The meeting benefitted from the active participation of 17 representatives of 7 Arab Member States. (Photo: O. Yusuf/IAEA)
The meeting’s 42 participants, including representatives from 8 Member States, built upon the consensus developed during the May 2020 meeting of the ARASIA Board by re-engaging with the previously-identified project designs, which channel regional activities and ambitions in the areas of human health, food and agriculture and the environment into three ‘mega’ projects.
Focusing on the future effectiveness of the ARASIA agreement, the meeting’s attendees turned their attention to the growing need to designate ARASIA Resource Centres for particular thematic areas. The Centre for nuclear medicine has already been designated, and the participants agreed that efforts must now be made to identify and begin the process of designating new Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratories (SSDL) as resource centres.
Finally, the participants also discussed the preparations for the next annual Board of Representatives meeting, scheduled to take place in April 2021 in Amman, Jordan.
Background
The Cooperative Agreement for Arab States in Asia for Research, Development and Training related to Nuclear Science and Technology (ARASIA) entered into force on 29 July 2002. In cooperation with the IAEA, the ARASIA agreement promotes and coordinates activities for training, research, development and applications of nuclear science and technology in its State Parties.