The Board of Representatives of the Co-operation Agreement for the Promotion of Nuclear Science and Technology in Latin America and the Caribbean (ARCAL) held an extraordinary meeting to approve a new Regional Strategic Profile (RSP) for Latin America and the Caribbean, which will cover the period from 2016-2021 and three cycles of the IAEA's technical cooperation programme. IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation, Mr Kwaku Aning, addressed the meeting to welcome the Board and express his congratulations for the successful work carried out to prepare the new RSP.
The Board unanimously approved the new RSP and requested the IAEA Secretariat to complete internal proceedings to have the document published within the collection of IAEA technical documents.
The RSP is aimed to foster cooperation among the countries of the region by facilitating the formulation of the technical cooperation programme for the region with projects addressing high priority development needs within the regional context.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and ARCAL closely collaborated for almost three years to undertake a technical sound and comprehensive consultative process that has resulted in a new strategic framework. Priority needs were clustered into six thematic sectors:
1. Food security: Agriculture, food and animal health.
2. Human health: Nuclear medicine, radiotherapy, radiodiagnostic, medical physics, radio-pharmacy and nutrition.
3. Environment: Atmosphere, water resources, terrestrial environment and the marine environment.
4. Energy: Nuclear energy and research reactors.
5. Radiation safety: Regulatory infrastructure, protection of patients, the public and the environment, management of radioactive waste and radiological emergency preparedness and response.
6. Radiation technology.
The RSP will become an essential programmatic reference for the preparation of the regional programme of the IAEA's technical cooperation programme and should also facilitate dialogue with strategic partners of the region to explore areas of cooperation and create synergies.
The IAEA will publish the new RSP for Latin America and the Caribbean region as a TECDOC, which provides evidence of the quality and technical integrity of the process that has been followed, as well as the relevance that ARCAL and the Secretariat attach to this process. The RSP will be accompanied with a working document that will provide guidance and recommendations to formulate the upcoming cycles of technical cooperation and to monitor progress in meeting set goals.
