AFRICAN REGIONAL CO-OPERATIVE AGREEMENT FOR RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AFRA

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1 AFRICAN REGIONAL CO-OPERATIVE AGREEMENT FOR RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AFRA MINUTES OF THE EIGHTEENTH TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP MEETING OF AFRA, HELD IN TRIPOLI, APRIL INTRODUCTION The 18th Technical Working Group Meeting was hosted by the Government of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya through the Renewable Energies and Water Desalination Research Centre (REWDRC) of the National Bureau for Research and Development and convened at REWDRC, Tajoura, from 22 to 26 April A Task Force Meeting on human resources development (HRD) and nuclear knowledge management (NKM) was held concurrently giving the opportunity for the members to interact with the AFRA National Coordinators and AFRA Field Management Committee (AFRA-FMC). 2. PRESENT Representatives of the following AFRA Member States were present: Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Apologies were received from: Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Gabon, Mauritius, Tunisia and Zimbabwe. The AFRA-FMC was represented by Mr. Lancine Sylla, the Chairperson of AFRA, Ms. Laila Fikri, Mr. Mohamed Eltayeb and Ms. Msutwana-Qupe. Mr. Messaoud Baaliouameur sent his apologies. The IAEA was represented by Mr. Ali Boussaha, Director: Division for Africa, and Mr. Neil Jarvis, AFRA Focal Point. The List of Participants is found in Annex OPENING SESSION Dr. Bulgasem Fawaris, AFRA National Coordinator for the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, welcomed the participants and thanked them for attending the meeting. He emphasized that AFRA has made major achievements since its inception and specifically mentioned that AFRA was adopting guidelines and indicators to assist Member States in carrying out strategic, structural and organization reforms with the 1

2 ultimate goal of building sustainable and self-reliant National Nuclear Institutions. He wished his colleagues, the AFRA National Coordinators, and Members of the Task Force Group Meeting success in their deliberations Dr. Abdulsalam El Wafi, IAEA National Liaison Officer for Libya, extended his warmest welcome to all AFRA National Coordinators and thanked all AFRA Member States for their efforts to attend the Meeting. He looked forward to the Meeting contributing to the further achievements of AFRA Member States in the years to come. He wished the participants successful deliberations and pleasant stay in the Great Jamahiriya. Dr. Elmehdi Ghallb, Deputy Director of the REWDRC extended his warmest welcome to all AFRA Member States and guests and stated that he was pleased and honoured to host the 18 th TWGM. He stressed the important role of the IAEA in supporting and strengthening the AFRA programme. He urged AFRA Member States to make all possible efforts to work out a successful future strategic plan, building on the past achievements of AFRA. Finally, he wished the participants a pleasant stay in Tripoli and assured the meeting that REWDRC personnel will do all to ensure that the 18 th TWGM is successful. In his welcoming remarks, Mr. Boussaha highlighted that the year 2007 has already proved to be momentous in terms of the importance and recognition accorded to the role of the peaceful applications of Nuclear Science and Technology in supporting sustainable development in Africa. During January of this year, the High Level African Regional Conference held in Algeria and supported by AFRA, adopted the Algiers Declaration and Plan of Action. The Declaration was subsequently endorsed by the African Union Summit which was held in Addis Ababa later in January Mr. Boussaha stressed that there were several important implications for AFRA and expressed the wish that the meeting would discuss these as well as the response of AFRA - particularly in the area of human resources capacity building. Mr. Boussaha also announced that the Agency will support AFRA in the preparation and conduct of the High Level Policy Review Meeting of AFRA. The meeting, scheduled for later in 2007, comes at a most opportune time, given the renewed impetus and recognition of using Nuclear Science and Technology for sustainable development as expressed by the African Member States. (See Annex 2 for the complete speech) Dr. Ali M. Gashout, Director General of the National Bureau for Research and Development (NBRD), welcomed the participants and conveyed the greetings of Eng. Matoug, Head of the Ministerial Department supervising the NBRD and his wishes for a successful meeting. Dr. Gashout thanked the IAEA for its efforts in supporting the AFRA Member States. He officially declared the 18 th TWGM open. (See Annex 3 for the complete speech). 4. ADMINISTRATIVE SESSION 4.1 Election of Chairman The Meeting elected Mr. Bulgasem Fawaris, the AFRA National Coordinator in Libya, as the Chairperson of the 18 th TWGM. 2

