IAEA Board of Governors Meeting
Statement by HE Mr Richard Sadleir, Resident Representative of Australia to the IAEA
Agenda Item 9: Statement on behalf of the Group of Friends for Women in Nuclear
5 March 2021
Australia is pleased to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of Friends for Women in Nuclear. A group founded to support the IAEA in increasing to parity the representation of women in the Secretariat. The Group is co-chaired by Mexico, the Philippines and Australia, and is comprised of 35 member states.
The Group is encouraged by the focus of the Agency’s Draft Programme and Budget 2022-2023 on gender mainstreaming across all major programmes, as well as specific actions aimed at reaching gender parity in Professional and higher categories at the Agency level by 2025.
We note Subprogramme 5.0.8 – Human Resources Management, where new gender initiatives and the promotion of health and well-being of staff will be considered, and where increased percentage of staff awareness, knowledge and skills in relation to gender equality will be a performance indicator for the Agency. The Group is also pleased to see the focus on the participation of women and gender mainstreaming in technical cooperation activities.
In 2020, the Director General launched the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Programme, an initiative to encourage women from around the world to study nuclear subjects and pursue careers in the nuclear field. Through generous contributions of Member States and other donors, the first year of the Programme funded the full complement of 100 scholarships. The Group commends the Agency and Member States on the success of this programme to date, and is hopeful that it can continue to be funded fully again in 2021.
The Group of Friends for Women in Nuclear is excited to embark upon some exciting new initiatives in 2021. We will focus on virtual events, so that we may continue to provide innovative content for our members and others in the nuclear sciences community whilst in-person gatherings are minimised. We are also enthusiastic about increasing our use of social media platforms for public engagement.
Finally, Chair, we take this opportunity to invite delegations who share our vision on gender equality to join the Group of Friends for Women in Nuclear. If you would like to join, please make your interest known to one of the Group’s Co-Chairs.