Introduction: Building Development Partnerships

For more than four decades, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been fulfilling its mandate to "accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace health and prosperity throughout the world". In the developing world, the primary task has been to build the basic capacity of Member States to understand and safely employ nuclear science and technologies.

This brochure illustrates how communities across the globe are deriving sizable economic and social benefits by putting the atom to work in solving everyday problems. It also shows how these benefits are multiplied through collaborative efforts and effective partnerships between UN agencies, notably between United Nations' Development Programme (UNDP) and the IAEA. The alliance with UNDP has been particularly fruitful for several reasons. As a leading development co-ordinator and policy-advisor, UNDP has helped to ensure that the quality of IAEA technical co-operation is high and that projects are closely aligned with national development priorities. Likewise, UNDP's programmes have benefited from the expertise and capabilities of IAEA and its counterpart structure. But the foremost beneficiaries have been developing countries themselves. As the stories below demonstrate, they have derived new jobs and better livelihoods, more food to feed their families and the vital information they need to fight pollution, disease and poverty.

Partnerships with UN Organizations are critical to sustaining nuclear science and technology in developing countries. The stories in this brochure provide evidence of the value of a few specific techniques and why their impact should be multiplied through strengthened collaboration.

Joint field activities are currently being forged with UNICEF, World Food Programme and several other United Nations organizations. The IAEA and its Member States are looking to develop further strategic alliances and we invite all our associates to join in efforts to improve the quality of development programmes and quality of life through effective partnerships.

Foreword: Mohamed ElBaradei
Foreword: James G. Speth
Introduction: Building Development Partnerships
Better Feeding for Better Breeding
Ending Africa's Rinderpest Plague
Defeating the Medfly
More Rice from Less Land
Helping to Save the Black Sea