IAEA Technical Assistance and Co-operation Committee (TACC) Meeting
Agenda item 2: Technical cooperation: The Agency’s proposed programme for 2026–2027
17 November 2025
Chair
Australia reiterates its long-standing support for the IAEA’s Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) as the main needs-based and demand-driven mechanism for building capacity and expertise in nuclear science and technology within Member States.
We commend the assiduous work of the Department of Technical Cooperation for their development of the TCP for 2026-27 and welcome the six new projects that have been included in the forthcoming biennium aimed at advancing human health, food and agriculture, the marine environment and industrial applications in our region through the [Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology for Asia and the Pacific] (RCA). Australia is pleased to be providing extra-budgetary funding for the Fijian led project in agriculture, including for Pacific Island observer countries.
We are assured by the alignment of these projects with the 2024–2029 RCA Regional Programme Framework, and with key IAEA flagship initiatives such as Ray of Hope and Atoms4Food, and look forward to partnering with RCA Government Parties to ensure their sustainable implementation. We also wish to commend the Government of Fiji for their dedication to, and leadership of, the RCA during their tenure as Chair throughout 2025-2026.
Chair,
Australia also welcomes the five new projects proposed within the framework of the Subregional Approach for the Pacific Islands (SAPI) in the fields of nutrition, cancer care, agricultural productivity, radiation safety, and water resource management. We continue to recognise the benefits of SAPI in enabling subregional cooperation to address shared challenges among Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
Chair,
We continue to see the need for enhancing the efficiency, effectiveness and results-based delivery of the TCP to maximise the Programme’s impact and encourage the IAEA to ensure that a higher percentage of the Technical Cooperation Fund (TCF) is allocated to - and received by - Member States with the greatest developmental need: Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), including Pacific Island Countries which now number eight states.
The sustainability of the TC Programme depends on the commitment of all stakeholders and their voluntary contributions to meet TCF target shares. This is why Australia continues to pay its share in full and on time and we encourage others to do so likewise. We also encourage recipient countries to pay their National Participation Costs (NPCs) to ensure the effective implementation of their TC projects.
Finally Chair,
We continue to encourage the TC Department to continue promoting the participation of women – in all their diversity – in all TC activities and call for strengthened attention to gender equality and mainstreaming in the implementation and delivery of the TCP.
With these comments, Australia supports the recommended actions in document GOV/2025/59.
Thank you, Chair.