The regional workshop on ‘Strengthening capacity to respond to disease emergencies in the Middle East’’ was jointly organized by FAO regional office for Near East and North Africa and the FAO Crisis Management Centre for Animal Health (CMC-AH) in collaboration with the FAO office in Amman, Jordan. The workshop took place at Landmark hotel in Amman from 25th to 27th November 2013.

Fourteen (14) veterinary officers from the Veterinary Services of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan and Yemen involved in disease control attended the workshop. Also in attendance were two representatives of APHIS-USDA. The FAO team comprised of three technical experts (two from FAO-AGAH and one from FAO-RNE) and one operations officer from CMC-AH. In addition, a Fulbright visiting Professor at Jordan University of Science and Technology and one International Consultant for FAO in Lebanon attended the workshop.

The aim of the workshop is to present to the participants the FAO’s Good Emergency Management Practice (GEMP) manual and its application in the event of disease emergencies. The GEMP is a set of concepts and principles whose objective is to provide a tool to improve national and regional capacities for effective control and management of emergencies. The guide also provides a systematic approach to preparedness of animal disease emergencies. The workshop was officially opened by the Secretary General of the Jordanian Ministry of Agriculture and Deputy Minister Dr. Radi AL-Tarawneh. Mr. Andrea Berloffa, the acting FAO Representative in Jordan, also delivered his remarks by thanking Jordan for hosting this workshop.