AU/IBAR - In the News |
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| News Archives - 2009 |
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| ALive Secretariat plans presented |
| Gaborone, 9 November 2009 - The Fourteenth Executive Committee of ALive has met at President Hotel to evaluate the first triennial action plan 2004-2007 as well as present the 2009-2012 action plans. The meeting saw the annual action plan for the ALive secretariat currently hosted at AU-IBAR also presented. It brought together members of the four caucuses of key actors in the livestock sector; African Institutions, Knowledge, Donors and the Civil Society. |
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Hon De Graaf, Minister for Agriculture, Botswana (6th right) with the 14th Executive Committe of ALive at President Hotel, Gaborone. To his right is Prof. Ahmed El-Sawalhy, Director AU-IBAR |
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| Journal on animal health and production to get face lift |
Nairobi, 2 November 2009 - The editorial board of the Bulletin of Animal Health and Production in Africa (BAHPA), an IBAR publication, meets to discuss the scope and aim of the journal as well as revise the authors guidelines and manuscript submission procedures. The board will review the editorial process of the journal, revise the criteria for reviewers and address the mechanisms for enhancing its distribution, visibility and international prominence.
More on the bulletin  |
Members of the BAHPA
editorial
board when
they
recently met at
AU-IBAR , Nairobi |
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| Rinderpest contingency plan for the Somali ecosystem in the offing |
| Lamu, 29 October 2009 - An operational contingency plan for rinderpest is of utmost importance considering that countries in the Somali ecosystem SES, once believed to harbour the last foci of rinderpest, have their plans at different stages of development. This issue came up at the eighth crossborder technical harmonisation meeting organised under the Somali Ecosystem Rinderpest Eradication Coordination Unit SERECU project to review the progress in the implementation of activities and harmonize the three country work plans for the next quarter. An ad-hoc committee with participants drawn from the SES countries of Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya was therefore established to develop a roadmap towards a regional field simulation of rinderpest within the SES. Other participants at the two-day meeting were from FAO-GREP, the European Commission, Kenya Wildlife Service and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute-Muguga. |
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Dr George Njogu, epidemiologist with the
Ministry of Livestock Development Kenya, takes the participants through an update of the country's rinderpest surveillance |
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| Boost for Somalia livestock health trade and marketing |
Nairobi, 13 October 2009 - The European Commission (EC) and AU-IBAR have launched the Livestock Emergency Intervention to Mitigate the Food Crisis in Somalia (LEISOM) project in a bid to reduce the negative effects of soaring food prices on Somali pastoralists and agro-pastoralists.
Targeting a quarter of a million households country-wide, this project is part of the European Union (EU) Food Facility, a two year global initiative that provides an overall budget of 1 billion Euro for rapid response to soaring food prices in developing countries.
PRESS RELEASE English | Somali |
| Countries to lose funds due to implementation delays |
| Nairobi, 12 October 2009 - Countries have been urged to speed up implementation of their avian influenza activities under the SPINAP programme. Prof. Ahmed El-Sawalhy, Director IBAR was addressing a workshop attended by Directors of Veteriary Services, national programme coordinators and national public health personnel in charge of avian influenza from thirteen countries in the Eastern Africa region.In a speech read on his behalf by Mr. Stanley Kenani Finance and Administration Officer AU-IBAR, he said that funds would be reallocated to countries depending on their rate of implementation. |
| Asst. Minister for Livestock Development Kenya Hon. A. Duale (second left) addresses the SPINAP implementation revew workshop flanked by Dr Samuel Muriuki and Mr Stanley Kenani of AU-IBAR. At right is Dr Peter Ithondeka, Director of Veterinary Services Kenya |
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| For the Somali ecosystem, drought is 'the new plague' |
| Masalani, 2 October 2009 - The drought situation currently being experienced in the Somali ecosystem has been aggravated by the trypanosomiasis menace and resulted in massive loss of livestock. This was said by a former local council chairman in Ijara district of Kenya while addressing a meeting of local leaders and elders. Organised by the local District Veterinary Officer, the meeting discussed the impact of rinderpest eradication on the lives of pastoralists. The AU-IBAR delegation led by Dr Walter Masiga was told by the elderly pastoralists who experienced the epidemic in their youth, that the disease had not been seen in those parts for the last twenty years. |
