At a memorial service held at IAEA headquarters in Vienna today in the presence of Mrs. Yukika Amano, dignitaries, diplomats and colleagues paid tribute to late Director General Yukiya Amano, who passed away last month. Attendees included Heinz Fischer, former president of Austria and Satoshi Suzuki, Japan’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Mr Amano, who died at the age of 72, was first appointed Director General of the IAEA in 2009. Previously, he served as Japan’s Resident Representative to the IAEA and was Chair of the Agency’s Board of Governors in 2005-2006.
The ceremony began with one minute of silence and a short video on the achievements of Mr Amano as Director General of the IAEA (see above).
The IAEA mourns the loss of a great leader, said Cornel Feruta, Acting Director General of the IAEA, who has worked as Chief Coordinator in the Director General’s Office for Coordination since 2013. He spoke of the late Director General’s integrity, judgement and analytical mind and singled out three of his achievements: his leadership in leading international response in the aftermath of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the modernization of the IAEA’s nuclear applications laboratories near Vienna and the increased international confidence in the credibility and impartiality of IAEA nuclear safeguards achieved during his tenure.
“The IAEA will honour his legacy in the way he would have wished – by remaining an organization of excellence that contributes in a very concrete way to international peace and security, and to the well-being and prosperity of the world,” Feruta said.