 I warmly welcome all participants to this virtual side event at the 2020 General Conference of the IAEA. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to adopt innovative working arrangements, including new formats for online meetings such as this. But it has not affected the IAEA's resolve to continue supporting member states in every way possible. Through IAEA safeguards, verifying that states use nuclear material and technology only for peaceful purposes is of course one of the key pillars of our work. State or regional authorities and state systems of accounting for and control of nuclear materials have an essential role to play in this regard. In fact, SRAs and SACs are much more than a set of regulatory, technical and administrative arrangements. They are the interface between the state and the IAEA on all safeguards implementation matters. The performance of SRAs and SACs has a direct impact upon the effectiveness and the efficiency of safeguards implementation. This is why I have decided to introduce a new initiative to help states further strengthen the effectiveness of their SRAs and SACs. Building on existing capacity development programs, this initiative will identify areas of cooperation and offer additional tailor-made assistance and please to announce that several states will participate in the first phase of implementation. Upon successful completion of the pilot phase, this initiative will be made available to many more states. Today, I am pleased to officially launch the IAEA Comprehensive Capacity Building Initiative for SACs and SRAs. I am confident that this important new service of the IAEA will help to strengthen our contribution to international peace and security. I wish you all a productive and enjoyable general conference. Thank you.