Statement to Sixty-Eighth Regular Session of United Nations General Assembly, 5 November 2013, New York, USA

Access to modern science and technology is essential for achieving all of the Millennium Development Goals. The IAEA gives priority to assisting developing countries in using nuclear technology in areas including health, food and agriculture, and water management. By making nuclear technology available through our technical cooperation programme, the IAEA makes a unique and lasting contribution to achiving the MDGs. Globally, health and nutrition make up the largest proportion of IAEA spending on technical cooperation. We have been working ever more closely with other UN specialized agencies, such as the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization, in order to achieve more effective programme implementation. The Agency pays particular attention to training skilled personnel in the use of nuclear technology. We are also making increasing use of cost-effective e-learning tools. Cancer is reaching epidemic proportions in developing countries, but many countries lack the resources to deal with it. In fact, several dozen African nations have absolutely no radiotherapy facilities. Cancers which are increasingly treatable in developed countries are all too often fatal. The IAEA, together with the World Health Organisation, is playing its part by helping to make radiotherapy, medical physics, nuclear medicine, and imaging services available to developing countries. Our Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT) has been recognized by Member States as a flagship IAEA programme. But our efforts are just a drop in a vast ocean of human suffering. The world needs to mobilize its resources against cancer in a systematic way. This crisis must be addressed with a multipronged international effort to build awareness, develop diagnosis and treatment centres and train medical professionals. Tsetse flies infest vast areas of Africa. They transmit a parasitic disease which devastates livestock herds and spreads ''sleeping sickness'' among human beings. The IAEA is working closely with the African Union to help create tsetse- free zones, using the Sterile Insect Technique and other methods. The Sterile Insect Technique is essentially a form of contraception for tsetse flies. Male flies which are mass- produced in special facilities are sterilised using radiation. The sterile males are then released into affected areas, where they mate with wild females. These do not produce offspring. This technique can eventually eradicate entire populations of tsetse flies, as happened in Zanzibar in 1999. In recent years, significant progress has been made suppressing tsetse flies in Ethiopia and Senegal by using the Sterile Insect Technique and conventional methods. Together with 13 countries in the Sahel region of Africa, the IAEA is working to alleviate severe water shortages which have caused a humanitarian crisis. Underground aquifers that store fresh water span national borders in the region. The IAEA helps countries to measure and monitor these shared fresh water supplies suing nuclear isotopic techniques. This provides the data to enable policy-makers to develop a strategic plan for managing these vital resources. Responding to concerns among Member States about climate change, the new Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre started work this year at the IAEA Environmental Laboratories in Monaco. This enhances our efforts to promote a comprehensive approach to the study, monitoring and protection of marine, coastal and terrestrial ecosystems. The annual IAEA Scientific Forum in September was entitled The Blue Planet: Nuclear Applications for a Sustainable Marine Environment. I informed the General Assembly a year ago about my plans to modernize the eight IAEA nuclear applications laboratories near Vienna. These do essential work in assisting with the transfer of nuclear science and technology to developing countries in areas such as human and animal health, food security and safety, agriculture, and environmental monitoring. My proposal has received strong support from Member States and we hope to complete the modernization in 2017. This will be a priority for the Agency over the next four years. Nuclear safety and security remain a matter of high priority for the IAEA. The Agency has continued to assist Japan in dealing with the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi accident. The recent leak of contaminated water was a clear reminder of the continuing impact of the accident. The IAEA has recommended that Japan establish an effective plan and mechanisms for the long-term management of contaminated water. The announcement by the Japanese Government of a basic policy for addressing this issue was an important step forward. An IAEA team will carry out a follow-up mission to Japan later this year. Steady progress has been made in implementation of the IAEA Action Plan on Nuclear Safety , which was agreed by our General Conference in 2011. The Agency has continued the series of post-Fukushima international expert meetings, with sessions on issues including decommissioning and remediation after a nuclear accident, and human and organizational factors in nuclear safety. Member States have recognized the central role of the IAEA in promoting international cooperation in nuclear safety. A comprehensive IAEA report on the Fukushima Daiichi accident will be finalized in 2014. In June this year, a Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Power in the 21st Century took place in St. Petersburg, Russia. One of the key messages was that, for many countries, nuclear power will play an important role in achieving energy security and sustainable development goals. The IAEA has a unique role in assisting governments, operators and regulators in understanding their international obligations and national responsibilities concerning nuclear power, as well as in adopting international standards and best practices. (IAEA)