A meeting to discuss regional needs and priorities for IAEA technical cooperation in the Latin America region has taken place from 13 to 17 May at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria. More than 60 people, including experts from the region, National Coordinators from the Regional Agreement (ARCAL) and IAEA staff, attended with the aim of updating Latin America’s Regional Strategic Profile (RSP), and identifying needs and priorities in a range of thematic areas.
The first Regional Strategic Profile for Latin America was adopted in 2007 to cover the period 2007-2013. This document guided the preparation of the regional IAEA technical cooperation programme in Latin America for the past five years. During a previous meeting, held in December 2012, participants assessed the content of the original RSP, and examined the results achieved through IAEA technical cooperation projects implemented during the period. Relevant areas for the region that still require attention or further support were also identified.
Participants in the May 2013 meeting were organized into six thematic groups, focusing on food safety, human health, environment, energy, irradiation technology, and radiation safety. In total, 42 needs and priorities were identified. These will be considered in the preparation of the TC regional programme for the period covered by the new RSP: 2016–2021. It is expected that the RSP will lead to the implementation of effective and efficient regional cooperation mechanisms.
The RSP is intended to be a results-oriented document that not only identifies regional priorities for IAEA action, but that can also serve to monitor programme progress and results. The RSP is also expected to increase the visibility of the TC programme in the region, and to raise awareness of the potential of nuclear technology to address important development challenges in a wide range of fields. In addition, the RSP should facilitate the building of strategic partnerships with other organizations and regional bodies.
The May 2013 meeting was the first step to prepare the 2016–2021 RSP – a process that will continue until the beginning of 2014. The next steps are to finalize the draft chapters by thematic areas, to consolidate the document, and to define a strategy and agree on programmatic priorities.
