Representatives of the States Parties to the AFRA Agreement held their annual meeting ahead of the 65th IAEA General Conference earlier this month. The 32nd Meeting of AFRA Representatives endorsed the 2020 AFRA Annual Report and the recommendations of the 32nd Technical Working Group Meeting (TWGM).
The meeting, held on 9 September, was attended by more than 120 high-level representatives of State Parties, donor countries and partner organizations as well as IAEA Secretariat staff. Participants included 21 Ambassadors. The attendees considered the contents of the 2020 AFRA Annual Report, agreed on Rwanda as the host country for the 2022 TWGM, and appointed new members to the Agreement’s three standing committees.
In his opening address, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi noted the IAEA’s response in Africa to the COVID-19 pandemic, and advocated for enhanced collaboration between the IAEA and AFRA States Parties.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused great suffering and hardship worldwide. Following its outbreak, the IAEA moved swiftly to provide RT-PCR equipment and training to 129 countries and territories around the world, aiming to support their efforts to respond to the pandemic. Forty-four of these countries were in Africa,” Mr Grossi said. “This experience, as part of the global pandemic response effort, reminds us of the value of international cooperation.”
Najat Mokhtar, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, highlighted the value of the AFRA agreement. “Over several years, I have seen the significant contribution of AFRA to the wellbeing of millions of Africans through science and technology,” she said.
Deputy Director General of Technical Cooperation, Hua Liu, emphasized the importance of strong regional ownership of the IAEA technical cooperation programme, and of building on competencies and facilities in the region.
“Africa needs to drive its own training centres for development using nuclear technology. There are many high-quality, competent professionals and institutions in Africa in the fields of human health, food and agriculture, industrial applications and more,” he said. “AFRA State Parties are encouraged to identify more training centres that can be utilized to address the needs of the continent which is one of the strategic goals of the Agreement.”
