Both Fiji and Papua New Guinea became IAEA Member States in 2012. With each Member State planning to develop a national TC programme for the 2016-2017 cycle, delegates met at the IAEA headquarters, Vienna, from 27 to 31 January 2014, to discuss the preparatory work for the development and submission of the next TC programme.

With 10 participants from Fiji and Papua New Guinea, the meeting provided an overview of the IAEA's work in general and the TC programme mechanism and its related working modalities, procedures and IT tools supporting implementation.

Discussions were held on future national TC projects that could be considered for further development, as well as the steps required to support the governments of Fiji and Papua New Guinea in the development of an adequate national radiation protection infrastructure.

The meeting was organized by the Division for Asia and the Pacific, and involved the input of over 35 staff members from across the IAEA. It provided an opportunity to develop a good understanding of the needs of the countries concerned in terms of capacity building and their priorities for the peaceful use of nuclear technology in keys areas of sustainable development.

Both Member States spoke of their country's needs and priorities in the areas of human health, food and agriculture, water resource management, terrestrial and marine environment and radiation safety infrastructure. The IAEA's technical Departments provided expertise on nuclear applications and safety in these areas.

With this wealth of information and discussion, Fiji and Papua New Guinea have the know-how to plan for a successful and effective TC programme for 2016-2017.

The Note Verbale and Guidelines for the Planning and Design of the IAEA 2016-2017 TC Programme were recently released to Member States online. They explain not only the process for the development of new projects, but present the criteria that all projects must meet in order to ensure a consistently high level of quality throughout the TC programme.