3 4.2 Appointment of Secretariat and Rapporteurs Mr. Jamal Abourgigah from Libya and Mr. Wilfrid Solofoarisina from Madagascar were appointed Rapporteurs of the 18 th TWGM to assist the AFRA-FMC in preparing the report of the Meeting. 4.3 Adoption of Agenda The provisional Agenda was adopted by the participants with some minor changes related to the timing of the agenda items. The Agenda is shown in Annex COUNTRY ACHIEVEMENTS IN Presentation of Annual Reports The AFRA National Coordinators presented their annual reports on activities with a special emphasis on results achieved and constraints encountered. The reports are gathered in Annex Conclusion and recommendations: Quality of reporting: The majority of countries reports were presented using the AFRA format. Several reports used the format approved by the 17 th Meeting of Representatives for reporting in-kind contributions; Most reports used the SWOT analysis as a means for assessing the impact of the AFRA programme in their countries. However, no plans for addressing weaknesses, threats and opportunities were presented; Again, the National Coordinators from French-speaking countries made commendable efforts and presented concise reports in English, which were appreciated by the participants; National Coordinators did not include in their reports new regional opportunities for consideration by the 18 th TWGM. Major common priority needs: The major theme of the 18 th TWGM was the need to operationalise the human resources development plan of AFRA to promote the sustainability of the nuclear techniques and facilities established within the region. This is particularly acute in the case of the AFRA Member States, which have recently joined the Agency and AFRA. Development and retention of skilled human resources still requires support from both the national competent authority and the IAEA. The use of TCDC modality needs to be enhanced and better documented to reflect the desire of Member States to promote regional cooperation. Recommendations: The National Coordinators are encouraged to continue improving the quality of their reports, particularly to emphasize the national experience gained from overcoming local constraints/problems; It was gratifying to see that several countries were able to report success stories these should be written up and submitted to the AFRA website; 3

4 National Coordinators are also reminded to report on any progress achieved in the field of human resources development and nuclear knowledge management. 6. REVIEW OF THE 2006 PROGRAMME OF AFRA 6.1 Presentation of Working Document Mr. N. Jarvis introduced the Working Document including a review of the activities undertaken in 2006 under the AFRA programme. The reader is referred to the Minutes of the AFRA-FMC Meeting held in Vienna from 2 to 5 April 2007 for a detailed review of the programme by project. The Meeting also reviewed the conclusions and recommendations of the AFRA coordination meetings held during 2006 and 2007 under various AFRA projects. 6.2 Activities of AFRA Specialised Teams and Regional Designated Centres The Specialised Teams (ST) for Waste Management performed some missions during Most other teams, particularly those for Dam Leakage and TE-NORMS remain underutilised despite several appeals made by the AFRA Chairperson for Member States to request their services. The Meeting requested that the High Level Policy Review Seminar consider this question and provide guidance on how to increase the utilisation of the STs. The Agency was requested to prepare background material on the missions performed by the STs over the last years, including an assessment of their impact in the region. Similarly for Regional Designated Centres (RDC), the Meeting noted that the utilisation of the services of most RDCs can be increased. The AFRA-FMC was requested to ensure that all outstanding MoUs with RDCs are concluded and that an action plan for utilising each RDC should be defined and approved for the period RDCs should be requested to provide Personal History Forms of experts attached to their facilities so as to update the expert roster. Where possible, the services of African experts must be used for AFRA programmes. When designing projects, priority for hosting regional training courses should be given to the RDCs. Furthermore, the use of RDC experts and lecturers should be a priority. However, a balance should be maintained so as to promote the use of other regional venues and experts to promote capacity building in Member States. 7. REVIEW OF 2007 PROGRAMME OF AFRA AND PARTICIPATION IN NEW PROJECTS The Meeting noted that the following countries have not yet sent letters through their Permanent Missions agreeing to host AFRA events in response to Host Government Agreement Letters sent by the IAEA Deputy Director General, Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation: Benin, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Tunisia, and Uganda. 4

