A Quadripartite Meeting between the four Regional/Cooperative Agreements AFRA, ARASIA, ARCAL and RCA has taken place on 29 September 2016, on the margins of the 60th regular session of the IAEA General Conference. The Regional and Cooperative Agreements promote and strengthen the application of nuclear technology for regional development. The meeting was attended by the Chairs of the four Agreements, and was chaired by H.E. Mr Laercio Vinhas, Resident Representative of Brazil to the IAEA, as ARCAL Chairperson.
Welcome remarks were delivered by Mr Dazhu Yang, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation, who highlighted the importance of the Agreements as pillars for the facilitation of regional cooperation among their States Parties. He noted that the Agreements provide a very effective framework to enlarge the contribution of nuclear science and technology to the socioeconomic development of their regions and States Parties.
Mr Khalid El Mediouri, outgoing AFRA Chairperson, presented a draft Concept Paper to establish a Quadripartite Forum, defining the organizational and managerial modalities of such a Forum, and the role and involvement of the Secretariat. Participants at the Quadripartite Meeting endorsed the document as a basis for future inter-Agreement cooperation. The endorsed Concept Paper will be disseminated among the State Parties of the four Agreements.
Delegates at the Quadripartite Meeting agreed to develop a plan of action to operationalize the collaboration modalities between the Regional/Cooperative Agreements, as defined in the Concept Paper. These efforts will be supported by the Regional Divisions of the IAEA's Department of Technical Cooperation, with the goal of maximizing the benefits of the peaceful use of nuclear applications for the development of Member States.
The object of the Quadripartite Forum is to share information, best practices and experiences, as well as to explore common areas of inter-agreement collaboration. For example, participants underscored that training opportunities between the Agreements could be shared according to common languages, such as Arabic, English, Portuguese and French. Participants also considered it was highly relevant to avoid duplication of activities under each Agreement when addressing the various needs for capacity building in different countries.
The Regional Cooperative Agreement (RCA) will convene a meeting of the new Quadripartite Forum, which will take place during the 61st IAEA General Conference in 2017. The aim is to continue strengthening collaboration, and to monitor progress in the implementation of the plan of action.