Technical Co-operation between Developing Countries
One of the objectives of TCDC is "to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to identify and analyze together the main issues of their development and to formulate the requisite strategies...” Consequently, all Regional Co-operative Agreements sought new ways to expand regional "ownership" by assuming greater responsibility for the formulation and implementation of regional programmes financed by the Agency and other donors.
The Agency and its Member States continued to strengthen Technical Co-operation between Developing Countries (TCDC). All three regional Co-operative Agreements (AFRA, ARCAL and RCA) took steps to become more involved in the design and implementation of their own programmes. The Agency supported this by strengthening the co-ordination between projects under the regional agreements and other programmes and paying increased attention to the use of regional expertise for implementing activities. The concept of regional centres-of-excellence gained momentum in both the Secretariat and among Member States.
One new notion introduced in the RCA programme is the strengthening of "Regional Resource Units". This idea of regional centres-of-excellence reflects an understanding that the collaborating partners in a regional agreement often have more to gain through TCDC based on one or a few strong regional centres than through the establishment of a larger number of less developed facilities. These concepts of sharing technical resources and developing complementary resources represent important aspects of TCDC.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF IAEA TC STRATEGY
Strategic Goal of the Technical Cooperation programme
“To increasingly promote tangible socio-economic impact by contributing directly in a cost effective manner to the major sustainable development priorities of each country”
TC Objectives
1. To produce sustainable benefits within the framework of national development plans
Expected outcomes
- A TC programme that is linked to national development plans and where relevant, to the efforts of other donors working in the same area.
- Strong Government commitment for the TC programme in member States, and for the institutions managing it.
- Increased capacity in Member states through continued provision of support needed to ensure the transfer of safe and secure applications of nuclear technologies, in keeping with priorities set by Member States.
2. To gain recognition as a partner in resolving development problems through the cost-effective transfer of nuclear technologies
Expected outcomes
- Partnerships with development organizations in joint planning and priority setting in areas of common interest.
- Broadened awareness in the media and among international organizations, decision makers and the public at large of the Agency’s role as a partner in the cost-effective transfer of nuclear technologies that serve development needs.
3. To increase the level of funding for technical cooperation activities particularly from non-traditional sources, and to increase the number of opportunities for direct and “parallel funding” to help resolve development problems.
Expected outcomes
- TC projects addressing development problems that meet the interests of and the criteria for support by funding institutions
- TC Projects attracting “parallel funding” by development organizations
4. To strengthen the capacity of institutions in Member States using nuclear technologies to become more technically and financially self-reliant.
Expected Outcomes
- Member States institutions providing services nationally and regionally after having benefited from the Agency’s technical cooperation programme
- Member states institutions having strategies and action plans for revenue generation