5 AFRA National Coordinators were requested to give their urgent attention to this situation and to contact their Permanent Missions as soon as possible. Regarding participation in the new projects beginning in the cycle, the Meeting reviewed the table found in Annex 6 which reports on the status of requests by AFRA Member States. These have been reviewed by the AFRA-FMC and the table reflects where participation is considered appropriate or not. Countries which have not yet indicated in which projects they wish to participate are: Angola, Côte d Ivoire, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone provided the required information during the meeting. The relevant AFRA NCs are requested to send their requests for participation in the new projects as soon as possible. 8. ALGIERS DECLARATION AND HIGH LEVEL POLICY REVIEW Outcomes of the High Level African Regional Conference held in Algeria during January 2007, and supported by AFRA, were presented by Mr. Remki, the AFRA National Coordinator of Algeria (see Annex 7). The Conference adopted the Algiers Declaration and Plan of Action (see Annex 8). The Declaration was subsequently endorsed by the African Union Summit which was held in Addis Ababa later in January 2007 (Annex 9). The Declaration calls for the strengthening of inter-african cooperation notably within the framework of the African Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology (AFRA). It welcomes also the existing cooperation between the African States and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and calls upon the Agency to strengthen its cooperation programme with the African States at bilateral level as within the framework of sustaining the implementation of the AFRA Agreement. AFRA was recognized as a unique framework in Africa for nuclear science and technology. AFRA needs to respond to the Declaration and National Coordinators are requested to report annually on their implementation of the Plan of Action.. To this end, the Agency will, following the request of the AFRA Chairperson, support a High Level Policy Review Meeting of AFRA. The meeting, scheduled for December 2007, comes at a most opportune time, given the renewed impetus and recognition of using Nuclear Science and Technology for sustainable development as expressed by the African Member States. AFRA, as has been demonstrated through its considerable achievements, is the ideal mechanism for enhancing regional self-reliance and sustainability in the use of nuclear applications through the modality of TCDC (Technical Cooperation Among Developing Countries). However, a thorough analysis of the achievements and constraints of AFRA is needed to better understand how to improve its future work in serving the region. The seminar will assess progress achieved by AFRA since its inception, debate new trends and challenges and address vital issues related to the vision, strategic directions and management of the AFRA programme, and identify additional actions at the policy level and operational measures for developing strategic partnerships to support AFRA cooperative plans and activities, including ways and means of promoting effective or beneficial relationships with the African Union Commission and NEPAD Secretariat. 5

6 It is envisaged that the meeting will give rise to an enhanced approach for cooperation among Member States under AFRA, whereby regional cooperation priorities, directions, and suitable technologies are predetermined for a period of say five years, within the context of a Regional Strategic Cooperation Framework (RCF). The terms of reference for the meeting, as developed by the AFRA-FMC are: (i) to review AFRA accomplishments in various fields and to establish a dialogue on the strategic objectives of AFRA mechanism and the ways and means of further enhancing the contribution of AFRA arrangement to the fulfillment of national and regional sustainable development goals; (ii) to gain a common understanding about the effective and essential role of AFRA as the main vehicle for promoting regional cooperation in nuclear science and technology on the continent; (iii) to agree on a common strategy and vision for enhancing TCDC modality and building partnership on the continent; (iv) to discuss specific action plans for an effective integrated utilization of nuclear techniques under AFRA to address the most pressing needs of Member States and to explore the possibility of establishing a mechanism under AFRA to further enhance planning and programming of AFRA activities and to promote an enhanced approach for cooperation among Member States under AFRA, whereby regional cooperation priorities, directions, and suitable technologies are predetermined for a period of say five years, within the context of a Regional Strategic Cooperation Framework ; and (v) to discuss issues related to the overall management of the AFRA programme. The Technical Working Group Meeting broke into four working groups to brainstorm on what issues need to be addressed by the Policy Review Seminar and to give guidance in terms of documentation to be prepared for the purpose of the Seminar: Partnership and fundraising The group reviewed the AFRA strategy for partnership building and fundraising and identified several potential partners according to the five themes of AFRA. An action plan for partnership building will need to be prepared and implemented. The group suggested that the Working Document for the Seminar should contain information relating to the efforts of AFRA relating to partnership building and to secure extrabudgetary funding. Enhancing regional self-reliance through TCDC Modalities The group proposed that the Working Document of the seminar should contain material on the utilisation of RDCs, PSCs and STs. The Seminar should review the modality of using regional training courses as the primary means of capacity building. The group stated that greater emphasis could be placed on national training courses as opposed to regional and that external expertise should come from RDCs as a priority. 6

