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New Agreements Reinforce Partnerships in Technical Cooperation

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Dazhu Yang, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation, and C. James Hospedales, Executive Director at the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) sign Practical Arrangement. (Photo: D. Calma/IAEA)

The 15 agreements signed during the International Conference on the IAEA Technical Cooperation Programme this week are testimony to the importance of partnerships in the pursuit of development objectives, said IAEA Deputy Director General Dazhu Yang. 

“Looking to the future, Sustainable Development Goal 17 recognizes the role of science, technology and innovation as essential enablers for development, and emphasizes the importance of partnerships as a critical means of implementation,” Mr Yang said. “Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals requires multi-actor collaboration, and cannot be addressed in isolation.”

The cross-border nature of many of the development goals of Member States was highlighted during the conference. Some of the issues that IAEA technical cooperation projects work to address do not stop at national borders, such as aquifer conservation and communicable disease containment.  In light of this, a number of panellists encouraged future projects to further incorporate outreach and collaboration with neighbouring nations.

“Fostering partnerships that promote integrated approaches to development will support a more effective technical cooperation programme, and will also ensure coordination and complementarity of activities,” Mr. Yang noted.

Practical Arrangements were signed with the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), the Pacific Community (SPC), and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).  

The agreement with CARPHA provides a framework for joint work on the use of nuclear science to prevent disease and promote and protect health. It calls for collaboration in the application of radiation medicine, the application of stable isotopes in nutrition, the use of insect pest management practices with a radiation component, increased collaboration in environmental monitoring and the implementation of radiation protection standards.  

The agreement with SPC, the principal scientific and technical organization in the Pacific region, aims to increase collaboration in the promotion of science, technical expertise, research and innovation to address development challenges and support economic and social progress. The agreement will promote dialogue of development trends and challenges, particularly in the areas of water and the environment, energy, agriculture, food and nutrition security, and non-communicable diseases.

The agreement with PAHO will support cooperation in fields that include quality assurance in radiation medicine, radiological safety, cancer control, non-communicable diseases and nutrition, and the development of health personnel in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Country Programme Frameworks

Representatives of eleven countries (Benin, the Central African Republic, Cuba, Honduras, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay and Vanuatu) signed a Country Programme Framework with the IAEA, identifying priority areas where the transfer of nuclear technology and technical cooperation resources will be directed to support national development goals and priorities.

“The country programme framework has been an instrumental tool for strategic planning where priorities to be addressed through the TC programme are identified,” Mr Yang said. “This framework will play a major role in the years to come to link, as appropriate and where relevant, national priorities with the SDGs.”

An agreement between the IAEA and the Government of Thailand will facilitate the organization and hosting of IAEA activities, such as training courses and workshops in Thailand.

More than 1160 participants, including Heads of State and Government and other high level officials, from 160 countries and 27 organizations and entities attended the Conference. It was the first international conference held on the IAEA Technical Cooperation Programme and took place from 30 May to 1 June 2017.

Member State representatives during the closing session of the first ever conference on the IAEA technical cooperation programme, 1 June, 2017. (Photo: H. Pattison/IAEA)

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