International organization

Contact information

Description

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

Address: Vienna International Centre, P.O. Box 100 A-1400 Vienna, Austria, Tel.: + 431 2600-0, Fax: + 431 2600-7, E-mail: Official.Mail@iaea.org, Website: www.​iaea.​org

“The IAEA is the world’s centre of cooperation in the nuclear field. It was set up as the world’s ‘Atoms for Peace’ organization in 1957 within the United Nations family. The Agency works with its Member States and multiple partners worldwide to promote safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technologies” (IAEA n.d.). The role of IAEA is to promptly inform States Parties, Member States and IO about a nuclear accident or radiological emergency, to facilitate prompt assistance to minimize consequences and to protect life, to facilitate cooperation between State Parties and to transmit a request for assistance to other States and international organizations (IAEA 2010a)

World Health Organization (WHO)

Address: Avenue Appia 20 1211 Geneva 27 Switzerland, Tel.: + 41 22 791 21 11, Fax: + 41 22 791 31 11, Website: www.​who.​int/​

“WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends” (WHO n.d. a). It works closely with the IAEA with regard to readiness and response to nuclear accidents and radiological emergencies. Its principal role in radiation disasters is to provide medical assistance to victims of such events where severe radiation exposure has occurred and coordinate international public health matters (WHO n.d. b)

Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)

Address: Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 00153 Rome, Italy, Tel.: + 39 06 57051, Fax: + 39 06 570 53152, E-mail: FAO-HQ@fao.org, Website: www.​fao.​org

“FAO’s mandate is to achieve food security for all and to make sure people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives”. It also works to “raise levels of nutrition, improve agricultural productivity, better the lives of rural populations and contribute to the growth of the world economy” (FAO n.d.). Its role is to “monitor and evaluate the world food security situation”; to “advise governments on measures to be taken in terms of agricultural, fisheries and forestry practices; to minimize the impact of radionuclides; and to develop emergency procedures for alternative agricultural practices and for decontamination of agricultural, fisheries and forestry products, soil and water”. It also works to “provide related assistance upon the request or acceptance of governments, without prejudice to the national competence of each of its Member States” (IAEA 2010a)

Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)

Address: Le Seine Saint-Germain 12, boulevard des Îles 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux France, Tel.: + 33 1 45 24 82 00, Fax: + 33 1 45 24 11 10, E-mail: nea@oecd-nea.org, Website: www.​oecd-nea.​org

“The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) is a specialized agency within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries. The NEA’s mission is to assist its member countries in maintaining and further developing, through international cooperation, the scientific, technological and legal bases required for a safe, environmentally friendly and economical use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes” (NEA 2013). It works to “assist member countries in the regulation and implementation of the system of radiological protection”, improve high safety standards in the utilization of nuclear energy and develop “safe, sustainable and societally acceptable strategies” to manage all kinds of radioactive materials (NEA 2011, 2012). It also provides a forum for emergency response experts to share information and experience in every aspect of emergency management systems (IAEA 2010a)

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Address: United Nations Avenue, Gigiri P.O. Box 30552, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya, Tel.: 254–20 7621234, Fax: 254–20 7624489/90, E-mail: unepinfo@unep.org, Website: http://​www.​unep.​org/​

“UNEP, established in 1972, is the voice for the environment within the United Nations system. UNEP acts as a catalyst, advocate, educator and facilitator to promote the wise use and sustainable development of the global environment” (UNEP n.d.). In collaboration with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), it forms the Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit which has a role to quickly mobilize and coordinate emergency assistance and response resources to countries dealing with environmental emergencies and natural disasters with significant environmental impacts, including radiological emergencies (IAEA 2010a)

United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR)

Address: UNSCEAR secretariat United Nations Vienna International Centre P.O. Box 500 A-1400 Vienna, Austria, Tel.: + 43 1 26060 4330, Fax: + 43 1 26060 5902, Website: www.​unscear.​org

“UNSCEAR was established by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1955. Its mandate in the United Nations system is to assess global levels and effects of exposure to ionizing radiation and report it to the General Assembly” (UNSCEAR 2013). UNSCEAR receives and assembles radiological information from States Members of the UN or members of the specialized agencies about levels of ionizing radiation and radioactivity in the environment, then reviews important problems in the field of ionizing radiation and reports thereon to the General Assembly (IAEA 2010)

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

Address: OCHA Emergency Services Branch Palais des Nations, Office D-114 CH-1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland, Tel.: + 41 (22) 917 1234, Fax: + 41 (22) 917 0023, E-mail: ochaunep@un.org, Website: www.​unocha.​org

“The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is part of the United Nations Secretariat and is headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, who has the mandate to coordinate UN assistance in humanitarian crises that go beyond the capacity and mandate of any single UN agency”. OCHA has the role to process requests from affected Member States for emergency assistance that need a coordinated response, to “maintain an overview of all emergencies through the systematic pooling and analysis of early warning information” and to “organize, in consultation with the government of the affected country, a joint inter-agency needs assessment mission” (IAEA 2010a)