Building on the success of its recent environmental
assessments in the Balkans region, including the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,
Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the United Nations
Environment Programme is launching today its new Post-Conflict Assessment
Unit.
Geneva, 11 December 2001 - The
new Unit will have a similar but broader mandate than that of the UNEP
Balkans Unit, which it replaces, and will be available to conduct assessments
in any of the world's many post-conflict zones. Its 11-member team will
be based with other UNEP offices at the International Environment House
in Châtelaine (Geneva).
UNEP's assessments of the consequences of the Balkans crisis were based on field missions by expert teams to affected sites followed by laboratory analyses. The resulting reports identified heavily polluted "hot spots", offered the first-ever analysis of depleted uranium (DU) in a real conflict situation, determined the environmental impacts of refugee influxes, and proposed solutions for environmental clean-up.
"Following the positive reactions from the Balkans countries and the international community at large to our work on the Kosovo conflict, I have today the honour of inaugurating the Post-Conflict Assessment Unit," said UNEP Executive Director Klaus Töpfer. "This Unit will extend the work pioneered in the Balkans to embrace other areas of the world where the natural and human environment has been damaged as a consequence of conflict."
Areas of immediate concern could include Afghanistan, which has experienced over 20 years of conflict. Despite the success of the recent UN-brokered talks, the country remains burdened by land mines, the effects of drought and the environmental degradation of fresh-water, sanitation systems, forests and soil quality.
"UNEP stands ready to carry its part of the UN's responsibility for Afghanistan by assisting in the country's rehabilitation and reconstruction," said Mr. Töpfer. "We are ready to be active in the post-conflict situation at the earliest possible moment following the first phase of urgent humanitarian assistance."
UNEP believes that a healthy environment is a prerequisite for sound and sustainable development. People cannot secure real and sustainable economic development if they are confronted by contaminated water, polluted land and declining natural resources.
Post-conflict environmental assessments are a vital tool for making independent and reliable investigations of environmental impacts and for providing clear recommendations on the necessary remediation. Keeping environmental priorities on the agenda throughout the post-conflict reconstruction is equally important. UNEP's approach to post-conflict assessments has included the vital step of working with donors to secure funds for clean-up activities.
Environmental activities following a conflict must meet urgent environmental and health needs. They must also support longer-term goals for managing natural resources, address environmental management practices and promote regional environmental cooperation.
Note to journalists: For more information, contact Michael Williams at +41-22-9178242, +41-79-4091528 (cell), or michael.williams@unep.ch, or see http://postconflict.unep.ch/
