Nuclear Security – Africa and the IAEA

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recognise the important roles that non-nuclear weapon states, such as those in Africa are playing in shaping and enhancing nuclear security, in spite of development challenges that they face and rising economic issues.

At the forthcoming, and probably penultimate, Nuclear Security Conference in July this year, with the last of three summits planned in the Netherlands in 2014, the IAEA hosts will have a chance to strengthen its corroborative role with states to enhance their capacity for nuclear security and will provide an opportunity for stakeholders to have their say, proving input into the agency’s Nuclear Security Plan for 2014-17.

This is good news for African states in particular, as they have had little chance to participate in global nuclear security debates as the international community continually search for a channel in which to encourage the nuclear security agenda forum in a more fundamentally inclusive way.