Australian Embassy and Permanent Mission to the United Nations
Austria
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia

Technical cooperation: The Agency's proposed programme for 2021

IAEA Technical Assistance and Cooperation Committee 

Statement by Mr Jarrod Powell, Alternate Representative of Australia to the IAEA

Agenda Item 2: Technical cooperation: The Agency's proposed programme for 2021

16 November 2020

 

 

Australia thanks the Director General for his report on the Technical Cooperation Programme for 2021, Deputy Director General Yang for his introductory remarks, and the Secretariat for the briefings provided virtually.

We also thank the Secretariat for its efforts in using the TC programme to assist member states in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic, and in minimising the impact of the pandemic on programme implementation.

Australia attaches great importance to the IAEA’s Technical Cooperation Programme, and we acknowledge the need for the TCF to be adequately funded. While recognising the challenge posed by the health, societal, and economic impacts of the ongoing pandemic, we believe it is critical to the ongoing effectiveness of the TC Programme that assessed TCF contributions are paid in full and on time. As has always been the case, Australia has already paid its 2021 contribution in full. We encourage all Member States to do likewise.

We also welcome the Secretariat’s efforts to strengthen partnerships with, and mobilise resources from, non-traditional donors.

 

Australia continues to hold concerns that TC resources are not necessarily being distributed to those Member States with the greatest development need. We believe that all Member States in a position to fund their own TC activities should do so, 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 would help to ensure that resources go to where they are needed most.

 

We welcome the growing participation of women in TC activities, and support the ongoing consideration of gender as a cross-cutting issue. Increasing the participation of women in TC is crucial to the ongoing success of the programme and the future of nuclear more broadly.