7 In order to address uniquely African research areas, the idea of formulating African CRPs under AFRA was raised. The Chairperson of AFRA should approach the Department of Nuclear Applications at the IAEA to explore this idea. Management of AFRA The group proposed that AFRA success stories must be included in the Working Document. The team further stressed that ownership of the AFRA programme by its Member States must be increased and future strategic directions should take this into account as a priority. The Seminar will need to assess the efficacy of the management of AFRA through the AFRA Chairperson and AFRA-FMC. The group also noted that the AFRA Meeting of Representatives is often attended by AFRA National Coordinators and not high level Government officials who have the mandate to take important policy decisions regarding AFRA. This situation should be rectified. Strategic Directions The group noted that the several areas had recently become highlighted as important areas for AFRA to address in a more comprehensive manner. These include energy, nuclear safety and security, human resources development, control of communicable diseases, human nutrition and water resource management. These have been reflected in the list of new project concepts to be submitted for the cycle. The High Level Policy Review Seminar should be requested to provide guidance to AFRA on the proposed Regional Strategic Cooperation Framework and what existing regional strategies and frameworks should be taken into consideration. Arrangements for the Seminar According to a letter sent to the Agency by the Chairperson of AFRA, the Government of Egypt has kindly offered to host the meeting. The Meeting requested the Agency to prepare a Working Document for the Seminar to address all the above points. The TWGM decided that a small group of regional experts should be contracted to prepare the Working Document. Furthermore the Chairperson was requested to send a formal letter to the Government of Egypt to request that they proceed with arrangements for the Seminar. 9. ASSESSMENT OF PERFORMANCE OF AFRA MEMBER STATES The Chairperson referred to the minutes of the previous AFRA-FMC meeting where the idea of promoting self-assessment was adopted. The TWGM requested the AFRA- FMC to prepare self-assessment material. This should be submitted to the Meeting of Representatives. Member States will be expected to use this on a pilot basis for reporting at the next TWGM. 7

8 10. FUND RAISING AND PARTNERSHIPS The Working Document contains a summary of the limited extra-budgetary contributions received by AFRA. Continued heavy reliance on only the IAEA for funding is not sustainable. This issue should be reviewed by the High Level Policy Seminar and supporting documentation should be prepared by the Agency to reflect what has been done by AFRA to forge partnerships and attract extra-budgetary funding. Recent efforts to build partnerships with NEPAD and the AU were described by Mr. El Tayeb, Assistant to the Chairperson. The Chairperson of AFRA should write to the Chairperson of the AU Commission requesting that the AFRA programme be including in the relevant standing agenda. It was suggested that AFRA needs to devote more efforts to development of partnerships with other organisations. The TWGM requested the AFRA-FMC to implement the following steps: o Investigate concluding an MoU with AFREC; o Explore approaching regional banking institutions such as BADEA and AfDB. It was suggested that the National Coordinators of the countries in which the above institutions are based, should make an initial contact. A letter of introduction will be sent to the institutions by the AFRA Chairperson. The Meeting discussed the fund raising strategy of AFRA and particularly the expectation that at least 25% of the funding required for the AFRA programme should come from AFRA Member States as cash contribution to be administrated by the Agency. The Meeting requested that AFRA-FMC to work out modalities to implement this. 11. PROJECT CONCEPTS TO BE DEVELOPED FOR THE CYCLE The TWGM reviewed the status of the AFRA projects in terms of their duration and whether these will continue into the cycle. Taking this into consideration the Meeting decided that concepts covering the following should be developed. Several new areas were also included. Countries in parentheses were given the responsibility to prepare the concepts. Theme I: Radiation Safety: o Waste Management including radioactive sources and NORMs (Libya); o Radiation Protection: Self-Assessment of national radiation protection infrastructures of participating MS through Regional Specialised Teams (Sudan). Theme II: Human Health: o Radiopharmacy (Ethiopia); o Clinical Nuclear Medicine (Algeria); o Medical Physics in support of cancer management (Sudan); 8

