EU Statement on Women in Nuclear Agenda item 10: Any other business

EU Statement on Women in Nuclear Agenda item 10: Any other business

Board of Governors

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

Vienna, 2-6 March 2026

Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the EU. The following countries align themselves with this statement: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Republic of Moldova, San Marino, Serbia and Ukraine.

The EU commends Director General Grossi on the Agency reaching gender parity in professional categories and higher levels at the beginning of last year. We urge the Agency to sustain and expand these progresses to other professional categories. Furthermore, we encourage the Secretariat to further advance conducive conditions for the empowerment of women.

Promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women is a horizontal priority for the EU in all multilateral fora. The EU appreciates the Director General's work on the two dedicated initiatives, namely, the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Programme as well as the Lise-Meitner Programme which are perfectly aligned with our priorities. We welcome the work of the Secretariat to advance gender mainstreaming in all IAEA programmes and projects and expect further progress in this regard.

The EU and several of its Member States are large donors to the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Programme as well as the Lise-Meitner Programme and encourage all Member States to support them: our contributions are essential to increase the number of women experts in the nuclear field, in particular from developing countries. In the long term, these Programmes will contribute to the emergence of a new generation of female leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The EU and a large majority of its Member States are members of the Group of Friends for Women in Nuclear, currently co-Chaired by Belgium, the Dominican Republic and Japan. We will continue supporting this important work, including by joining a public diplomacy event co-organized by the Group to commemorate the International Women's Day.

The EU will remain at the forefront of promoting gender equality at the IAEA. We encourage all Member States to make gender equality and women empowerment a priority and support the important work of the IAEA. The Pact for the Future commits all of us to address barriers preventing the full, equal and meaningful access for women and girls in scientific fields.

Let us work together for more women in nuclear!

Thank you, Chair.