UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / 03 July 2009 - Yesterday, Japan's Ambassador Yukiya Amano was selected as the new IAEA Director General at a meeting of the 35- member Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.

The IAEA Board voted on three candidates that had been nominated to head the Agency: Mr. Amano, Mr. Abdul Samad Minty of South Africa, and Mr. Luis Echávarri of Spain. Mr. Amano and Mr. Minty were the candidates in the final round of balloting, with Mr. Amano receiving the required two-thirds majority of votes cast.

The Board will meet at IAEA headquarters on 3 July, for the formal appointment of Ambassador Amano. His term as Director General would begin 1 December 2009.

The IAEA Director General is appointed by the Board of Governors with the approval of the General Conference for a term of four years. The General Conference meets in Vienna starting 14 September 2009.

Ambassador Amano, 62, is the Permanent Representative and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to International Organizations in Vienna, and Governor on the IAEA Board of Governors. 

He has extensive experience in disarmament, non-proliferation and nuclear energy policy and has been involved in the negotiation of major international instruments. 

He has held increasingly senior positions in the Japanese Foreign Ministry, notably as Director of the Science Division, Director of the Nuclear Energy Division and Deputy Director General for Arms Control and Scientific Affairs.

Ambassador Amano is to become the fifth Director General of the IAEA in its 52-year history.

He will succeed Mohamed ElBaradei, who was first appointed to the office effective December 1997, and reappointed in 2001 and 2005. Dr. ElBaradei´s present term as Director General runs until 30 November 2009. 

Other former IAEA Director Generals were Hans Blix, from 1981 to 1997; Sigvard Eklund, from 1961 to 1981; and Sterling Cole, IAEA Director General from 1957 to 1961.

The Chair of the Board of Governors for 2005-2006 is the Ambassador and Resident Representative from Japan, Mr. Yukiya Amano. He succeeds the Governor of Canada, Ms. Ingrid Hall.

Mr. Amano took up his current assignment as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the International Organizations in Vienna and Japan's Governor on the IAEA´s Board of Governors in September 2005.

A graduate of the Tokyo University Faculty of Law, Mr. Amano joined the Japanese Foreign Ministry in April 1972.

Mr. Amano has held increasingly senior positions in the Japanese Foreign Ministry, notably as Director of the Science Division, Director of the Nuclear Energy Division and Deputy Director General for Arms Control and Scientific Affairs. 

He was appointed Director-General for Arms Control and Scientific Affairs in August 2002 and Director-General of the Disarmament, Nonproliferation and Science Department in August 2004.

Mr. Amano has extensive experience in disarmament, nonproliferation and nuclear energy policy and has been involved in the negotiation of major international instruments such as the NPT extension, the CTBT, the BTWC verification protocol, the amendment of the CCW and the ICOC. 

He represented Japan as a Governmental Expert on the UN Panel on Missiles in April 2001 and in the UN Expert Group on Disarmament and Nonproliferation Education in July 2001.

He has served in the Embassies of Japan in Vientiane, Washington and Brussels, in the Delegation of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and was Consul General of Japan in Marseille in 1997.

The IAEA is the world's center of cooperation in the nuclear field. It was set up as the world's "Atoms for Peace" organization in 1957 within the United Nations family. The Agency works with its Member States and multiple partners worldwide to promote safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technologies.

The IAEA Secretariat is headquartered at the Vienna International Centre in Vienna, Austria. 

Operational liaison and regional offices are located in Geneva, Switzerland; New York, USA; Toronto, Canada; and Tokyo, Japan. 

The IAEA runs or supports research centers and scientific laboratories in Vienna and Seibersdorf, Austria; Monaco; and Trieste, Italy. See Offices and Contacts.

The IAEA Secretariat is a team of 2200 multi-disciplinary professional and support staff from more than 90 countries. 

The Agency is led by Director General Mohamed ElBaradei and six Deputy Directors General who head the major departments. See IAEA Staff.

IAEA programmes and budgets are set through decisions of its policymaking bodies - the 35-member Board of Governors and the General Conference of all Member States. 

Reports on IAEA activities are submitted periodically or as cases warrant to the UN Security Council and UN General Assembly. See Policy Bodies.

IAEA financial resources include the regular budget and voluntary contributions. The Regular Budget for 2007 amounts to Euro 283 611 000. The target for voluntary contributions to the Technical Co-operation Fund for 2007 is $80 million.

IAEA Mission & Programmes

The IAEA´s mission is guided by the interests and needs of Member States, strategic plans and the vision embodied in the IAEA Statute. 

Three main pillars - or areas of work - underpin the IAEA´s mission: Safety and Security; Science and Technology; and Safeguards and Verification. See Our Work.

Relationship with United Nations

As an independent international organization related to the United Nations system, the IAEA´s relationship with the UN is regulated by special agreement [pdf]. 

In terms of its Statute, the IAEA reports annually to the UN General Assembly and, when appropriate, to the Security Council regarding non-compliance by States with their safeguards obligations as well as on matters relating to international peace and security.