In the summer of 2002, the SDC launched the www.chernobyl.info information platform in cooperation with government organizations, the UN agencies UNOCHA and UNDP, as well as with the SDC Cooperation Offices in Minsk, Kiev and Moscow. Visitors to this site can find general information about the disaster and learn about its impact on people, animals and the environment.

The fate of thousands of people who continue to live in areas contaminated as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor explosion on 26 April 1986 threatens to sink into oblivion. More than twenty years later, many questions about how people deal with the contamination on a daily basis remain unanswered. The scientific paper on the subject is subject to controversy. Access to neutral and objective information is difficult, or even impossible.
The people in this regional economic backwater had scant access to the Internet and therefore little chance of discovering and exchanging relevant information. This situation prompted the SDC to initiate a project called “ICT for Development in Contaminated Areas” for target regions in Belarus, Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

Information platform on Chernobyl
The www.chernobyl.info site is therefore a platform that aims to prevent the disaster being forgotten as well as to raise the awareness of new players and obtain their support for development projects in the region. It is also a contribution to promoting information.

A database lets users coordinate their activities and offers an overview of current projects and programmes, as well as providing a Forum and a 20th-anniversary Event Calendar plus a new section on “Progressing reconstruction in the regions affected”.

This SDC programme enables schools and communities to access the Internet. Advanced training for teachers promotes computer skills which are then incorporated into lessons. Cross-border cooperation with teachers and project staff gives students an opportunity to glean experience in using computers and designing websites. The information circuit is completed by linking up these project web pages to the www.chernobyl.info information platform. The following are some examples of sub-projects that have been completed or are in progress:

ICT platforms in Belarus
The decision was taken in 2003 to expand the infrastructure developed as part of the “Life in a village“ project at Igovka School to give it Internet access and support with setting up a www.igovka.net web page. Adults had an opportunity to participate in computer courses and to use the school computers. The project subsequently grew into a programme proper. Computer equipment and Internet access were installed in eleven more schools in Dobrush and Bragin Districts, and teachers given the appropriate training. Eight sites including www.nosovichi.net, www.terekhovka.net and www.dobrush.net contain all kinds of information about life in Belarus. Since 2006, national and regional government bodies and private companies have been involved in the project and 15 more schools equipped. The project is focusing increasingly on the further training of teachers. The 7 Schools project and a further-training institute in the Mogilev and Gomel regions are currently receiving support.

Summer 2007: international computer camp in Novocamp
The fourth international computer camp for computer-club members from all three countries was staged in August 2007. In addition to the tried-and-tested courses in basic computer skills, Web design and computer graphics, special workshops were held on topics such as digital photography or graphic design. In addition, a special computer camp was organized for the first time for 40 computer-science teachers, enabling eight teachers from Ukraine, 12 from Russia and 20 from Belarus to improve their IT skills.

Computer clubs in Bryansk Region (Russ. Fed.)
The project provides for the setting up of a network of clubs in Bryansk Region. Ten such clubs have already been founded, for instance in the town of Novozybkov and in various villages of Novozybkov, Pochep and Surazh communes. They give club members and school children a chance to learn how to handle information technologies and to implement their own small projects, such as writing and producing a school newspaper (e.g. www.compclub.radimichi.ru). There are also further training opportunities for teachers.

Linking up schools of further education in Ukraine
Schools of further education in northern Ukraine, a region hit by the Chernobyl disaster, have been equipped with Internet access to allow students, teachers and other interested persons to maintain international contacts and use modern information technologies.