Vienna, 26 November 2012

G-77 and China Statement during the Technical Assistance and Cooperation Committee, 26-28 November 2012 delivered by H.E. Antonio García, Permanent Representative of Peru

Agenda item 2: Technical Cooperation: The Agency's proposed programme for 2013

Mr. Chairman,

1. On behalf of the Group of 77 and China let me congratulate you on your election as Chairman of the Board of Governors. The Group is confident of your ability to successfully conduct the activities of this Board and I wish to assure you of the Group's support in the task ahead.

2. On behalf of the Group allow me also to thank the Director-General for the Agency's Proposed Technical Cooperation Programme for 2013, as contained in document GOV/2012/52.

3. The Group wishes to thank the DDG for Technical Cooperation, Mr. Kwaku Aning, for introducing this agenda item and the TC Department for preparing the relevant documents and for the briefing held on 31st October 2012.

Mr. Chairman,

4. The Group wishes to reemphasize the paramount importance of the Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) of the Agency, as the main statutory vehicle for the promotion of peaceful uses of nuclear energy. In this regard, the Technical Cooperation Programme plays an important role for the sustainable socioeconomic progress in developing countries and contributes towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.

5. The Group reiterates that the Technical Cooperation Programme is a shared responsibility and it has to be the result of the combined efforts mainly of the Department of Technical Cooperation, of the technical Departments and the Member States themselves. These efforts are crucial for the planning and successful implementation of the Technical Cooperation Programme, which should be based on the needs and evolving priorities of Member States in which TC projects are being implemented.

6. The Group emphasizes that the provision of TC is a request-based process and is subject to the eligibility criteria as provided for in the policy document INFCIRC/ 267.

7. Furthermore, the Group strongly believes that the present guidelines and criteria as provided for in INFCIRC/267 for the screening of TC project proposals, programme implementation and subsequent evaluation are sufficient and effective, and that there is no need to introduce additional mechanisms for fulfilling the above objectives.

8. While recognizing the specific needs and different requirements of Member States in implementing technical cooperation projects in a sustainable manner, the Group believes that any attempt to create sub-categories among Member States according to their level of development will unnecessarily cause discrimination in a manner inconsistent with the IAEA Statute.

9. The Group encourages the Secretariat to continue to develop the TC programme in a professional, impartial and non-discriminatory manner, following a well-established process, based on Member States' needs and requests, and in line with the Agency's Statute. It is fundamental for the credibility of the Agency that technical assistance and cooperation as stipulated in Article III.C of the Statute is not subject to any political, economic, military or other conditions incompatible with its provisions.

10. The Group maintains that endeavours aimed at building partnerships or outsourcing must not jeopardize or reduce the capabilities and resources available to the Agency for activities related to TC, and should not in any way dilute existing mechanisms to deliver TC to Member States. The Agency must continue to pursue activities related to its unique core competencies in all areas of nuclear science, technology and applications to be able to implement its statutory functions related to the TC Program and to respond to the requests of Member States. Therefore, the Group finds it necessary that the Agency maintains a sufficient level of in-house expertise and capabilities in all those areas.

Mr. Chairman,

11. While noting with appreciation the improvement in the number of Member States paying their National Participation Costs (NPCs), the Group notes with concern that the Rate of Attainment continues to fall short of the value set by the Board of Governors in 2004. The Group calls upon all Members States to do their utmost to pay their full share in accordance with the indicative scale of assessment in a timely manner.

12. In addition to that, the Group requests the Secretariat to make every effort to apply the due account mechanism to all Member States equally and efficiently, and to devise specific guidelines for its application, in consultation with Member States, for further approval by the policy-making organs of the IAEA, as provided in the Technical Cooperation resolution approved by the General Conference in 2012.

13. The Group notes with concern that the resources available for the TC Program have not grown in proportion to the increasing membership of the Agency and the demand for TC. Resources for the TCP remain fully dependent on voluntary assessed contributions to the TCF and extra-budgetary resources. Over the years, the TCF target has only grown nominally in an ad hoc manner in comparison to the real growth in the Agency's regular budget, the bulk of which is devoted to non-promotional activities.

14. In this regard, in accordance with the resolution GC (56)/RES/11, as approved by the last General Conference, the Group would like to remind Secretariat of the decision of the Board of Governors, as contained in document GOV/2011/37, that one Working Group dealing with both the level of the Regular Budget and the TCF target should be launched beginning in 2013. The Group expects that this Working Group will lead to positive outcomes on issues related to TC financing with the aim to make it sufficient, assured and predictable.

