IAEA Board of Governors Meeting, Agenda Item 5: Medium Term Strategy 2024-2029
U.S. statement as delivered by Ambassador Laura S.H. Holgate
Vienna, Austria, June 7, 2022
Chair,
The United States welcomes the initiative to begin development on the Medium Term Strategy (MTS) for 2024 to 2029. We commend both the Secretariat and Ambassador Ruiz, as Chair of the Open-Ended Working Group, for their joint efforts to engage Member States during the working group meetings convened this year. The briefings offered by the Secretariat have played an integral role by providing Member States with support in developing the initial draft MTS. We further appreciate Ambassador Ruiz’s leadership in facilitating a collaborative process that invites input from all stakeholders.
We welcome the draft 2024-2029 MTS that directly correlates with the growing demands for Agency activities across all six major programs. We note that the draft MTS includes a number of prominent updates that call attention to the Agency’s unique ability to rapidly respond to a variety of security-related activities such as its global assistance using nuclear-derived techniques to combat the COVID pandemic and its nuclear expertise to address the nuclear safety, security, and safeguards implications of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It is unforeseen emergencies like these that highlight the importance of having strategic documents that do not confine the Agency’s ability to adapt in a timely fashion its implementation of activities within its mandate. It remains important that the 2024-2029 MTS does not become overly prescriptive, thereby hindering the Agency’s flexibility to maneuver internal resources adroitly as priority needs evolve.
The United States places great importance on the Agency’s ability to strategically implement its activities. Guiding documents such as the MTS help to provide overarching guidance for the IAEA to carry out sound programmatic and budgetary planning in an effective and efficient manner. We look forward to continuing these discussions with our fellow Member States under the able leadership of Ambassador Ruiz to produce a balanced final strategy document that will inform the Secretariat’s preparations during the next three budget cycles.
Thank you, Chair.