The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) serves as the world's foremost intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation in the peaceful use of atomic energy. Established as an autonomous organization under the United Nations (UN) in 1957, the IAEA represents the culmination of international efforts to make a reality of US President Eisenhower's proposal in his Atoms for Peace speech before the UN General Assembly in 1953. He envisioned the creation of an international body to control and develop the use of atomic energy. Today, the Agency's broad spectrum of services, programmes, and activities is based on the needs of its 136 Member States. The IAEA Technical Co-operation Programme (TC): The Agency's Technical Co-operation Programme is developed jointly by the Secretariat and the Member States. It is based on an assessment of the development priorities and conditions in each specific country or region, the project requests received from Member States, the application of appropriate criteria for project formulation, appraisal and formal approval by the IAEA Board of Governors. The programme also includes regional and interregional projects that are developed to improve the efficiency of implementation or to better utilize the collective experience and resources of multiple Member States. The TC Programme comprises: - national projects (also known as country projects), - regional projects, and - interregional projects. Projects may comprise one or more of the following components: experts, equipment and materials, fellowships and scientific visits, training courses, meetings/workshops and sub-contracts.