From Cancer Care to Nuclear Careers, IAEA Conference Puts Global Progress in Focus

Participants visiting the technical cooperation exhibition met IAEA staff and explored information about the programme, including the digital Technical Cooperation Report for 2025.

Better access to cancer treatment, training for Africa's future nuclear workforce and stronger groundwater management featured prominently at the 70th IAEA General Conference in September 2026. The gathering attracted more than 3,500 participants, including 78 ministers and 19 vice ministers, making it the largest global forum for the nuclear community. An exhibition, side events, regional discussions and bilateral meetings showed how the International Atomic Energy Agency's technical cooperation programme supports countries, giving representatives opportunities to assess achievements and shape future national and regional activities.

Participants visiting the technical cooperation exhibition met IAEA staff and explored information about the programme, including the digital Technical Cooperation Report for 2025. The discussions across the conference connected scientific expertise with practical questions facing governments: how to prepare people for nuclear careers, secure financing for radiation medicine and build partnerships that help countries respond to their development needs.

Africa's Nuclear Future Depends on Training People Early

Almost half of African countries are considering nuclear power, creating an urgent need for trained professionals who can support the sector's growth. A side event on empowering the next generation of African nuclear leaders examined what sustainable nuclear power programmes require, with experts stressing that workforce development needs to begin early and receive sustained investment. Leadership skills, technical expertise and national training programmes tailored to local needs were identified as essential parts of that preparation.

Young people's participation and the transfer of knowledge between experienced specialists and new professionals were central to the discussion, with speakers calling for training to be built into the development of nuclear power programmes. Research cooperation gained new platforms through the official establishment of the Africa Research Reactor Network and the Asia-Pacific Research Reactor Network. Both networks will help participating institutions address shared challenges, expand the users of research reactor products and services, and strengthen their contribution to scientific progress.

Turning Cancer Treatment Plans Into Funded Services

Representatives from Côte d'Ivoire, Fiji, Mongolia and Tanzania described how plans to expand radiation medicine services are becoming funded projects. Their experiences highlighted the value of IAEA support in preparing strategic funding documents, backed by strong advocacy, sustainable business cases and fundraising involving multiple partners. Technical and economic feasibility studies have helped countries present credible investment proposals, secure financing and move forward with services that can expand access to life-saving treatment.

Côte d'Ivoire's experience showed how government investment can provide the foundation for wider support: the country funded the building, equipment, staff and operating budget for its National Centre for Medical Oncology and Radiotherapy before approaching partners, including the IAEA. The Scientific Forum examined progress under Rays of Hope, launched in 2022 to increase access to cancer care, through which more than 800 radiation medicine professionals have received training. Speakers discussed the resources, expertise and investment needed to expand services, highlighting research, collaboration and regional support from Rays of Hope Anchor Centres.

Shared Expertise Shapes Water Management and National Priorities

Annual meetings of the AFRA, ARASIA, ARCAL and RCA regional cooperative agreements reviewed achievements and emerging priorities to help shape future technical cooperation projects. European National Liaison Officers examined collaboration across Europe and Central Asia. A newly launched socioeconomic impact assessment documented two decades of isotope hydrology work in Asia and the Pacific, where nearly 300 scientists have received IAEA-supported training to study groundwater and generate accurate data for water management. In the publication's foreword, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi highlighted more than five decades of cooperation with RCA countries on peaceful nuclear applications.

Seven countries, the Bahamas, Brunei Darussalam, Cabo Verde, Mexico, Nicaragua, Syria and Tunisia, signed Country Programme Frameworks during the conference, setting out national development plans and priorities to guide cooperation with the IAEA. These agreements give future activities a country-specific foundation, connecting technical support with the needs governments have identified and providing direction for the next phase of work.