Publicatie Laka-bibliotheek:
Report of the World Health Organization Depleted Uranium Mission to Kosovo
Auteur | WHO |
6-05-2-20-10.pdf | |
Datum | januari 2001 |
Classificatie | 6.05.2.20/10 (VERARMD URANIUM - MILITAIR - (vml) JOEGOSLAVIË) |
Voorkant |
Uit de publicatie:
Report of the World Health Organization Depleted Uranium Mission to Kosovo Undertaken at the request of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) 22 to 31 January 2001 1. Background to the Mission The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) received a request for assistance from the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). The request appealed to WHO ‘to send public health experts to assist in monitoring any possible health consequences of the use of depleted uranium among the civilian population.’ Accordingly, WHO responded positively to this request, and assembled a mission to travel to Kosovo comprising a team of four specialists. The team members arrived in Prishtinë/Pristina on 22 January 2001 and began their work immediately. In addition to the specialists that comprised the WHO Depleted Uranium Mission, additional assistance was provided by WHO staff based in Kosovo as part of the long-running WHO Humanitarian Assistance Programme. The composition of the mission and the terms of reference are presented in Appendix 1. The purpose of the mission from the outset was to assimilate the information and opinions presented to it from all interested parties within Kosovo. The mission team has been conscious of the recent intense international interest in depleted uranium and the desire of UNMIK to institute prompt action, if and where needed. Therefore, in the limited time available, strenuous efforts have been made to consider all of the quantitative and qualitative information within Kosovo presented to the mission team members. Information from Kosovo sources has been supplemented with authoritative knowledge gathered from the international medical, scientific and environmental literature and organizations and WHO personnel outside of Kosovo. In the time available, the mission endeavoured to be as comprehensive as possible in its assessment of health issues relevant to Kosovo. In this respect the mission is confident that the assessments made and the advice given to UNMIK are practical and relevant. The main thrust of the WHO assistance to UNMIK has been a fact-finding and assessment mission. This was determined to be the most expeditious way to assist UNMIK. No new environmental sampling was conducted. Instead, those who have undertaken environmental sampling in the recent past, such as the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP's) Balkans Task Force, have co-operated and supported the work of WHO. The mission focused solely on the Kosovo geographical area and endeavoured to use the UN adopted names for all villages and towns.