9 o Combating Malnutrition (Kenya); o Control of Communicable Diseases (HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB) including drug resistance (Mali). Theme III: Agriculture o Improving Livestock health (focusing on trans-boundary diseases) and production (Senegal); Theme IV: Industrial Applications: o Utilisation of Research Reactors (to support training in nuclear science and technology and preparation for nuclear energy programmes) (Nigeria); Theme V: Management: o Sustaining the Managerial Capability of AFRA Member States (including African National Nuclear Institutions and other end-users of nuclear techniques) (South Africa); o Human Resources Development & Nuclear Knowledge Development (Ghana). Water Resources o Capacity building and planning framework for sub-regional programmes involving shared water resources (Kenya). The PCMF procedure for downloading and completing project concept forms was demonstrated. The Meeting agreed that the countries assigned to preparing the above concepts should submit these to the Chairperson of AFRA by 31 May The Chairperson, together with the AFRA-FMC will ensure that the concepts will be reviewed and improved where needed. The proposed list of concepts will be submitted to the 18 th Meeting of Representatives. The concepts approved by this meeting will be uploaded officially to the PCMF website by the Chairperson of AFRA. 12. SUSTAINABILITY OF NATIONAL NUCLEAR INSTITUTIONS The five countries which acted as examples in the field of enhancing self-reliance and sustainability of national nuclear institutions presented the results achieved under this project. The presentations are to be found in Annex 10. The Meeting agreed that this had been a successful project and decided that a new project concept for the cycle should include a new set of countries to undergo the process of increasing self-reliance and sustainability building on lessons learnt from the first group of countries. The following countries volunteered: Mali, Senegal, Tanzania, and Kenya. 13. HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND NUCLEAR KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT At various times during the Meeting, the TWGM interacted with the Task Force which had been commissioned by AFRA in order to give the team direction. The Task Force reported back on the penultimate day of the TWGM on its deliberations to 9

10 establish an AFRA Action Plan on HRD and NKM to operationalise the various recommendations adopted by the 17 th Meeting of Representatives. The report is found in Annex 11. The Task Force suggested several actions regarding operationalising the following: o Establishment of AFRA-NEST; o Establishment of RDCs in the field of professional and higher level education; o Establishment of an AFRA scheme for supporting sandwich MSc and PhDs; o Terms of reference of the High Level Steering Committee. The TWGM requested the AFRA-FMC to implement these actions and to use further resources such as expert services, where necessary, to do so. 14. AFRA WEBSITE The AFRA Website is considerably out of date. The AFRA National Coordinator of South Africa assured the meeting that South Africa is keen to continue to host the website. Information, including the AFRA map, will be updated over the next weeks. An appeal was made for each country to develop their own homepage and send these to the National Coordinator of South Africa by 15 July The following countries agreed to supply success stories for the website as soon as possible: o South Africa borehole disposal concept; o Egypt improved varieties of sesame; o Ghana School for Nuclear and Allied Sciences; o Sudan NDT and waste management; o Tanzania waste management The five countries who reported on achievements in terms of self-reliance and sustainability will also summarise their reports for placement on the website. The success stories should be sent to the South African NC and the AFRA Focal Point. 15. ACCESSION TO THE FOURTH FIVE-YEAR TERM OF AFRA The Meeting noted that only three countries (Côte d Ivoire, Gabon and Zambia) have not yet acceded to the fourth five-year term of AFRA. The Chairperson was requested to continue to follow up with these countries in order to achieve decisive progress on this issue. The Meeting discussed the fact that several countries which are members of the IAEA have not yet joined AFRA. The Chairperson was requested to formally approach these countries inviting them to accede to the AFRA Agreement. 10

