Bor), for immediate humanitarian assistance.
Implementation of the UNEP Clean-up Programme was made possible by the financial contributions of the governments of Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.
For More Information, please contact: Eric Falt, Spokesperson/Director of UNEP's Division of Communications and Public Information, on Tel: 254 20 623292, Mobile: 254 (0) 733 682656, E-mail: eric.falt@unep.org or Nick Nuttall, UNEP Head of Media, on Tel: 254 20 623084, Mobile: 254 (0) 733 632755, E-mail: nick.nuttall@unep.org Robert Bisset, UNEP Spokesperson in Europe on tel +33 1 4437 7613, Mobile +33 6 2272 5842, email: robert.bisset@unep.fr
Information about UNEP's post conflict assessment work in the Balkans and other regions of the world can be found at http://postconflict.unep.ch/
UNEP News Release 2004/20