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- In the context of AFRA, the Regional Designated Centre (RDC) can be defined as an established African institution able to provide multi-national services on the basis of the AFRA Agreement and for which the IAEA and donor support may be sought within the context of approved programmes;
- An AFRA RDC should be legally established in the host country by means of a formal instrument which defines its responsibilities as well as the legal status, and the administrative and financial matters. This legal instrument should also define the responsible body for the maintenance and for the activities of the Centre;
- The main considerations in defining the legal framework of the AFRA RDC should provide for its management and funding by the host AFRA country. Additional factors to be taken into account will vary from one Centre to another, e.g., objectives, location of headquarters, structure of governing body, etc., but the basic legal conditions should in every case be the same in order to avoid the multiplication of legal frameworks and conditions;
- For the AFRA beneficiary countries, the RDC is a provider of services in a particular field of expertise under commonly agreed conditions using the AFRA Agreement as the legal framework to govern the provision of these services. This means that all stipulations stated in the AFRA Agreement and in the AFRA Guidelines and Operational Modalities shall apply - in particular, the AFRA and IAEA “Host Arrangements” of AFRA meetings and training events. Similarly, the AFRA arrangement regarding the remunerations of AFRA experts and lecturers remains valid. The management of AFRA RDCs may need to negotiate with the AFRA-PMC and with the IAEA additional administrative, financial and legal arrangements in accordance with their internal regulations and imperatives. However, any deviation from the AFRA agreed arrangements should be brought to the attention of the AFRA Member States for final decisions;
- RDCs have three features for which they are favoured and of which they should take maximum advantage: (1) the compatibility of interest of the participating countries, (2) the scale economy of its activities, and (3) the multiplier effect of its outputs. It should be strongly oriented toward producing a concrete and practical impact, as expeditiously as practical, in high priority areas where the resources of national institutions in the field are incomplete or inadequate, offer widely accepted services; and should exercise recognized leadership in its field of specialization.