11 16. RATIFICATION OF THE PELINDABA TREATY The TWGM reviewed the list of countries which have not yet ratified the Pelindaba Treaty and urged AFRA National Coordinators to follow up with national authorities as a priority. The following countries reported that progress is being made and that ratification can be expected soon: Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Central African Republic. 17. VENUE FOR THE NEXT TWGM Tanzania offered to host the 19 th TWGM. The meeting accepted. Nigeria will be the alternate. Tanzania was requested to bring a formal letter to offer to host the 19 th TWGM to the 18 th Meeting of Representatives. 18. CLOSING SESSION The Meeting reviewed this report and adopted it. Dr. Salem Mohamed Gourbal, Director of the REWDRC, then officially closed the 18 th TWGM of AFRA 11

12 18. RECOMMENDATIONS AFRA-FMC is requested to: 1. Conclude all outstanding MoUs with RDCs; 2. Ensure that all RDCs have approved workplans for providing services to the region for the period ; 3. Review and ensure the quality of project concepts and upload these to the PCMF website; 4. Ensure that the expert roster is updated with details of experts from the RDCs; 5. Prepare material to assist AFRA Member States to perform a self-assessment of their performance; 6. Implement the actions as proposed by the Task Force to operationalise AFRA- NEST and the AFRA Masters and PhD degrees in Nuclear Science and Technology. This should include initiating the procedure to recognise RDCs in higher education; 7. Provide letters of introduction to the AFRA National Coordinators who will approach regional institutions in the context of partnership building; 8. Write to the Government of Egypt to accept their kind invitation to host the High Level Policy Review Seminar and request that the Government proceeds with arrangements; 9. Work with the National Coordinators of South Africa to update the AFRA website; 10. Approach the Chairperson of the African Union Commission to ensure that AFRA is included on the agenda of science and technology with special reference to linkages with NEPAD; 11. Invite Member States of the Agency who have not yet joined AFRA (particularly new Member States), to do so; 12. Arrange for the development of a Working Document for the High Level Policy Review Seminar; 13. Work out modalities to implement the expectation that at least 25% of the funding of AFRA should come from AFRA Member States as cash contribution to be administrated by the Agency. AFRA National Coordinators are requested to: 1. Prepare project concepts for the cycle as identified by the TWGM and submit these to the AFRA Chairperson by 31 May 2007; 12

13 2. Facilitate the provision of Host Government Agreement letters regarding the hosting of AFRA events. The deadline is 15 May 2007; 3. Regularly provide material for the AFRA website and update their country home pages; 4. Follow up on submission of candidates for PSCs and RDCs; 5. Follow up with national authorities to ratify the Pelindaba Treaty; 6. Arrange for accession to the fourth five-year term of AFRA (Côte d Ivoire, Gabon and Zambia); 7. Report to TWGMs on how their countries are implementing the Algiers Declaration and Plan of Action. The IAEA is requested to: 1. Assist the AFRA-FMC to prepare a Working Document for the High Level Policy Review Seminar; 2. Support the attendance of up to two participants per country from LDCs at the High Level Policy Review Seminar; 3. Assist the AFRA-FMC to prepare self-assessment material through the recruitment of expert services; 4. Make use of African experts as a priority to perform missions under AFRA programmes; 5. In order to promote AFRA-NEST, to place fellows in African Institutions as a priority; 6. Assist AFRA-FMC to ensure the technical quality of concepts submitted for consideration under the cycle. 13