The IAEA Department of Technical Cooperation (TC) will host two side events at the 64th IAEA General Conference next week and will organize meetings for four regional cooperation agreements. Some of these are being scheduled outside the week of the main conference to limit physical interaction.
One year after the IAEA and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) launched their Women's Cancers Partnership Initiative at the 63rd IAEA General Conference, a side event on September 22 will review the achievements realized through the ongoing Initiative. In the presence of IsDB President Bandar Hajjar, IAEA experts and guest speakers will discuss how the Initiative has moved ahead despite the restrictions imposed by COVID-19, and how new partnerships will be forged with non-traditional donors to increase global access to comprehensive cancer diagnosis and treatment for women. The winners of the IsDB Call for Innovation competition, which sought proposals from scientists and academic researchers to strengthen breast and cervical cancer services, will also be announced.
On 29 September, experts from the IAEA's Division for Europe will explore the growing application of the Basic Safety Standards by countries in Central Asia, during a side-event entitled From Regulation to Clinical Practices: Ensuring Safety and Quality of Medical Radiological Procedures in Europe and Central Asia.
Counterparts from across the region are expected to participate remotely, describing recent achievements and identifying persistent obstacles to the implementation of the IAEA Safety Standards. The side event will also provide an opportunity to review the results of a regional survey on the availability of trained medical physicists and will consider strategies to improve capacity building. During a roundtable discussion, the meeting participants will share their experience in developing patient protection infrastructure, from justifying and optimizing doses to the elaboration and application of referral guidelines.
Representatives of member countries of the regional cooperative agreements in Africa (African Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development and Training related to Nuclear Science and Technology), Asia and the Pacific (Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology for Asia and the Pacific) and the cooperative agreement for Arab States in Asia (Cooperative Agreement for Arab States in Asia for Research, Development and Training related to Nuclear Science and Technology) will meet virtually on 11 September, 18 September and 22 September, respectively.
Representatives of member countries of the Regional Cooperation Agreement for the Promotion of Nuclear Science and Technology in Latin America and the Caribbean will meet separately, on 29 November.
Additionally, the annual meeting of National Liaison Officers (NLOs) from the Europe region will take place on 24 September to review the ongoing implementation of the regional programme, and to conduct a preliminary assessment of project designs intended for the 2022-2023 TC Cycle.
