Ambassador Yukiya Amano of Japan today addressed the Board of Governors following his successful bid to become the IAEA´s next Director General later this year. The Board officially appointed Mr. Amano at a meeting at IAEA headquarters in Vienna.
"I will dedicate my efforts to the acceleration and enlargement of the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world," Mr. Amano said. He pledged to work towards the enhancement of technical cooperation and its related activities and the prevention of the spread of nuclear weapons.
Expressing his pleasure at being appointed to the position of Director General, Ambassador Amano said he would devote himself to the "effective, efficient and impartial functioning of the Agency."
The Board meeting today was convened by Ms. Taous Feroukhi, the Board´s Chair, and was open to all IAEA Member States. Many States presented statements to the Board, congratulating Mr. Amano and commending the service of outgoing Director General Mohamed ElBaradei.
The IAEA Director General is appointed by the Board of Governors with the approval of the General Conference for a term of four years. The General Conference meets in Vienna starting 14 September 2009.
Ambassador Amano´s term as Director General would begin 1 December 2009.
Ambassador Amano, 62, is the Permanent Representative and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to International Organizations in Vienna, and Governor on the IAEA Board of Governors. He was selected as the next Director General by vote of the Board of Governors on 2 July 2009.
He has extensive experience in disarmament, non-proliferation and nuclear energy policy and has been involved in the negotiation of major international instruments. He has held increasingly senior positions in the Japanese Foreign Ministry, notably as Director of the Science Division, Director of the Nuclear Energy Division and Deputy Director General for Arms Control and Scientific Affairs.
Background
Ambassador Amano is to become the fifth Director General of the IAEA in its 52-year history.
He will succeed Mohamed ElBaradei, who was first appointed to the office effective December 1997, and reappointed in 2001 and 2005. Dr. ElBaradei´s present term as Director General runs until 30 November 2009. Other former IAEA Director Generals were Hans Blix, from 1981 to 1997; Sigvard Eklund, from 1961 to 1981; and Sterling Cole, IAEA Director General from 1957 to 1961.