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Mr Bashir Dagane, a local politician (left) pleads for assistance in dealing with drought and tsetse. With him is Mr. Mohamed Marahende (centre) and Amir Abdi, Animal Health Assistant and translator (right) |
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| Livestock tops priority list for Cameroon |
| Yaoundé, 28 September 2009 - The livestock and fisheries sector, just like agriculture and energy, ranks very high in the list of priorities for the Cameroonian government. The Minister incharge of livestock and fisheries development Dr. Aboubakar Sarki pointed this out at the third edition of the African Veterinary Congress. This three-day scietific and professional exhibition themed 'The the role of the veterinarian in sustainable development and environmental protection', brought together veterinary doctors from the continent and beyond, international development partners as well as players in animal health, animal production and fisheries. |
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Dr. Sarki, Minister for Livestock and Fisheries is taken through the AU-IBAR exhibition by Dr Simplice Nouala (left) Dr Samuel Muriuki (partially hidden) at the opening of the congress |
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| Sleeping sickness still a challenge for Uganda |
Kampala, 25 September 2009 -
Acute and chronic forms of sleeping sickness have continued spreading as a result of increased human and cattle movements in north eastern Uganda. This is according to the Minister of Primary Health Care Hon. James Kakooza at the closing of a week-long scientific conference. This 30th meeting of the International Scientific Council for Trypanosomiasis Research and Control (ISCTRC) marked 60 years since the innaugural one held in London 1949. The biennial conference is an information exchange, planning and coordination forum for Member States, researchers as well as field and control workers.
Read communiqué |
| Rinderpest eradication in Africa - the real story |
| Kajiado, 18 September 2009 - The complete story behind the eradication of rinderpest in Africa will soon be available on our book shelves. This will be made possible through the efforts of Dr Walter Masiga under the auspices of AU-IBAR's rinderpest eradication project SERECU. The book will document Africa's contribution in the fight against the dreaded livestock disease in Africa. |
Dr Masiga (left) with local
village elders from Ildamat location in Kajiado/Kenya
as they share personal experiences of rinderpest. With him is Dr Mboya Burudi
(taking notes) and Ildamat chief Jonathan ole Nangari |
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| Avian influenza communication activities to increase |
| Dakar, 31 August 2009 - Senegal hosted twelve West African countries and 33 participants in the last instalment of a series of SPINAP communication training workshops. Over the last one month, a total of 116 participants drawn from 42 African countries have been trained in developing and revising their national communication strategies. This will see an upsurge in communications activities on avian influenza at the national level. A second series of ToT training for trainers workshops will be conducted in November 2009. |
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Dr Baba Sall (centre) SPINAP coordinator Senegal and host delivers the closing address. At left Dr Oumou Sangare of AU/IBAR and Dr Atchade from Benin |
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| African health and livestock ministries in a show of unity |
| Bamako, 24 August 2009 - The first batch of eight West African countries converged at the Olympe hotel to revise their communication plans and draft prototype materials and messages. This workshop under the avian influenza programme SPINAP, is the third in a series of four planned workshops. It brought together 21 participants drawn from the health and livestock ministries in an effort to forge synergies in communication at the national level. |
Dr Oumou Sangare, centre, RAHC Coordinator for
W. Africa makes opening remarks.
Wth her is Nicholas Dondi, Consultant SPINAP (left) and
Dr Y. Samake, OIE representative |
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| One-in-five African countries plagued by pandemic |
Addis Ababa, 18 August 2009 - Approximately twenty percent of African Union's Member States have already been affected by the influenza pandemic. This is according to Ambassador John Kayonde Shinkaiye, AUC Chief of Staff, during the official opening of a Pan African Technical Workshop on Avian and Human Influenza.
Concept note | Draft agenda | Opening speech |
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Participants at the four-day Pan African workshop with the theme "Bridging gaps to sustain and broaden gains in HPAI prevention and control in Africa" |
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| SADC countries polish up communication strategies |
| Gaborone, 11 August 2009 - This week saw the gathering of twenty five participants drawn from nine countries in the SADC region, the second in a series of four communication training workshops held across the continent. Conducted under the SPINAP programme, the workshops will help develop and strengthen the countries' communication strategies in the face of the threat of HPAI pandemic. |
| Prof. El-Sawalhy, Director AU/IBAR (centre), Dr Wanda, SPINAP Coordinator Southern African (left) and Dr Baboucarr Jaw, Coordinator RAHC are briefed on the workshop proceedings |
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| Regional universities to improve veterinary curricula |
Nairobi, 6 August 2009 - Veterinary institutions of higher learning from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Sudan will from now henceforth include participatory epidemiology as part of their curriculum. This approach was recommended at the end of a 3-day workshop to discuss the role of participatory epidemiology in livestock disease surveillance held at AU-IBAR under the USAID-funded Early Detection, Reporting and Surveillance - Avian Influenza in Africa project.
Concept note | Recommendations |
| African countries develop communication plans |
| Nairobi, 4 August 2009 - Thirty seven participants drawn from thriteen countries in the Eastern Africa region as well as the Anglophone West Africa gathered in Nairobi under the auspices of the 47-country avian influenza programme SPINAP for a week-long workshop to develop and revise their national communication strategies. |
Participants at the innaugural
SPINAP communication workshop that was
officially opened by
Prof. Ahmed El-Sawalhy,
Director AU/IBAR |
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| International standard setting organisations demystified |
Nairobi, 23 July 2009 - There is a there is real need to fully understand the mechanisms of International Standard Setting Organisations (ISSOs). According to Prof. Ahmed El-Sawalhy, Director AU-IBAR during the official opening of a training-for-trainers workshop for African experts in sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) issues, skills and capacities need to be strengthened for better participation of African nations in the activities of organizations mandated by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to set SPS standards.
Read more |
| Forty-sixth Africa Day celebrated |
| Nairobi, 25 May 2009 - The establishment of the Organization of African Unity - African Union's predecessor in 1963 was commemorated at the Algerian Embassy in Nairobi. With the theme "Towards a united, peaceful and prosperous Africa", the celebrations showcased cultural exhibitions by Algeria and Sudan as well as project displays by IBAR. The AU Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture Mme. Tumusiime Rhoda Peace delivered a speech on behalf of the AUC Chairperson H.E. Jean Ping. |
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H.E Hon. Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka, EGH, MP, Vice President of the Republic of Kenya in discussions with the AU Commissioner Mme Peace, right. The VP delivered the keynote address at the 46th Africa Day commemoration. |
| AU commits to sustainable fisheries management in Africa |
| Mombasa, 11 May 2009 - The African Union has reiterated its commitment at the highest levels to the development of the fisheries sector in Africa. The AU chairs the Regional Advisory Committee of the US$ 60 million Strategic Partnership Fisheries Investment Fund, a new initiative funded by the World Bank through the Global Environmental Facility to address the issues of the large marine ecosystems of Sub-Sahara Africa. |
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Participants at the RAC meeting officially opened by Hon. A. M. Abu Chiaba, Assistant Minister for Fisheries Development, Kenya (seated third-right) |
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| Africa countries seek a common stand on international animal health standards |
| Nairobi, 5 May 2009 - In readiness for the OIE -World Animal Health Organization general session later this month, African Chief Veterinary Officers convened to prepare the African delegates to build a coordinated position on animal health standards. Based on a scientific approach and considering the peculiarities of Africa, this concensus will ensure that Africa speaks with one voice. Read more |
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Chief Veterinary Officers from across the continent at the concensus workshop in Nairobi |
| AUC structure under review |
Nairobi, 9 April 2009 – H.E. Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chaiperson AUC, has said that they are looking at ways of restructuring AUC offices including conditions of service for staff. During an official visit to IBAR, Mwencha said the AUC would in July this year develop a new harmonized structure for its various offices.
Draft report on the visit |
| H.E. Mwencha adresses AU/IBAR staff. Looking on is Dr El-Sawalhy Director
IBAR, left, and Dr Akinbamijo Animal Production Officer IBAR |
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| EC health chief on partnership with IBAR |
| Nairobi, 8 April 2009 - The EC came calling at AU/IBAR with the visit of Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Health at the European Commission, undelining the importance of the EC-IBAR partnership. Areas addressed included current EC-funded projects and possible future cooperation between the two partners. |
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H.E. Vassiliou, right, is welcomed to AU/IBAR by H.E. Tumusiime, Commissioner DREA. At left is H.E. Eric van der Linden, Head EC Kenya Delegation |
| Livestock export trade from the Horn of Africa supported |
Nairobi, 3 April 2009 - Issues of stabilization and expansion of regional export markets for livestock and animal origin products from the Horn of Africa nations were raised at a 5-day workshop that addressed increasing transparency in trade with the Arabian Peninsula and Middle East, specifically to enhance the food security of pastoral communities.
Press communiqué |
| Participants at the workshop that was officially opened by Hon. Aden Duale, Assistant Minister for Livestock Development Kenya |
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| SERECU communications workshop series |
| Garissa, 16 March 2009 - SERECU trains district animal health workers for upcoming awareness activity. |
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Workshop participants
from Somalia surveying knowledge about rinderpest in Garissa/Kenya |
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| ALive Partnership coming to Africa |
Nairobi, 12 March 2009 – The 4th General Assembly of the Partnership for Livestock Development, Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Development ALive officially transfers the partnership’s secretariat to AU/IBAR Nairobi.
Press release |
The 4th General Assembly of ALive chaired by
H.E. Rhoda Peace Tumusiime Commissioner DREA
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| One World One Health strategy upheld by GF-TADs |
| Nairobi, 10 March 2009 - The fourth steering committe of the Global Famework for the progressive control of Transboundary Animal Diseases was held at AU/IBAR offices. The meeting resolved to support and advocate for the One World One Health strategy for more appropriation at country and regional levels. This would be done through organising a specific session at the next inter-ministerial conference of the AU ministers in charge of livestock and all possible tribunes and meetings organised by AU/IBAR, regional economic communities and international organisations. |
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Dr. Daniel Bouzart
representative OIE
gives his opening
remarks |
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| Enhancing Africa's involvement in SPS |
| Nairobi, 4 February 2009 - The programme aiming to facilitate more effective African participation in international sanitary and phytosanitary standard-setting organisations convened its first steering committee at AU/IBAR in Nairobi. |
| H.E. Rhoda Peace Tumusiime Commissioner DREA, Peter Sturesson EC delegation and Samuel Jutzi Director FAO r. at the SPS meeting |
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| France seconds agricultural engineer to AU/IBAR |
| Nairobi, 29 January 2009 - France renews its commitment to African livestock development by sending another technical advisor to AU/IBAR. |
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H.E. Elisabeth Barbier at the signing ceremony with Dr Ahmed El-Sawalhy Director AU/IBAR |
| Action plans for surveillance and control of FMD in Africa |
| Nairobi, 26 January 2009 - Foot and mouth disease is a priority disease for prevention and control given the massive burden both for poor livestock producers and international traders. AU/IBAR, FAO, OIE and the ALive platform jointly organise a workshop at the AU/IBAR offices in Nairobi 26-30 January 2009 to discuss strategic approaches to combat the disease. |
| Gideon Bruckner OIE Deputy Director General r. addresses the FMD workshop |
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| Another high level visit from Brussels |
| Nairobi, 21 January 2009 - The European Development Fund Director Gary Quince visited the AU/IBAR offices to discuss details of future cooperation between the two institutions. |
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Gary Quince, Peter Sturesson of EC Delegation, Dr Ahmed El-Sawalhy Director AU/IBAR with senior AU/IBAR staff |
| News Archives 2008 |
