IAEA Board of Governors Meeting
Statement by Mr Jarrod Powell, Alternate Resident Representative of Australia to the IAEA
Agenda Item 4: 2019 Technical Cooperation Report
15 June 2020
Thank you, Chair.
Australia thanks the Director General for the Technical Cooperation Report for 2019. We also thank Deputy Director General Yang and his team for the informative briefings provided online.
Chair,
The TC Programme relies on sufficient, assured and predictable funding to ensure its success. Australia has always paid its assessed target share of the TCF in full and on time, and we call on all Member States in a position to do so to do likewise. We continue to believe that this is the best way to provide certainty to the Technical Cooperation Programme.
In our experience, regional TC projects are particularly effective at delivering lasting benefits to Member States. In Asia and the Pacific, Australia is a proud and active member of the Regional Cooperative Agreement, or RCA. We note the high rate of implementation for projects administered under the RCA in 2019, at 94 per cent.
Chair,
Australia remains concerned that TC resources are not necessarily being distributed to those Member States with the greatest development need. As we have stated previously, we believe that all Member States in a position to fund their own TC activities should do so, thereby allowing available resources to be utilised to benefit developing countries – particularly Least Developed Countries – to the greatest extent possible. This would not prevent participation by any Member State in TC projects, but rather helps to ensure that resources go to where they are needed most.
Australia appreciates the reporting of women’s participation in TC in both the Report and its Supplement. We welcome the growing participation of women in TC activities and support the consideration of gender as a cross-cutting issue. We encourage the Agency to continue its efforts to increase the participation of women in the TC Programme.
Finally chair,
We thank the Secretariat for its efforts to continue delivering the important work of the TC Programme throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We look forward to further reporting and discussions on the implications of the pandemic on the TC Programme in the coming months.
Thank you, Chair.