States Okay Landmark IAEA Budget for 2004-05
Conference Backs Board Recommendation of June
At its plenary session 18 September, the IAEA General Conference of Member States backed a landmark budget recommended by the Agency's Board in June. The adopted regular budget totals just over US $268.5 million and marks the first significant increase in fifteen years, a period in which the budget was locked into zero real growth. The adopted budget further calls for phased increases by 2007.
The bulk of the increase goes to the IAEA's verification programme, though balances are struck for programmes in areas of safety and nuclear science and technology. The General Conference endorsed a separate allocation, of US $75.5 million, for the IAEA's Technical Cooperation Fund, which is based on voluntary contributions from States.
IAEA Director General welcomed the action. "It should go a long way towards easing the IAEA's budgetary problems," he said, "and enabling us to carry out our programme priorities."