The UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) and the Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology For Asia and the Pacific Regional Office (RCARO) have worked together since 2013 under the Republic of Korea (RoK) – UNOSSC Facility, using applications of electron beam technologies in agriculture, industry and environment. In Phase 2 of the Facility, RCARO has led a Scaled-up project entitled, “Electron Beam Applications for Value Addition to Food and Industrial Products and Degradation of Environmental Pollutants in the Asia Pacific” in 14 countries.
The benefits of electronic beam applications and project achievements are being showcased in a video developed by the RoK-UNOSSC Facility. This video provides highlights of knowledge sharing and technical exchanges among participating countries to strengthen human and institutional capacity building on science and technology through South-South and triangular cooperation. The clip presents an overview of electron beam applications including their benefits, and testimonials from partners. Stakeholder interviews demonstrate participating countries’ ownership and ongoing efforts to foster mutual learning through the network of experts built under the scaled-up project.
About the ROK-UNOSSC Facility (Phase 2)
The Facility/Programme for Capacity Development for Poverty Reduction through South-South and Triangular Cooperation in Science and Technology (RoK-UNOSSC Facility) – Phase 2 was approved on June 30, 2016. In February 2017, the Steering Committee endorsed the selection of 10 Republic of Korea (RoK) Institutions to implement the Facility’s three components; namely, the Knowledge Platform (a group of 3 institutions); the Consortium (a group of 6 institutions) and the Scaled-up Project (1 institution). For the Consortium activities, a demand survey was sent to 11 countries for them to express their desire to be part of the programme. Cambodia and Indonesia were selected as countries with a conducive environment to host the programme.
The main objective of Phase 2 of the RoK-UNOSSC Facility is to ensure that the work done by the RoK Institutions is sustainable and scalable. This requires that the Facility be implemented within the framework of the partner countries’ planning frameworks so that the work can be extended and scaled up using national resources. In this way, the Facility can have a real impact in helping partner countries achieve their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).