The Statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) defines eight areas from which candidate governments for election to the IAEA Board of Governors are chosen. Unlike the regional groups from which leadership posts at the United Nations are filled, the memberships of the IAEA areas are not strictly defined.
Contents
- Area Membership
- North America
- Latin America
- Western Europe
- Eastern Europe
- Africa
- Middle East and South Asia
- South East Asia and the Pacific
- Far East
- Allotted Seats
- Amendment to Article VI
- References
The eight IAEA areas or regional groups are:
* Egypt has been alternately elected to the Board of Governors as a representative from both the African and the Middle East & South Asian areas. Israel has never been elected to the Board of Governors, as the Middle East and South Asia group refuses to accept it as a member.
Area Membership
Unlike the regional groups from which leadership posts at the United Nations are filled, the memberships of the IAEA areas are not strictly defined. Broadly speaking, the following are members of the respective areas, as of July 2003." However, Israel has never been elected as a member of the Board from any region, and Egypt has on occasion been elected as a member of both the Africa and the Middle East/South Asia groups.
North America
Canada, United States of America
Latin America
Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela
Western Europe
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holy See, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, San Marino, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom
Eastern Europe
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
Africa
Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt (sometimes), Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Middle East and South Asia
Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt (sometimes), India, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Nepal, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
South East Asia and the Pacific
Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, New Zealand, Palau, Singapore, Thailand
Far East
China, Japan, Mongolia, Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam
Allotted Seats
Article VI of the IAEA Statutes sets out four steps in choosing the members of the Board of Governors, only three of which involve the areas.
The Board consists of ten members who are the most advanced in atomic energy technology without regard to geographic representation and an additional number likewise most advanced in each of the eight areas from which any of the initial ten are not chosen. These members are designated for one year terms. The General Conference then elects 22 members from the remaining states to two year terms. Eleven are elected each year and must also represent a stipulated geographic diversity.
The twenty-two members elected by the General Conference include twenty states based on the following allottment for each area:
and two additional states:
Amendment to Article VI
The 43rd General Conference (1999) adopted an amendment to Article VI which would expand the Board from 35 to 43 members and give greater proportional representation to developing countries, and require every member state to be identified as a member of one of the eight geographic groups. Israel is currently the only member state which is not recognized as a member any group.
To enter into force, the amendment is required to be ratified by two-thirds of IAEA member states. As of the 50th General Conference (August 2006), only 43 of the agency's 144 member states have done so, fewer than half of the necessary number.