Qatar Praises IAEA’s Role in Food, Agriculture, Industry, Health, Environment

The State of Qatar praised the prominent role played by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in assisting member states in the fields of food, agriculture, industry, health, water resources management, environmental protection, combating pollution and climate change, and sharing peaceful nuclear knowledge. This came in a statement by the State of Qatar delivered by HE Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr. Ahmed bin Hassan Al Hammadi, who is also the Governor of Qatar to the IAEA, during the discussion of the IAEA's Board of Governors in Vienna of the agency's annual report for 2023. His Excellency praised the comprehensive presentation contained in the IAEA's annual report related to the agency's activities in various fields, including following up on the implementation of the Rays of Hope initiative aimed at supporting the efforts of member states to increase access to radiotherapy services, as well as the Zoonotic Disease Integrated Action (ZODIAC) initiative. His Excellency p ointed out that the State of Qatar contributed to hosting a regional course in November 2023 on using techniques derived from nuclear materials in the early and rapid detection of zoonotic diseases classified as priority with a focus on avian influenza. In the statement, His Excellency reviewed aspects of the existing cooperation between the IAEA and the State of Qatar. In this regard, he referred to the practical arrangements agreement between Qatar's Ministry of Public Health and the IAEA concluded on May 30, 2024, in line with the initiative of the State of Qatar to support the least developed countries, which Qatar announced on the sidelines of the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5), held in March 2023 in Doha. His Excellency emphasized that the signing of the practical arrangements agreement will make the Qatari food safety laboratories a regional center for training and one of the 'cooperating centers with the IAEA' in the field of human health, including food safe ty. His Excellency addressed what was stated in the IAEA's annual report, especially with regard to various important activities that the agency has accomplished by providing its expertise to member states in the field of research reactors and accelerator technologies that enhance countries' capabilities in applying nuclear science as a tool for technological and economic development in the fields of food, agriculture, human health, and water resources management, environment, and industry. HE the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed the importance of the role played by the IAEA's nuclear applications laboratories in Seibersdorf, focusing on the opportunity that these laboratories will achieve in maximizing the opportunities for scientific research and development in nuclear applications laboratories and its implications in strengthening the capabilities of member states, especially during exceptional emergencies regarding the control of zoonoses and transboundary diseases as well a s many other aspects. His Excellency said that the State of Qatar values the various initiatives and projects implemented by the IAEA, all of which are in the interest of enhancing the role of nuclear technology in combating plastic pollution (NUTEC Plastics), the agency's activities in the field of nutrition, the COMPASS initiative to inventory and monitor nuclear materials, and the use of isotope hydrology to evaluate and manage water resources, and the effects of changing climate on water availability, and the role of the agency's platform on the work of small modular reactors and their applications, in addition to the agency's participation in the ongoing dialogue in the United Nations system regarding the use of artificial intelligence and the development of this application and its use in facilitating the sharing of peaceful nuclear knowledge. At the conclusion of the statement, HE the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the State of Qatar welcomes the opening of a training and clarification center in the field of nuclear security within the IAEA's laboratory complex in Seibersdorf, stressing that this center will have an important and effective role in enhancing the capabilities of member states in the field of nuclear security. Source: Qatar News Agency