Maldives application for membership at the Atomic Energy Agency accepted

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has on Monday accepted Maldives' application for membership.

The General Conference of the IAEA, the highest body that sets its policies, has started a public meeting in Austria on Monday. The meeting, which runs until next Friday, accepted Maldives' application by an overwhelming majority, the ministry said.

The Foreign Ministry said this is the first step Maldives must take to become a full member of the IAEA.

Images shared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on social media depict a formal session of the IAEA General Conference, with delegates attentively seated in the iconic blue chairs of the Vienna International Centre.

Maldives Secures Unanimous Endorsement to Join the International Atomic Energy Agency

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— Ministry of Foreign Affairs ???????? (@MoFAmv) September 15, 2025

The Maldivian delegation to the IAEA General Conference is led by the Permanent Representative of Maldives to the Commonwealth Headquarters in Geneva, Dr. Salma Rasheed. As soon as the application was accepted unanimously by the IAEA member states, Salma addressed the conference participants.

She highlighted the challenges faced by small island developing countries and said international cooperation and assistance is needed to find scientific solutions to overcome them. Maldives' membership in the IAEA will be an important step forward at the national level, she remarked.

Salma said it was a “profound honour” for the Maldives to address the IAEA for the first time, drawing attention to the long standing commitment from Maldives to non-proliferation and Safeguards agreement in place since 1977.  

The Ambassador also noted that with the IAEA, Maldives will have opportunities to seek the agency's technical assistance in the fields of health and food security as well as people development.

Maldives is about to join the @IAEAorg family. At #IAEAGC, exchanged with ???????? @MDVinGeneva’s Salma Rasheed on how we can support the country’s development. From helping fight cancer through #RaysOfHope to improving agriculture and water management with #Atoms4Food, the IAEA stands… pic.twitter.com/VlDcJBqlMo

— Rafael Mariano Grossi (@rafaelmgrossi) September 15, 2025

Maldives applied for IAEA membership in November last year. The country’s objectives in becoming a member of the agency include expanding nuclear medicine and radiation medicine for cancer treatment and seeking assistance in acquiring technological resources to achieve sustainable development, the foreign ministry said.

The IAEA, established in 1957, is the world's central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation in the nuclear field. With 180 member states as of November 2024, the organization promotes the safe, secure, and peaceful application of nuclear science and technology while monitoring compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The Maldives' inclusion, pending a final vote by the General Conference later this week, underscores its growing engagement with the international community.