IAEA Technical Assistance and Cooperation Committee
Agenda item 2: The Agency's proposed TC Programme for 2025
18 November 2024
Thank you, Chair.
Australia thanks Deputy Director General Liu Hua for his introductory remarks, and the Secretariat for their continued efforts to ensure the TC Programme responds effectively to Member States’ needs and advances the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals.
Chair,
Australia recognises the vital role of the TC Programme in improving the lives of people around the world. We remain committed to working with the Agency to strengthen that role, and we are pleased to have provided $9.5 million Australian Dollars in extrabudgetary funding to the Agency in 2024 in support of flagship initiatives and regional projects in Asia and the Pacific.
This is in addition to the in-kind contributions we continue to make, notably in our region, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, to support increased participation by scientists and technical experts in nuclear science, through capacity building workshops and knowledge sharing. Our support for locally-led, IAEA-supported, initiatives in Asia and the Pacific, on human health, pollution monitoring, water resource management, food and agriculture, and nuclear safety is primarily through our involvement in the Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology for Asia and the Pacific – the RCA – which has been an instrumental vehicle for regional cooperation, training, and capacity building.
Chair,
We note the unique challenges facing Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States and we encourage the Agency to ensure that the TC Programme affords the greatest priority to supporting their sustainable development. In this regard, we welcome the IAEA’s Sub-regional Approach to the Pacific Islands (SAPI).
No country can meet its development potential without ensuring all its people have every opportunity to reach their full potential. We welcome the relative progress that has been made to integrate gender perspectives into the TC Programme. There is more work to be done here and we call on the Agency to address this as a matter of priority, to ensure gender equality and the meaningful participation and leadership of women in all aspects of the TC programme.
Chair,
While Australia underlines our strong commitment to the TC Programme, we continue to welcome improved, results-based management and transparency in TC project planning and implementation. Efficient and effective management of the TC Programme will ensure the Agency delivers the best possible outcomes for Member States.
Chair,
We continue to encourage all Member States to pay their contribution to the Technical Cooperation Fund in full and on time to ensure the Agency has sufficient, assured and predictable funding to deliver its crucial TC activities.
In closing, please allow me to reaffirm Australia’s unshakeable commitment to the mandate and work of the IAEA and its role in effectively advancing the implementation of Agenda 2030 through nuclear science and technology.
With these comments, Australia is pleased to join consensus in recommending that the Board approve the recommendations contained in GOV/2024/58.
Thank you, Chair.