The 23rd RCA National Representative Meeting at BAEC, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 18-20 March, 2001

HIGHLIGHTS

1.  Opening: The 23rd RCA National Representative Meeting was held at the Winter  Garden of the Hotel Sheraton, Dhaka the 18th March 2001.

2. Inaugural Function: Prof. Dr. Naiyyum Choudhury, National RCA Coordinator of  Bangladesh and Member, Bio- Science Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) welcomed the delegates to the 23rd RCA National Representative Meeting. Dr. Adnan on behalf of the IAEA and its Director General welcomed the delegates to the meeting.

3. Statement of the out going Chairperson: The outgoing chairperson welcomed the delegates to the meeting and opined that RCA is a classic example of TCDC and feels that RCA was moving from capacity building to problem saving.

4.  Statement of the in coming Chairperson: Prof. Dr. Naiyyum Choudhury was elected as new chairperson and conveyed his thanks and gratitude  to all participants for their whole heated support. He also thanked Dr. Anand, the outgoing chairperson for his dynamic leadership.

5. Presentation of 29th RCA GC meeting Report: RCA Coordinator presented the RCA GC meeting report . Australia appreciated the contribution of Dr. Anand and Dr. Krishnan in preparing the report. Japan noted that their views on the part of the  GC Report would be provided later in the meeting. Malaysia also informed that follow-up action on ENO will be circulated during the meting.

6. RCA Annual Report 2000: The RCA project Coordinator informed that electronic version of the report has been circulated to the MSs. The report consists of three parts, part 1 and 2 are close to the finalization and part 3 will be finalized after  getting inputs from MSs.

7. Project Activities in 2000:  The RCA Coordinator presented the report of activities in 2000, comprising  i) Policy management  (ii) Programme implementation and (iii) Staff . He referred to good implementation record in terms of delivery and increased activities was due to the provision of cost free expert from Korea.

8. Status of Joint/UNDP/RCA/IAEA Projects: The RCA Coordinator reported the outcomes of the terminal tripartite review meeting of the  Joint /UNDP/RCA/IAEA Projects held in New Delhi in December 2000. The meeting informed that UNDP had confirmed not to fund to joint project beyond 2000.

9.Overview of 2001/2002 Programmes: The RCA Co-ordinator drew the attention of the meeting to Annexure 13 of the annual meeting where the over view 2001/2002 has been summarized.

DECISIONS

The meeting endorsed the following recommendation of the Co-ordination group 

1. To support the new approach of a single national counterpart for radiation protection.

2. To integrate RCA activities in the new approach and with RCA modality used mainly to implement milestones 2-5 as defined in the programme.

3. For the enhanced role of the co-ordination group in overseeing all radiation programme in the region.

4. New terms of reference for national counterparts as they relate to the RCA These people should the responsibilities and authority to carry out their role.

5. Finding the planned activities for 2001-2002 and the preparation for a new programme for 2003-2006.  

The Subproject: Electronic Networking and Outreach Coordinators Meeting at MINT, Bangi, Malaysia, April 17-21, 2000
HIGHLIGHTS

  1. The RCA Regional Homepage is operational and provides links to the available nine RCA National Homepages.
  1. Both the Regional and the National Homepages contain substantive material related to the RCA activities.
  1. There is now sufficient expertise available within the region to develop the ENO-framework, including those countries that do not have a National Homepage established yet.
  1. The expressed commitment to pursue the activities as planned in the Work Plans gives confidence of successful completion of the project.
  1. Problems within the ENO project were identified and described in a detailed Problem Statement.
  1. Malaysia impressed all participants with an excellent organization and warm hospitality.

DECISIONS

The Meeting:

1. recommended that a special Regional Workshop be conducted in Vietnam. The workshop is intended to support those countries, which required help to implement their National Homepages. It is decided that the joint course direction be in the hands of Philippines, Mr. Refre and Vietnam, Mr. Le Chi Dung.

  1. recommended that a scientific visit of Mr. Yang Zou be conducted to the ENO Lead Country to support in the creation of dynamic content based on databases.
  1. accepted the proposal from the IAEA to conduct a National Consultant Mission to Vienna by the ENO Lead Country and Assisting Country, to familiarize with the information and information systems available in the Agency.
  1. decided on the final Work Plan for 2000 including all listed activities.
  1. decided on the draft Project Formulation and Work Plan for 2001 and 2002 including all listed activities and events.
  1. decided on the proposed document flow for the creation of the respective Homepages and calls upon the Agency to verify and acknowledge the proposal and then to request the Member States to implement the proposed mechanism.
  1. decided to introduce uniform navigational style elements to improve the uniformity and navigation within the ENO-framework. Furthermore, it was decided that the ENO Lead Country with the help of Korea would provide such elements.
  1. decided that the National Homepages be focused on nuclear-related topics, in particular for those where they have a leading role. The Regional Homepage will concentrate on providing a portal to the National Homepages and contain information of Regional interest only.
  1. expects and urges the Agency to provide RCA-related management information through the TC-RCA Homepage and release of TC-Pride for use by RCA Member States.
  1. decided to give its support to the Korean Distance Learning initiative, clearly indicating its role to assess and integrate the Distance Learning initiative within the ENO-framework. For this purpose, the Meeting requests the Agency to convey an initiating meeting in Korea in the year 2000.
  1. recommended that a separate coordinating role be created for the Distance Learning initiative, in order not to overburden the current ENO Lead Country. The Meeting calls upon Korea, India, and Australia to consider taking an active role and provide leadership in the Distance Learning initiative.
  1. decided to adopt the available Intranet services as a means of communication among its Members.
  1. decided on a series of technical proposals as described in the Problem Statement.