THE IAEA’S TECHNICAL COOPERATION PROGRAMME

DELIVERING RESULTS FOR PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT

An exhibition by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Technical Cooperation: Delivering Results for Peace and Development, opened on 22nd October at the Palais des Nations, United Nations Office, Geneva. This three-week exhibition included information on a range of technical cooperation projects focusing on agriculture, health, environment, water resource management, radiation technology and energy. The exhibition also described developments in technical cooperation over the past fifty years. Items on display included information panels, extensive documentation and a small selection of objects. Some fifty successful technical cooperation projects were presented, ranging from improving food security through the development of higher yielding wheat strains in Kenya to protecting cultural heritage in the Mediterranean; from provision of cancer care in Zambia to tumour imaging in Asia and the Pacific; and from environmental monitoring in Peru to recovering radiation sources in China. The exhibition illustrated the ways in which the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) supports scientific and technical applications to help increase food production, preserve the environment, combat malnutrition, communicable diseases and cancer, understand, protect and manage the environment and water resources, and advance economic development through radiation technology projects. This joint exhibition, held in parallel with an exhibition on the Vienna International Centre by the City of Vienna, was a celebration of Member State achievements in technical cooperation, reflected in national and regional projects that make a difference in people’s lives on a daily basis.

The IAEA’s technical cooperation programme was developed to build human capacities and create institutions that would support the introduction of nuclear technology in a safe and effective manner. The way in which the IAEA carries out this work, particularly with regard to technology transfer, has changed greatly over the years. Initially, the technical assistance offered by the Agency was modest. Nuclear science and technologies were in their infancy, and many countries had no nuclear capacity at all. Building on the skills and infrastructure that Member State counterparts have acquired over the past five decades, the programme now focuses activities less on assistance and more on cooperation and sustainable socioeconomic development. Today the IAEA Technical Cooperation programme aims to develop quality projects that prioritise Member States’ identified needs, promoting nuclear and isotopic techniques that offer clear cost-benefit advantages for achieving sustainable development. TC activities focus on six thematic areas, responding to the development priorities of Member States, and contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals agreed at the Millennium Summit of 2000.

In 2007, the majority of TC disbursements went toward human health, food and agriculture and nuclear science projects. Examples of IAEA technical cooperation activities in human health include developing and evaluating nutritional interventions to combat malnutrition, assessing the immune response of individuals infected by various diseases, and monitoring the emergence of drug resistance. The Agency works alongside institutions in Asia, Africa and Latin America, including the WHO Regional Office for Africa and the Pan American Health Organization, to improve understanding of pathogens and enhance surveillance of drug-resistant strains of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The TC programme also works on human health issues at the national level through projects such as the ‘Early Diagnosis of Congenital Diseases in Children’, which supported the diagnosis and treatment of congenital diseases in newborns in Uruguay. Technical Cooperation also provided equipment and training to two diagnostic centres in the northern and eastern part of Uruguay to meet this project’s goals.

Ensuring food security is one of the most challenging problems facing developing countries today. Boosting agricultural production requires enhanced crop varieties, effective pest and disease control, increased soil fertility, better soil and water management and improved food quality and safety. Many TC projects work to enhance food security – for example, a regional project in Africa is using integrated technologies to improve livestock productivity. This project will result in substantial increases in meat and milk productivity, increased farm profitability, improved farmer socio-economic status and reduced importation of animal by-products, ultimately contributing to national and regional food security in the area. The IAEA also collaborates with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to help farmers increase and sustain food production while preserving the environment. The IAEA Technical Cooperation programme also supports national analytical laboratories and the development of nuclear science applications. This is particularly important to developing countries entering the global market. Projects focusing on nuclear science include radiopharmaceutical production, radio analytical services, industrial methodologies such as non-destructive testing and environmental applications including flue gas scrubbing and effluent cleanup in industrial installations. The recent IAEA TC project ‘High-energy Ion Microbeam Micromachining Tool’ expanded microanalytical capabilities in Slovenia providing for higher micro-engineering capability for industrial and research activities, benefiting the industrial sector and creating new opportunities for exports as micromechanical structures can now be produced locally. Technical Cooperation: Delivering Results for Peace and Development provided a window on the collaborative development work of the International Atomic Energy Agency and its Member States for Permanent Missions and international organizations based in Geneva. To ensure the best possible socio-economic impact of the Technical Cooperation programme, strategic partnerships that act as catalysts and multipliers are essential. The Agency increasingly reaches out to non-technical institutions and other partners within the UN system. A range of projects are currently being carried out with the United Nations Development Programme, the Global Environment Facility and the World Health Organization.

Collaboration between international organizations is an important element in technical cooperation activities, as partnerships promote a more strategic and holistic approach to overcoming development challenges. Ultimately, this exhibit provided an opportunity to strengthen understanding between the international organizations in Vienna and Geneva, supporting common efforts to deliver results for peace and development and to promote a more stable, secure and prosperous world for all.