Mr. Chairman,

15. The Group also notes with appreciation the emphasis in the proposed program on support to human capacity building, with 69.3 % of 2013 core resources being planned for delivery under various human resource components. At the same time, the Group would like to emphasize that the timely supply of equipment is a statutory responsibility of the Agency as stipulated under Article XI.C, and that this is also essential for the successful implementation of relevant TC projects.

16. Regarding the Programme Cycle Management Framework (PCMF), the Group would like to stress that the PCMF platform should continue to be utilized exclusively to enhance coordination among national stakeholders and be accessible only to relevant project counterparts.

17. With regard to the terminology 'sustainable energy' used to represent the cluster of programmes on nuclear energy, the Group is of the view that this term could be misinterpreted in the future and lead to limiting the scope of the programme. Many developing countries continue to remain interested in the development of nuclear programme in their country for use of nuclear energy for power generation. The Group believes that the terminology for the cluster representing nuclear energy should be more directly relatable to the project within them. In this context, the Group is of the view that the terms Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Nuclear Power used in the programme cycle 2009-2011 should be reconsidered while planning for 2014-2015 cycle.

18. The Group notes that the Secretariat has proposed the approval of the two new footnote a/ projects, as listed in the Annex 1, for Palau and recommends for their approval.

19. With these remarks, the Group recommends that the Committee forward the proposed programme as contained in document GOV/2012/52 to the Board of Governors for its approval.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.

Agenda item 3. Evaluation of technical cooperation activities

Mr. Chairman,

1. The Group of 77 and China wishes to thank Mr. Carsten Meyer, Director of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, for presenting the evaluation of technical cooperation activities in 2012, as contained in GOV/2012/53.

2. The Group continues to attach great importance to the regular evaluation of the implementation of the Agency's TC activities.

3. The Group notes that, as in previous years, the evaluations were conducted with the participation and assistance of external experts and with the support of staff from the Department of Technical Cooperation and the relevant technical departments as well as various stakeholders from concerned Member States.

4. The Group stresses that an audit or evaluation activity can only be effective if the evaluated party is given an opportunity to provide feedback to the evaluation findings and that these are properly reflected before the report is officially released. In this regard, the Group reiterates its request for the evaluation findings to be shared first with counterparts from the concerned Member States so that a more comprehensive and balanced report could be issued by the evaluation team. This could be done by introducing a necessary feedback mechanism that should be conducted at the close of every audit session. Such mechanism would enable the evaluated party to consider relevant recommendations for continuous improvement or corrective action, if necessary.

5. The Group would like to express its views on some of recommendations of the OIOS. Nevertheless, the Group would like to point out a few elements to be taken into account in the different areas evaluated.
(a) Regarding the "Evaluation of Training for Energy Planning", the Group concurs with the recommendation 2 in annex 1 that the Secretariat should continue efforts to promote the involvement of relevant stakeholders by projects counterparts in the project design so as to strengthen their commitment.
(b) Regarding the "Evaluation of the Objectives and Criteria for the Selection of TC projects", the Group concurs with the recommendation 1 in annex 2 that the Secretariat should further ensure that any future changes to support the goal of creating bigger and better projects are made through a fully explored and evidence-based process. The Group also believes that a differentiation in Logical Framework Approach treatment should be made between large, complex projects and small, simple ones. In addition, the Group takes note of the concern that with frequent changes have not allowed sufficient time for the absorption and reinforcement of these changes or comprehension of their impact. The Group recommends to the Secretariat to give sufficient time for the current guidelines to take its full effect. Any changes in the present guidelines should be introduced only after a proper review of the lessons learned has been undertaken.
(c) Regarding the "Evaluation of TC projects in Nutrition", the Group agrees that Nutrition projects could benefit from more and better partnerships and encourage the Secretariat to engage proactively and regularly with other United Nations organizations working on nutrition.
(d) Finally, regarding Annex 4, on the "Evaluation of TC projects in Water Resources", the Group welcomes the findings of the OIOS that the objectives related to capacity building and the generation of data on water resources were achieved to a very large extent and the position of regional designated centres, which provides analytical services and training, was strengthened. The Group encourages the Secretariat to take note of all the recommendations that relate to the need for improvement of the quality of project design in this area.

7. The Groups believes that the projects within the thematic areas, such as Nutrition and Water Resources, would benefit from being embedded in the relevant national context. In this regard, the Group encourages the Secretariat to take into account lessons learned from existing projects which have benefited from the involvement of relevant national stakeholders.

8. With these comments, the Group of 77 and China takes note of the evaluation of technical cooperation activities in 2012, as contained in document GOV/2012/53, and requests that its views and comments be duly reflected in the official records of the TACC meeting.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.


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