UN team arrives to assist Peru

In response to the Peruvian Government's request to the United Nations last Thursday, a technical mission of international experts arrived in Lima today to carry out a rapid socio-environmental impact assessment and advise authorities on the coordination of the response to the oil spill in the town of Ventanilla.

The nine professionals deployed by the UN Joint Environment Unit (JEU), a collaborative initiative of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), are experts in contamination assessment and oil spill response, environmental incident management and contingency planning, marine chemistry, geographic information analysis and mapping, and disaster management.

The international experts, who are being deployed from the European Union, Ecuador, Norway, Panama and Peru, will immediately begin their work in support of Peruvian authorities. The team will remain in the country for approximately two weeks.

The technical mission will provide advice on environmental emergency management and spill containment, supporting the rollout of a rapid environmental impact assessment to identify pressing risks and priorities for immediate, medium and long-term action to mitigate the spill’s impacts. Additionally, the experts will provide technical advice to national authorities to reduce the risk of future oil spill-related disasters in the ocean, including both methodological and regulatory recommendations.

The mission is coordinated by the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Peru and led by OCHA. It is comprised of environmental experts convened by the Joint Environment Unit (JEU) and experts from OCHA, UNEP and UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC).