On 6 June 2012 AU-IBAR conducted the first Steering Committee Meeting of the newly launched Reinforcing Veterinary Governance in Africa (VET-GOV) programme. The event took place at the Naura Springs Hotel in Arusha, Tanzania under the auspices of the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat.

Chaired by The AU Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture H.E. Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, the meeting was also attended by the Principal Agricultural Economist of the EAC Dr Moses Marwa.

The Steering Committee reviewed its terms of reference, the Programme's Work Plan and the progress so far made by the three implementation partners, AU-IBAR, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). Also discussed was the monitoring & evaluation framework as well as the financial management plan.

Participants of the First VET-GOV Steering Committee Meeting Arusha, Tanzania, 6th June 2012

The meeting charged AU-IBAR and FAO with the responsibility of looking into modalities of baseline data collection and the provision of support to regional networks. The meeting resolved to explore the possibility of interoperability between the implementing partners' respective information systems. The meeting also resolved to speed up the completion of staff recruitment. The OIE will also clarify the role of The Global Framework for Progressive Control of Transboundary Animal Diseases (GF-TADs) in the VET-GOV programme during the second steering committee meeting to be hosted by the COMESA secretariat in November 2012. The modalities for the finalization of the EAC livestock policy will be jointly spearheaded by AU-IBAR and FAO.

VET-GOV is a five-year programme that aims to improve the institutional capacity of veterinary services at national and regional levels to provide effective and efficient animal health services in Africa. It is funded by the European Union to the tune of 31.2 million Euros.