Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the EU and its Member States. The following countries align themselves with this statement: Türkiye^§, North Macedonia^*, Montenegro^*, Serbia^*, Albania^*, Ukraine^*, the Republic of Moldova^*, Bosnia and Herzegovina^*, Georgia, Iceland⁺, Norway⁺, Armenia and San Marino

The EU wishes to thank the Director of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), Mr. Paul Manning, the entire staff of the OIOS and the Secretariat for preparing the report on “Evaluation of Technical Cooperation Activities in 2022”, as contained in document GOV/2022/46 and its annexes. We also thank the Director of OIOS for the technical briefing held on 17 October, as well as for his introductory remarks.

The EU and its Member States reiterate the importance of objective and systematic evaluation and monitoring guided by the internationally recognized criteria of relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, results-based delivery and sustainability. The work of the OIOS is an indispensable component of project management, and we call on the Department of Technical Cooperation (TC) to make full use of the evaluation findings and recommendations in its future programme planning and implementation.

We take note that OIOS was able to complete all Country-level Evaluation and Audit (CLEAs) exercises this year, most importantly, meeting the 2022-2023 biennium target a year early by increasing the number of countries under review to six. We also note that the OIOS review teams were still able to visit four of the six countries, despite COVID-19-related travel and access constraints, and drew from past remote-work experience to maximize the review of the remaining two countries. We look forward to further expanding the country coverage of six countries per annum in 2023 and beyond.

As mentioned, this year’s report has focused on six country-level exercises in the Asia and Pacific region and evaluating the quality review process within the Agency’s TC programme. We note with satisfaction the OIOS’ conclusion that the Agency’s support adds significant value, is well focused and relevant to the national development needs and priorities. We also welcome the recognized importance of developing nuclear technologies to address development challenges in the six countries. The outcome of the “Evaluation of the Quality Review Process in the Technical Cooperation Programme of the Agency” is equally promising. It has found the process to make a significant contribution to the quality of project designs, to facilitate TC project implementation in Member States, and to help States leverage nuclear and related techniques to achieve their national development objectives.

However, the report further notes major delays in the delivery of Agency activities in all six CLEA countries. The Agency should consider prolonging the targeted timeline of projects, improving project design to more effectively utilise funds, and ensuring early engagement among Technical Officers in the planning phase. Based on other OIOS findings, we echo the OIOS’ encouragement to create a systematic and consistent mechanism to confirm the use of purchased equipment and to ensure effective handovers of project-related information among staff, especially given their high turnover.

We also invite the IAEA to continue undertaking initiatives to introduce more effective project monitoring systems, thus ensuring the efficiency and effectiveness of the delivery of Agency support at country and regional levels.

We note with concern the OIOS conclusion that gender is not yet effectively mainstreamed into TC project design, and that gender balance achieved in Agency activities mainly reflects Member States’ and counterparts’ own gender distribution and policies, rather than specific efforts by the Agency itself. We welcome OIOS proposal to further explore this issue in its 2023 work plan.

Chair,

The EU and its Member States appreciate that the Secretariat has accepted all recommendations issued by OIOS in 2022, and we look forward to their timely and full implementation. We reiterate the importance for the TC Department to work closely with the OIOS and address all recommendation, including those on the inclusion of national funding and sustainability arrangements, the provision of a realistic timeline of TC project implementation, and engagement of Technical Officers in TC project design, implementation and monitoring.

The EU and its Member States continue to support the important work of the OIOS and we look forward to engaging with the Office on its future evaluation work plan.

With these comments, we take note of document GOV/2022/46.

Thank you, Chair.

§ Candidate Country

* Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, as well as potential Candidate Country Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

+ Iceland and Norway are members of the EFTA and of the European Economic Area.