Give a man a fish; he's fed for a day. Teach him to fish; and he's fed for a lifetime.
This universal truth is the foundation of the IAEA's Programme for Technical Cooperation Among Developing Countries (TCDC) where IAEA Member States share their expertise with each other for the development of the group as a whole.
"Through their participation in regional Technical Cooperation (TC) projects, IAEA Member States with more experience in using nuclear technologies in agriculture, resources management, health care and power generation, share their knowledge and amenities with other countries with less advanced nuclear sectors," said Kwaku Aning, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation, during the 2012 Global South-South Development Expo from 19-23 November in Vienna, Austria.
"This is facilitated and supported through Regional and Cooperative Agreements signed by IAEA Member States. Such agreements are in place in Africa (AFRA), Asia and the Pacific (RCA and ARASIA) and Latin America (ARCAL)."
Through these agreements countries identify regional priorities and needs that can be addressed jointly and with the help of nuclear technology.
According to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, South-South cooperation is "a vital component of the world's response" to development challenges like hunger, infectious disease, providing access to clean water and ensuring maternal health.
The IAEA has been working to facilitate the necessary country-to-country cooperation that will support Member States in addressing these and other Millennium Development Goals for the last 40 years.
"Right now, a total of over 1 000 IAEA TC projects are active in countries around the world, helping Member States to diagnose and treat disease, fight hunger, enhance food security and manage natural resources; supporting safety; building human capacities; and contributing to socioeconomic development," said Aning.