U.S. Statement – Agenda Item 2 – IAEA TACC – Technical Cooperation: The Agency’s Proposal for 2024-2025
Vienna, Austria, November 20, 2023
Chair,
The United States welcomes the Director General’s proposed Technical Cooperation Program for 2024-2025. We thank Deputy Director General Hua Liu for his opening statement, and we commend the Department of Technical Cooperation for its ongoing work to support Member States in addressing critical development challenges. The United States strongly supports the Agency’s efforts to expand access to the benefits of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, science, and technology, and to raise awareness of their contributions to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In 2023, the United States provided over 25 million dollars to the Technical Cooperation Fund, over 10 million dollars to the Peaceful Uses Initiative, and over 11 million dollars in additional extrabudgetary funds and in-kind support to IAEA peaceful uses activities.
The proposed program for the next biennium demonstrates the depth of expertise and the breadth of tools available to Member States through the IAEA, fully consistent with the motto, “Atoms for Peace and Development. ”We appreciate the Agency’s continued efforts to extend the benefits of technical cooperation to those most in need, particularly the least developed countries. We welcome the strong connection between the proposed slate of new projects and flagship initiatives and campaigns such as Rays of Hope, NUTEC Plastics, ZODIAC, Atoms4Food,Atoms4NetZero, and Atoms4Climate.TheUnited States commends Agency efforts to develop the Technical Cooperation Program in collaboration with other departments, including the Department of Safeguards and the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security. Such coordination is critical for guaranteeing adherence to relevant standards, guidelines, and requirements. We strongly support Agency engagement in international for a such as COP28 that showcase the nexus between nuclear science and technology and efforts to address global challenges such as building resilience to the impacts of climate change. We welcome the announcement of the IAEA Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Sciences and Applications and Technical Cooperation in 2024 and we look forward to supporting Co-Chairs Finland and Ghanain realizing the full potential of this event.
Chair,
Strengthening the equitable and meaningful participation of women in the work of the Agency and advancing gender equality through IAEA programs is imperative to realizing their full benefits. We support the Secretariat’s efforts to advance gender equality and gender mainstreaming in its programs and encourage continued leadership in
this area. We also encourage the IAEA to continue to employ a results-based management approach and improve the integration of outcomes and impact monitoring in its programs. With these comments, the United States is pleased to recommend that the Technical Assistance and Cooperation Committee send the proposed Technical Cooperation Program for 2024-2025 to the Board for approval.
Thank you, Chair