Intervention of the Second Secretary, Karlen Regaiferos Cruzata, on behalf of the Cuban delegation, before the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Item 5: Strengthening the Agency's technical cooperation activities.
Mr. Chairman,
The Cuban delegation endorses the statements made by the representatives of G77+China and GRULAC.
We thank the Director General for his Annual Report and the Secretariat for the publication of document GOV/2024/24, of which we take note and formulate, in our national capacity, the following comments:
Cuba finds laudable the work carried out by the IAEA in the field of technical cooperation, which has an indisputable importance for the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda of our countries. In this regard, we welcome the convening of the Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Science, Technology and Applications and the Technical Cooperation Program to be held in November.
Mr. Chairman:
Technical Cooperation continues to be one of the fundamental areas in the Agency's work and its implementation allows, among other issues, to strengthen the access and participation of States to the benefits of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, especially of developing countries, ensuring the principles of nuclear security.
Cuba has maintained its participation in technical cooperation activities and a close relationship with the Department of Technical Cooperation and the Latin America and the Caribbean Division, which has made possible the proper implementation of our National Program Framework, which will be strengthened for the next five years.
My delegation recognizes the noble work of the Agency in the implementation of the Rays of Hope, Atomos4Food, Zodiac and Atomos4NetZero initiatives. We highlight the direct results in my country of joining the Nutec-Plastic initiative, as part of national efforts in the fight against marine contaminants and plastic pollution; this has been crucial in our work to promote knowledge and develop national action plans related to seafood safety.
As reflected in paragraph 245 of the Technical Cooperation report, my country has obtained good results with project CUB6031, "Improvement of the production of theranostic radiopharmaceuticals following good manufacturing practices". That achievement exemplifies the advances in cooperation associated with radioisotopes, radiopharmaceuticals and radiation technology, and demonstrates the benefits they imply for the health area.
All of Cuba's progress in the implementation of our country program has been possible despite the severe limitations caused by the unjust and illegal application of an iron economic, commercial and financial blockade for more than six decades, which significantly affects the implementation of technical cooperation projects between our country and the IAEA.
In this context, we reject the application of unilateral coercive measures, which limit the participation of developing States in the technical cooperation activities promoted by the Agency and restrict their right to access, under equal conditions, to the use and benefit of nuclear energy.
Mr. Chairman:
We reaffirm Cuba's support for the Regional Cooperation Agreement for the Promotion of Nuclear Science and Technology in Latin America and the Caribbean (ARCAL), which reaches its 40th anniversary in 2024; as well as the actions derived from the framework of the Agreement and the expansion of national and international alliances that have served to solve important problems in the region.
Likewise, we highlight as an achievement the launching of the Regional Network of Research Reactors and Related Institutions of Latin America and the Caribbean (RIALC), which was attended by representatives from several countries in the area.
Mr. President:
Allow me to emphasize that, in the correct implementation of the Agency's Technical Cooperation Programs, compliance with the principles of geographic distribution, multilingualism, gender equality and youth participation must be guaranteed. Therefore, we urge the Secretariat to continue monitoring these aspects and support for capacity building, distribution of resources and adaptation of the Technical Cooperation Program according to the needs of the States.
Finally, we encourage the promotion of triangular cooperation projects and programs, aimed at improving the access of developing countries to more and better resources for the implementation of technical and scientific initiatives.
Thank you very much.