Windhoek
The 59th Session of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), held in Vienna, Austria, from September 14-18 endorsed Namibia’s candidature to serve on the Board of Governors of the IAEA.
Namibia will serve on the IAEA Board of Governors from September 2015 to September 2017 after Namibia and Ghana filled the two seats available for Africa.
The Board of Governors examines and makes recommendations to the General Conference on the IAEA’s accounts, programme and budget, and considers applications for membership.
It also approves safeguard agreements and the publication of IAEA safety standards and is responsible to appoint the director general of the IAEA, with the approval of the General Conference.
The Board of Governors is the subsidiary body of the General Conference.
The IAEA board membership for the period of 2015-2017 consists of 35 member states, namely: Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Ireland, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Latvia, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America and Uruguay.
The IAEA is a UN agency that provides developmental assistance to its member states, through the Country Programme Framework. In September 2014, Namibia signed its Third Country Programme Framework with the IAEA.
The programme seeks to match nuclear technology for the sustainable development of national priorities, focusing on agriculture and food security, animal disease, crop production, soil and water management techniques, insect pest control, nuclear medicine, radiation therapy, uranium mining, energy planning and skills development.
These are all in conformity with the pillars of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to which Namibia attaches significant importance, namely: peaceful use of nuclear technology, non-proliferation and disarmament.
Namibia’s membership to the IAEA Board of Governors is important for it to position Namibia better with the IAEA and also serve the interests of developing countries, in particular peaceful uses of nuclear technology and technical cooperation.