OREANDA-NEWS. October 6, 2009. A total of EUR 1.5 million has been allocated for EU/UNDP projects meant to alleviate consequences of the Chernobyl disaster in Belarus. The statement was made by UN/UNDP representative in Belarus Antonius Broek at the opening of a children's playground in the town of Vetka, Gomel oblast, on 5 October.

Antonius Broek said he hopes that EU/UNDP cooperation with local authorities will set a good example for implementing other pilot projects in the Khoiniki, Buda-Koshelevo, and Zhitkovichi regions. Later on two more regions (in the Gomel or Mogilev oblasts) will be chosen to participate in an EU/UNDP project. Antonius Broek said he would like the time between a proposal and its implementation to be much shorter.

Vetka’s first children's playground has been built as part of the EU/UNDP project “Territory-oriented development of areas affected by the Chernobyl catastrophe”. At the playground the football field has been restored, gymnastic apparatuses, slides, merry-go-rounds have been installed, with the parking lot rebuilt. The renovation cost around USD 18,000.

The reconstructed children’s playground is the first result of the project that is a component in the joint initiative “Minimizing negative consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe in Belarus”. The initiative is funded by the European Union and is carried out in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme. The project is supposed to step up the participation of the local population in addressing specific social and economic problems in the Chernobyl-affected areas as well as to support the most vulnerable population strata.