FAO and OIE to boost great cooperation on common actions

3 October 2019, Rome – FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu met today with Dr Monique Eloit, Director General of the World Organization for Animal Health (OiE), to discuss the longstanding collaboration between the two organizations, which has proved its efficiency in the prevention and control of numerous animal diseases worldwide, and the importance of the work they do for Member Countries.
OIE and FAO are complementary agencies with common goals; the World Organization for Animal Health focuses more on standard setting while the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is very involved in the implementation of programmes on the ground. They agreed to pursue the existing synergy and cooperation and to reinforce their partnership.

The parties highlighted a series of successful joint platforms of work such as the FAO/OIE/WHO Tripartite Agreement, laid down in 2010, which aims to yield more robust, effective and cost-efficient solutions to the complex problems facing the world today. The Tripartite Agreement reaffirms their commitment to provide multi-sectoral, collaborative leadership in addressing health challenges.
They also discussed the harmful impacts of animal diseases on human health and on food security and nutrition.

Dr Monique Eloit congratulated the FAO Director-General on the new Hand-in-Hand initiative, which prioritizes targeted work that benefits people in the world’s most vulnerable regions, and outlined the support of OIE as a partner in relevant areas.