At the 67th session of the IAEA General Conference, an overwhelming majority votes (99-2-16) the Kazakhstan resolution “On the restoration of sovereign equality of member states in the IAEA.” The resolution was presented first Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kairat Umarov and was supported by 99 Member States and 56 co-authors representing all IAEA geographical zones.
This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The resolution initiated by Kazakhstan creates the basis for ensuring more fair and democratic approaches to the participation of Member States in activities of the IAEA. As part of Kazakhstan’s efforts to restore its sovereign equality in the Agency, for the first time in the history of the IAEA, Kazakhstan was a list of 17 countries not included in regional groups has been codified.
This list was formalized by the Agency on August 10, 2023 and included in resolution of the General Conference as a basis for building further work within the framework of created “Group of Friends of Arealess Member States” under Chairmanship of Slovenia. The IAEA General Conference resolution also calls for Member States for the early ratification of the amendment to Article 6 of the Agency’s Statute, providing for the expansion of the membership of the Board of Governors and the adoption list of members by geographic area. Kazakhstan ratified this amendment in 2019.
The adoption of the resolution was the first practical step to revive the long-standing problems of equal representation of member states in regional groups, main decision-making bodies, as well as in relevant advisory Agency processes.
Source: Kapital KZ
