Since 1986, the United Nations family of organizations and major NGOs have launched more than 230 different research and assistance projects in the fields of health, nuclear safety, rehabilitation, environment, production of clean foods and information. Thirty-one people died in the accident, and countless lives have been affected long-term by the exposure to radiation.
The exact number of victims remains a subject of intense debate because the Soviet authorities kept most of the information about the disaster hidden.
Tens of thousands of people had to be evacuated from the surrounding areas, including the now infamous town of Pripyat. "30 years after Chernobyl" was presented to the employees of worldwide organizations based in Geneva, representatives of the diplomatic corps, as well as humanitarian non-governmental organizations from Switzerland, France and Italy.
Underscoring the need to strengthen global cooperation to study, mitigate and minimize the consequences of the disaster, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in December a year ago in which it designated 26 April as the worldwide Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day. The General Assembly recognized that, "three decades after the Chernobyl disaster, the still-persistent serious long-term consequences thereof, as well as the continuing related needs of the affected communities and territories", and invited "all Member States, relevant agencies of the United Nations system and other worldwide organizations, as well as civil society, to observe the day".
More than 200 tonnes of uranium remain inside the crippled reactor that leaked radiation across three quarters of Europe.
China urges S. Korea, US to pull back THAAD equipment
Asked if Beijing has done enough to curb its neighbour, Gabriel said that the "primary responsibility lies with North Korea ". At the same time, the Trump administration remains open to negotiations for ridding North Korea of nuclear weapons, it said.
Wednesday was the 31st anniversary of the explosion and fire at the nuclear plant in neighbouring Ukraine.
About 600,000 people who became known as "liquidators" - mostly emergency workers and state employees - were dispatched with little or no protective gear to help clean up the aftermath of the disaster.
This marked the beginning of the United Nations' involvement in the Chernobyl recovery.
Fears that a structure hastily built over the stricken reactor was cracking saw more than 40 countries pitch in for the creation of the new 25,000-tonne protective steel barrier.
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