Opening:
Dr. B. K. Kim welcomed the participants
to the meeting, reminding them of the importance of the task
that had to be undertaken: the review of the RCA programme
for 2003-2004, prioritization of the projects according to
IAEA criteria and priorities. He em phasized the need to scale
down the cost of the program to the level of available resources.
Participants:
The meeting was attended by LC's for sectoral
areas, Agency Technical officers (TO's ad PRO's) the RCA Chairperson,
RCA Regional Office Representative and invited consultants.
The list of participants is given in Annex 1. Participants,
Technical Officers and other IAEA officials were introduced.
Administrative matters
Mr. J. K. Chung, National Representatie from Korea,
was requested to chair the session, in the absence of the
current Chairperson, Prof. N. Choudhury, National Representative
from Bangladesh who was expected the next day. Mr. C. A. Krishnan(India)and
Ms. Flora Santos (Philippines) Were designated rapporteurs
for the Meeting.
The proposed Agenda of the meeting was adopted
without any change.
Meeting objectives
This meeting of lead country coordinators had
the following objectives:
1. To review the proposals based on the Agency
comments and MSs inputs
2. To agree on the sectoral projects, their prioritization
and budget allocation
3. To identify those projects or activities likely to be
funded through extrabudgetary contribution or outsourcing
4. To provide inputs to the project write-ups.
5. To confirm the countries participating, the lead countries
and/or RRU's as appropriate for each project
6. To provide recommendations on the need to establish advisory
bodies for the sectoral areas their functions and composition
7. To provide comments on the RCA vision especially on the
sectoral areas.
Mr. Chung highlighted the objectives of
the meeting, emphasizing the need to priorize/ modify projects
and activities in each thematic area conforming to theavailable
resources. He also mentioned the need to clarify project outcomes
andrelationship to national priorities. He requested the Technical
Officers to extend their Valuable experience in view of the
time constraints.
Agency TC strategy
Mr. B. K. Kim presented the Agency's TC strategy
as applied to the 2003-2004 programmes, defined the areas
of TC Programme support and the major tools of project implementation:
the Central Criterion, Country Programme Framework (CPF),
thematic planning and partnerships, which could be financial,
strategic or technical. The presentation detailed the need
for clearly defined objectives and performance indicators.
Mr. Kim covered in detail the evolution of the TC strategy
for the last 5 years and underlined that all projects should
be "demand-driven" instead of "technology -
driven" besides contributing to sustainable national
development with full commitment and government support of
the participating member states.
He also gave an overview of the priority areas of the Agency.
His presentation is given in Annex 2.
Appraisal Process and TC programme in EAPs
This was followed by a presentation by Mr.
M. N. Razley on the IAEA Technical Cooperation Programme and
the appraisal process. He cited primary factors required for
inclusion in the 2003-2004 program: meeting central criterion,
project quality and potential for impact. He emphasized the
necessity of meeting the central criterion which requires
that the project be in an area where there is a national programme
enjoying strong government commitment with evidence of significant
financial support. He emphasized the need for quality projects
which have clearly defined objectives and well indicated outputs,
a well-scheduled workplan, linked to a national action plan
with well established milestones and performance indicators.
Projects should have potential for impact and where applicable,
should show link to international declaration and agreements.
This will keep the project regional and not multi-implementation
of a national program. He gave the guiding principles for
technical cooperation suport as well ad some statistics to
illustrate the performance of the region with regard to TC.
Mr. Razley pointed out that the current program cose exceeds
the allocation by US$840 thousand and that the number of projects
is twice the limit set by TC. There is a need to scale down
the program to levels within available resources.
RCA programme for 2003-2004
Mr. C. R. Aleta, RCA coordinator then presented
the RCA programme for 2003-2004 along with budgetary allocations
based on the recommendations of the 24th RCA Meeting of National
Representatives. For the 2003-2004 cycle, 27 new projects
under 7 thematic areas are being proposed. (See Annex 4 for
a summary of the proposed programmes.)
RCA regional office
Mr. Chung traced the events leading to the
establishment of the RCA regional office in Korea on March
2002, on the occasion of its 30th anniversary. The regional
office is meant to increase the visibility of RCA in the region,
thus creating greater awareness of RCA. This will put the
RCA in a better position to establish partnerships with other
organizations, which could be sources of additional funds
for RCA programs. Dr, Chung described the present set-up of
the regional office and remaining issues related to the regional
office that are being addressed by the Advisory Group.
Mr. J. K. Kim informed the meeting of a new initiative
of the RCA regional office, a Postdoctoral fellowship program
in the nuclear field for the benefit of the member states.
This activity is supported by Korea.
