# Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency

The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is one of the two policy making bodies of the IAEA, along with the annual General Conference of IAEA members.
The Board is responsible, 'inter alia', for approving safeguards agreements and for approving publication of IAEA safety standards. The Board appoints the IAEA Director General, subject to approval by the General Conference, and makes recommendations to the General Conference on the IAEA's program and budget.
The Board generally meets five times per year: in March and June, twice in September (before and after the General Conference) and in November.

## Membership

The Board consists of 35 IAEA Member States, each with a single vote. Thirteen are designated by the previous Board as being either among the ten countries most advanced in atomic energy technology or the most advanced from any of the eight regional groups not represented by the first ten.
Twenty-two Board Members are elected by the IAEA General Conference to two-year terms, eleven each year, and twenty IAEA member states are elected to the Board by the General Conference based on the following geographic distribution:
| Regional group | Members |
| Latin America | 5 |
| Western Europe | 4 |
| Eastern Europe | 3 |
| Africa | 4 |
| Middle East & South Asia | 2 |
| Southeast Asia & Pacific | 1 |
| Far East | 1 |
| Total | 20 |
Two additional members are also elected, one from each of the following sets of areas:
* rotating among Africa, Middle East and South Asia, South East Asia and the Pacific
* rotating among Middle East and South Asia, South East Asia and the Pacific, Far East.
The 35 members for the period 2023–2024 are: Algeria, Armenia, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, the Republic of Korea, Namibia, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Qatar, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Uruguay and Ukraine.

## Historic compositions of the Board

The following countries were included in the first five compositions of the Board:
| Year | Ten Most Advanced | Three Additional | Continuing members | Elected by the General Conference |
| 1957 | - | - | - | Argentina Australia Brazil Canada Czechoslovakia France Guatemala India Indonesia Italy Japan South Korea Pakistan Peru Portugal Romania Sweden Turkey South Africa USSR United Arab Republic United Kingdom United States |
| 1958 | Australia Brazil Canada France India Japan South Africa USSR United Kingdom United States | Belgium Denmark Poland | Argentina South Korea Pakistan Romania Turkey | Netherlands United Arab Republic Indonesia Venezuela Peru |
| 1959 | as above | Czechoslovakia Norway Portugal | Netherlands United Arab Republic Indonesia Venezuela Peru | Bulgaria Ceylon Philippines Mexico Spain |
| 1960 | as above | Belgium Finland Poland | Bulgaria Ceylon Philippines Mexico Spain | Iraq Thailand Argentina El Salvador West Germany |
| 1961 | as above | Czechoslovakia Portugal Sweden | Iraq Thailand Argentina El Salvador West Germany | Hungary Pakistan Viet Nam Colombia Greece |

## List of Chairs

| Name | Nationality | Term | Duration |
| HE Mr Ivo Sramek | Czech | 3 October 2022 – 2 October 2023 | 364 days |
| HE Mr Holger Federico Martinsen | Argentine | 2 October 2023 – present | 361 days |

## List of Vice-Chairs

| Name | Nationality | Term | Duration |
| HE Mr Eoin O'Leary | Irish | 3 October 2022 – 2 October 2023 | 364 days |
| HE Mr Carlos Sérgio Sobral Duarte | Brazilian | 3 October 2022 – 2 October 2023 | 364 days |
| HE Ms Emilia Kraleva | Bulgarian | 2 October 2023 – present | 361 days |
| HE Mr Peter Potman | Argentine | 2 October 2023 – present | 361 days |