Kyrgyzstan addresses meeting of IAEA Board of Governors

Bishkek, June 19, 2020. /Kabar/. The 1542nd virtual meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was held on June 15-19, 2020 in Vienna, Austria, the press service of the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry reported.

“We would continue to implement safeguards to prevent any misuse of nuclear material and activities for non-peaceful purposes. And we would do everything we possibly could to assist Member States in confronting the coronavirus," said IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi in his welcoming speech.

He informed about new IAEA Zoonotic Disease Integrated Action (ZODIAC) project to establish a global network of national diagnostic laboratories that can conduct coordinated monitoring, surveillance, early detection and control of emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases, using nuclear or nuclear-derived techniques.

The delegation of Kyrgyzstan made a presentation on three items on the agenda of the IAEA Board of Governors meeting.

In his statement, Bakyt Dzhusupov, the Permanent Representative of the Kyrgyz Republic to IAEA noted the Technical Cooperation Programme is an important mechanism for cooperation to promote the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

He thanked the director general for the emergency assistance provided to Kyrgyzstan during the pandemic.

In addition, Dzhusupov informed the Board members about Kyrgyzstan's initiative on the draft resolution of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly "Nature knows no borders: transboundary cooperation is a key factor in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity" and called on UN member states to join as co-sponsors of the project and support the initiative.