Atomic energy watchdog helps Seychelles develop Country Programme Framework |31 January 2015

The government of Seychelles and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), came together this week in a consultative workshop to develop the Country Programme Framework of Technical Cooperation between the State and the Organisation for the period of 2016-2020.

The workshop took place on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Maison Queau de Quinssy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ headquarters.

The IAEA is mandated to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world, and has worked in close collaboration with Seychelles since 2003 in a shared vision to develop to new heights the concept of nuclear science and technology in the local context.

The workshop has been facilitated by Michael Kiza, programme management officer under the Division of Africa in the Department of Technical Cooperation of the IAEA.

Representatives from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Natural Resources, Seychelles Agricultural Agency, Seychelles National Parks Authority, Seychelles Bureau of Standards and the Division of Risk and Disaster Management actively contributed to this working document over the two days.

The Country Programme Framework (CPF) 2016 -2020 is being developed with the aim to address various subjects where local technology and expertise is lacking in the field of nuclear science. The CPF will lead to the enhancement of institutional and human capacity of relevant organisations, with the financial and technical resource support of the IAEA, and will complement the existing national development priorities and sectorial plans in the field of nuclear science and safety.

The CPF 2016-2020 reflects development strategies for the following key areas: agricultural production and food safety, safe health service practices and provision in the field of radiology, safe labour inspection procedures, support to the Blue Economy initiative through the protection of our marine resources and eco-system, sustainable energy development and finally, further developing educational programmes in this field which is still a relatively new concept locally.

In all, this strategy is set to provide assistance in all of the aforementioned avenues through a synchronised national and international coordination approach, in order to uphold socio-economic development as a whole in our small island state.