A workshop validates alignment of the national peste des petits control and eradication initiative with the regional and global strategy
In collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Ethiopian Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries (MoLF) conducted a national workshop to validate the national peste des petits ruminants (PPR) control and eradication strategy that aims to align the national PPR control and eradication initiatives with the regional and global strategy.
Her Excellency Mesrak Mokonnen, the State Minister for Animal Health and Feed Quality Control, officially opened the workshop, after the welcoming notes by Dr Yismashewa Wogayehu, Director of Epidemiology at MOLF. In her opening speech, the State Minister underlined the need for a nationwide collaborative effort towards PPR control and eradication. The state minister further acknowledged the financial and technical supports being rendered by the European Union and FAO respectively.
A diverse group of professionals from regional veterinary laboratories, National Animal Health and Diagnostic Investigation Centre (NAHDIC), National Veterinary Institute, MOLF Directorates, INGOs and ILRI attended the workshop.
Representing IGAD/ICPALD, Agol Kwai presented a brief update on the regional strategy for the eradication of PPR and its alignment with the global strategy. He underlined that Ethiopia is somehow ahead of other countries in the region by implementing the EU-SHARE program and acknowledged the successful efforts being made by Ethiopia to control and PPR and improve animal health services in general. He further appreciated the country’s commitment to eradicate PPR by 2025 (revised after self-assessment) that fits the global PPR eradication plan by 2030.
Gijs van’t Klooster, FAO team leader of the EU-funded Pursuing Pastoralist Resilience (PPR) project based in MoLF, shared the overview of PPR in Ethiopia, national control efforts made so far and way forward. The presentations by MoLF on the Ethiopian strategy for control and eradication of PPR provided participants an insight and basis for brainstorming and group discussions to further enrich the national PPR strategy document and align it with the regional and global strategies.
The workshop participants contributed to the aligned strategy during the group discussions, through mapping of potential stakeholders to be involved in the national PPR control and eradication strategy, their roles and responsibilities, likeliness of active disease occurrence in the highland areas, effective PPR eradication approaches to be used at regional level and additional requirements from technical and managerial point of view to successfully implement the strategy as per the timeline set by the country.
Finally, based on the outputs of group discussions, Dr Yismashewa announced the formation of a national PPR steering committee that oversees all aspects of the national PPR progressive control and eradication effort. He pinpointed that the committee will spearhead, coordinate and harmonise PPR control and eradication efforts at national level and monitor its overall progress.
Yismashewa, during his closing remarks, extended his gratitude to the participants for their relentless efforts and wished the newly established PPR eradication national steering committee success in leading the national efforts towards eradication of PPR by 2027. To this end, he expressed the ministry’s commitment to implement the national PPR eradication strategy following the agreed upon timeline, which is well within the global timeframe set by FAO/OIE.
For further information, please contact:
Zena Afework Demissie, National Consultant - Veterinary Extension (FRETH), FAO Ethiopia
Tel: +251912082549
E-mail:[email protected]