Technical co-operation report for 2001. Report by the Director General

Using nuclear technology as an effective tool for development is the challenge faced by the Agency's technical co-operation programme. This was the subject of the 4th IAEA Scientific Forum, entitled 'Nuclear technology for sustainable development: serving human needs,' which was held in conjunction with the 45th General Conference in September 2001. Opening the Forum, Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Harvard University emphasized the importance of developing mechanisms to mobilize science and technology to meet the growing challenge of serving human needs in a sustainable manner and commended the Agency for its achievements in this regard. This report provides information on how the technical co-operation programme has responded to that challenge over the past year. One of the highlights of the technical co-operation programme in 2001 was the launching of the Pan-African Tsetse and Trypanosomosis Eradication Campaign (PATTEC) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in October. This represented the culmination of years of effort by African Member States, working in partnership with the Agency and the Organization for African Unity (OAU), and was an important milestone in the progress of applying the sterile insect technique (SIT) to the area-wide eradication of the tsetse fly in Africa. It is a good example of how science and technology can contribute to socio-economic development with a direct impact at the community level. The level of Member States' pledges to the Technical Co-operation Fund (TCF) for 2001, more than $59 million, was the second highest ever. This represented a rate of attainment of 80.01% (as of 31 March 2002), thus achieving the target set by the General Conference for that year. The extra budgetary contributions, more than $7 million, were the highest in ten years. These contributions, together with payments of assessed programme costs and other income, meant that total new resources for the year reached $71.1 million. In December 2000, the Board approved an exceptional measure to strengthen the personnel resources for the management of technical co-operation. It agreed to the allocation of up to $1 million from the TCF to hire additional staff for programming and implementation, in order to alleviate the serious shortage of human resources in the Department of Technical Cooperation. The Board followed up this decision in June 2001 by recommending an increase in the budget for Major Programme 6, Management of Technical Co-operation for Development, to continue to finance the additional personnel, and the General Conference approved the increase in September. Evidence that the Agency made good use of the additional human resources in the Department of Technical Co-operation can be seen in the record levels of programme delivery for the year. New obligations amounted to $71 million, an increase of $5 million, or 7.6%, over 2000. Recent events have brought the Agency and its mission more attention from a broader section of the public and increased their understanding of the Agency's role in protecting against nuclear terrorism. Activities of the technical co-operation programme that contribute to meeting this objective include the Agency's support to Member States in building up their radiation protection infrastructure, where the main emphasis is on regulatory control of radioactive sources. Measures to protect the population from accidental exposure to radiation also serve to reduce the risks of intentional misuse of such material. The technical co-operation programme is used as an important vehicle for the provision of training and expert advice in the fields of physical protection of nuclear material, nuclear installation safety, and prevention of illicit trafficking in nuclear materials, among others. These activities can be expanded if Member States request it; however, such support will not be undertaken at the expense of the technical co-operation programme to promote socio-economic development. In line with the request of the General Conference in resolution GC(45)/RES/11, the Secretariat has worked with Member States during the past year to update the Technical Cooperation Strategy, endorsed by the Board in 1997. Through implementation of the Strategy, the Agency has been successful in raising the quality of technical co-operation projects and increasing the impact of the programme on the development goals of its Member States. The Third Standing Advisory Group on Technical Assistance and Cooperation (SAGTAC III), which met in August 2001 and March 2002, examined the Strategy and advised the Director General on future objectives and the performance indicators with which to measure progress towards these objectives