Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States. The following countries align themselves with this statement: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Republic of Moldova, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine.

The EU and its Member States have long valued the important work of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS). Internal audit, evaluation and investigation services are essential to help increase accountability and transparency. Moreover, they allow Member States of the IAEA to gain more insight into the management and performance of the Secretariat.

We have taken good note of the findings set out in the 2024 Internal Audit report and we thank the Director and his staff for the informal briefing on 11 April. The summary reports on several internal audits pertaining to core issues, such as data governance and enterprise risk management, that are essential to the effective discharge by the Agency of its crucial mandate, are of great interest. We welcome the OIOS conclusion that the results of internal oversight work during 2024 showed a continuing overall improvement of the management of programmes and operations.

We note that the audit of the comprehensive assistance programme to Ukraine is in its final stage. Moreover, we look forward to - amongst other topics - the report on the audit of the regional country-level evaluation and audits (CLEA) for the Europe and Central Asia region and that of budgetary control scheduled for 2025.

In a context of increasing budgetary constraints coupled with a high number and variety of projects managed by the Agency, the OIOS assessment of challenges linked to optimizing resource mobilization is very timely. The acknowledged need for effective collaboration and coordination within the Secretariat to leverage the Agency’s collective knowledge of funding opportunities requires a follow-up. We encourage the OIOS to continue looking into resource mobilization with a view to identifying further areas of enhancement. 

Chair,

Turning to the Programme Evaluation Report, we thank the OIOS for the comprehensive evaluation of the Agency’s non-traditional partnerships. The identified enablers that would further facilitate and promote effective collaborating, should be taken into account. 

A matter of particular relevance was the evaluation of the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Programme. The EU is proud to be the largest donor of this initiative, which supports an inclusive workforce of both men and women, and contributes towards the achievement of the SDGs. We were pleased that the Programme has helped more than 500 female students to complete advanced degrees and increased their confidence in a successful career in the nuclear field. 

The EU and its Member States welcome a continued focus on reviewing and reassessing flagship programmes that require important extra-budgetary contributions and look forward to the results of the evaluation of the NUTEC Plastics initiative planned for 2025. 

We are reassured by the continuous overall progress with the implementation of Programme Evaluation Recommendations and we note with satisfaction that the number of overdue recommendations has decreased by 16 percent compared to last year’s report. 

Chair,

In conclusion, we encourage the Secretariat to continue to seriously consider all findings, including those of a systemic and crosscutting nature. We welcome the good progress achieved with the implementation of recommendations made in previous years. 

Thank you, Chair.