Statement by the Group of 77 and China statement during the IAEA Board of Governors Meeting, starting on 22 November 2018 delivered by Ms. Verónica Gomez, Chargé d’Affaires a.i., Permanent Mission of Ecuador
Vienna, 22 November 2018
Agenda Item 2: Technical Cooperation: Report of the Technical Assistance and Cooperation Committee
Madam Chair,
1. Allow me to express our satisfaction to see the Director General fully recovered and to wish him to continue enjoying good health.
2. The Group would like to thank the Secretariat for preparing the Agency’s Proposed Technical Cooperation Program for -2019, as contained in documents GOV/2018/44, as well as Deputy Director General, Mr. Dazhu Yang, and the staff of the Department of Technical Cooperation for the briefing provided to Member States on October 30th. We also thank DDG Yang for his introductory remarks under this agenda item at the TACC Meeting on the 19 November 2018.
Madam Chair,
3. The Group has taken note of the Report of the TACC, indeed, the Group participated actively in the Committee’s meetings. The Group expresses its gratitude to you Madam Chair, for an excellent management and steering of the Committee’s work. The Group also extends its appreciation to the Rapporteur for the last TACC Meeting for her diligence and efforts which resulted in a consensual text early. We are pleased that the Board has adopted the Report of the TACC together with its annexes and we welcome the Board’s actions on the recommendations set out in page i, and ii of Document GOV/2018/44.
4. The Group recalls its statements on agenda items 2 and 3 during the recent TACC Meeting starting on 19 November 2018. The Group stands by the views expressed in those statements and wishes to reiterate the following:
(a) The Group requests the Secretariat, when presenting the Programme and Budget Proposal 2020-2021 to take into consideration the importance of the activities directly related to the implementation of the SDGs, in accordance with national priorities, and also requests the Secretariat to provide information on efforts to address the gap between needed and requested resources for 2020 and beyond. In this regard, the Group reiterates that “the nature, extent and scope of technical assistance to be provided to the requesting State or group of States shall be defined by the Government or Governments concerned”.
(b) The Group expresses its concern about the huge quantum of unfunded projects of the 2019 TC Programme, amounting to 56,297,978 Euros. The Group calls once again on the Secretariat to take the necessary measures, in particular during the preparation of the Programme and Budget for 2020/2021, which would significantly reduce the portion of projects that are unfunded, in order to bring the benefits of the atom closer countries across the world, especially to developing countries, in accordance with article II of the statute. The Group believes that the total footnote-a/ activities amounting to over €56.2 million in 2019, shows that the current level of resources available falls far short of the resources needed. In this context the Group would like to request the Secretariat to provide a technical briefing to Member States on the status of 2018 footnote a/ projects, at the earliest possible date. The Group further stresses the importance of maintaining an adequate balance between the Agency’s promotional and non-promotional activities.
(c) With regard to the issue of the due account mechanism, the Group expresses its appreciation for the efforts and hard work by the co-facilitators, the Ambassadors of Morocco and Slovenia, and their commitment to inclusiveness and transparency and takes note of the recommendations contained in Note 2018/77. The Group holds that, in striving to achieve a positive impact on the rate of attainment, the principles of fairness, neutrality and universality should continue to be preserved. The Group also believes that the application of the Mechanism should be done in a manner that does not adversely affect the TC Programme. The Group is of the view that any progress on this subject should depend on dialogue, further consultations, consensus and the decisions of the Policy Making Organs. The Group looks forward to engaging in consultations under the leadership of the Chairperson of the Board in this regard.
5. With these remarks, the Group notes the Board’s approval of the TACC report contained GOV/COM.8 and requests that its views and comments be duly reflected in the official records of Board.
