Technical Cooperation report for 2012. Report by the Director General

This year's Technical Cooperation (TC) Report is set out in three parts: A, Strengthening the Agency's Technical Cooperation Activities; B, TC Programme Resources and Delivery, and C, Programme Activities and Achievements in 2012: Regional Overview. Annex 1 provides examples of project activities and achievements in specific thematic areas. Part A is divided into two sections. The first presents an overview of the Agency's technical cooperation activities in 2012 in the context of global development, reports on how the programme is tailored to the specific needs of Member States in each region (with a focus on human resource development), and highlights TC activities in the field of food production, food protection and food safety, the topics covered by the 2012 Scientific Forum. The Director General's emphasis in 2012 on food security reflects the importance of this topic in each region that the TC programme serves. Throughout 2012, TC projects in the Africa region contributed to agricultural productivity and food security using nuclear technology. Projects built Member State capacity to tackle tsetse and trypanosmosis using the sterile insect technique (SIT), and to improve rice varieties through mutation breeding and biotechnology. Other projects focused on improving the use of agricultural resources, combating soil erosion by optimizing conservation agriculture and supporting innovative practices to combat land degradation and enhance soil productivity for improved food security. Assistance was provided to improve cattle productivity through genetic improvement, including artificial insemination. In Asia and the Pacific, assistance to Member States in this field built competencies in soil-water management and crop nutrition, as well as in mutation breeding, with the aim of enhancing agricultural productivity and developing suitable crop varieties that are adaptable to climate change. Additional projects focused on artificial insemination and control of transboundary animal diseases. In Europe, TC activities in food and agriculture focused on the transfer of technologies that allow early and rapid diagnosis of transboundary animal diseases, improve crop adaptability and quality, and facilitate the eradication of fruit pests. In Latin America, projects created capabilities to better manage crop production and improve soil fertility and crop yields, thus increasing income, particularly for smallholders. At the interregional level, progress is being made in developing crops resistant to Ug99, the fungus that causes the black stem rust disease that destroys wheat crops. The second section of Part A focuses on ongoing efforts to build a more efficient, more effective TC programme, covering mid-term planning tools such as the Country Programme Framework, efforts to create and strengthen partnerships with other United Nations organizations (with a focus on participation in United Nations Development Assistance Framework processes), and closing with an overview of activities undertaken to prepare for the 2014-2015 TC programme cycle. Part B of this document presents a summary of indicators, reviewing mobilization of resources for the TC programme through the Technical Cooperation Fund (TCF), and presenting extrabudgetary and in-kind contributions. Programme delivery is expressed through both financial and non-financial indicators. Pledges to the TCF in 2012 totalled Euro 55.6 million (not including national participation costs (NPCs), assessed programme costs (APCs) or miscellaneous income), or 89.3% of the Euro 62 302 500 TCF target set for the year. New extrabudgetary resources for 2012 came to Euro 11.4 million and in-kind contributions were Euro 1.2 million. Overall, implementation for the TCF reached 76.5%, higher than the 73.9% attained in 2011. Part C of this document responds to the operative paragraphs of resolution GC(56)/RES/11, covering assistance to Member States in the peaceful, safe, secure and regulated application of atomic energy and nuclear techniques in specific fields. It highlights regional activities and achievements in technical cooperation in 2012. When considering programme distribution at the global level, health and nutrition accounted for the highest proportion of TC programme actuals , at 26.2%. This was followed by safety and security at 22.6%, then by food and agriculture at 14.8%. Distribution varied somewhat according to priorities at the regional level - for example, the Europe region had higher actuals in safety and security, at 40.3%. In the three other regions, however, health and nutrition held the lead. Project examples are presented in Annex 1 according to thematic areas, covering human health and nutrition, agricultural productivity and food security, monitoring and managing water resources and the environment, industrial applications, energy planning and nuclear power, and radiation protection, nuclear safety and nuclear security