IAEA Radiation and Waste Safety strategy Education
Mr. K. Mrabit and Ms. G. Sadagopan presented the
Status and Trends of the Agency's Radiation and Waste Safety
Strategy on Education and Training and the proposal for the
adoption of a web-based e-learning system for use by a larger
number of end-users. (See Annex 5). The different Radiation
Safety Guides, Standards and mechanisms for implementation
were pesented. It was also informed that efforts are underway
to produce pilot modules in cooperation with RCA's ENO project.
The web address of the INIS e-learning platform was given
by Mr. G. Bischoff, Section Head, Experts and Implementation
Section, EAPS.
Role of Advisory Bodies
The RCA Coordinator presented RCA's experience
from the past Advisory group meetings in thematic areas like
Agriculture, Industry and Health. He also cited the possible
role of advisory bodies in the formulation of RCA programmes
for different thematic areas. These advisory bodies could
give a direction to project committees for evolving strategies
and priorities of projects based on overall needs of the region.
The meeting, while welcoming the possible assistance of advisory
bodies in programme development, felt that the modalities
need to be studied further. (Annex 14)
Outsourcing
Mr. G. Bischoff presented the concept and status
of Outsourcing as a mode of implementation in the Agency.
A certain framework has already been developed but it needs
to be tested in few cases beore it can fully adopted. He added
this mode is expected to achieve faster implementation of
TC projects and fostering TCDC. Mr. Rasley suggested that
each Lead Country Coordinator should try to use outsourcing
modalities in at least one event in their thematic areas to
enable to achieve practical experience as suggested by Mr.
Bischoff.
RCA in the 21st Century
The paper by Mr. Djaloeis of Indonesia Was presented
by the RCA Coordinator. While congratulating Mr. Djaloeis
for the paper, the Committee felt that the various issues
need to be considered in detail by the member states and the
RCA nationalrepresentatives.
Project Proposals for 2003-2004
In the first session the LCCs/ALCCs presented
achievements/success stories of the projects in each of the
thematic areas.
Break-up sessions and consultation period
During the break-up/consultation sessions,
the lead Country coordinators had discussions with the Technical
Officers and other officials regarding the details of each
project and the workplan. The different projects were re-examined
especially with respect to the workplan. the different projects
were re-examined especially with respect to the central criteria
and resource availaility. The programmes were revised and
the projects/activities were prioritized and necessary.
The day-to-day progress of the above exercises were discussed
further in the plenary sessions to fine-tune the thematic
programmes.
Presentation of Tentative Sectoral Programmes
to Mr. Quian Jihui, Deputy Director General, TC
The Lead Country coordinators presented the results
of the programme review they have undertaken so far to Mr.
Quian. After the lead Country Coordinators'presentation, Mr.
Quian Jihui, Deputy Director General - TC was requested to
give a word of advice to the meeting. The DDG expressed his
dis appointment that the programmes as a whole did not reflect
the central criterion and were still "technology-driven",
rather than "results-based". He gave some examples
of high impact projects he had undertaken, which enjoyed high
government support and commitment. With respect to thematic
planning, he gave a word of caution on the danger of trying
to cover all of the areas thereby increasing the number of
projects. He urged the group to go back tothe slogan "fewer
but better". He recognized that everyone had the good
will to produce a good project. He would like RCA to be known
in Asia for some selected fields where it has a unique competence.
He urged RCA to do something different from the regular programme
of the Agency. He then spoke of the ARCAL experience. He ended
by recalling the glorious past of the RCA which was gained
by its pioneers. He challenged the meeing to continue this
tradition.
Mr. B. K. Kim reiterated the points raised by the DDG. He
urged the Lead Country Coordinators to continue working on
their programmes for the remaining time left, expressing confidence
that they will be able meet the challenge.
A discussion followed on the points raised by the DDG. It
was decided to postpone the following day's plenary session
to the afternoon, in order to give more time for the LC coordination
to im prove their programmes.
The finalized programmes under each thematic area
for 2003-2004 were presented by the Lead Country Coordinators.
The details of the success stories as well as the final proposals
as presented by the participants are given in the following
annexes.
Agriculture - Mr. Wang Xungqing, China
Health - Mr. Kunto Wiharto, Indonesia & Mr. John Easey,
Australia
Environment - Mr. Andreas Markwitz, New Zealand
Industry - Mr. Gursharan Singh, India
Energy - Mr. Man Ki Lee (Korea)
Reactor Utilization - Mr. S. Paranjpe, IAEA Technical officer
Radiation Protection - Mr. John Easey Australia
ENO - Mr. Nohd. Amin Sharifuldin bin Salleh (Malaysia) &
Mr. C. A. Krishnan (India)
The draft meeting report
was presented to the meeting.
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