© 2018 AU-IBAR. Opening Speech of The Director of AU-IBAR during The Experts Meetings For VEES, VSBS, Womens’ Network and Training for Youth Network Members, 23 to 24 July 2018, Cairo, Egypt.From 23^rd to 24^th July 2018, Cairo, Egypt.
Opening Speech of The Director of AU-IBAR.

• Representatives of the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt
• Deans of Veterinary Education Establishments
• Heads and Representatives of Veterinary Statutory Bodies
• The Chief Executive of the African Agribusiness Incubators Network (AAIN), Dr. Alex Ariho
• Representatives of Continental, Regional and National Networks for Women
• Members of the African Women in Animal Resources Farming and Agribusiness Network (AWARFA-N)
• Youth engaged in Livestock, Fisheries and Aquaculture value chains
• Colleagues from AU-IBAR
• Ladies and Gentlemen
• Good Morning

On behalf of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E Moussa Mahamat Faki and the Commissioner of Rural Economy and Agriculture, H.E. Sacko Josefa Leonel Correa and on my own behalf, I welcome you to participate in the expert meetings and trainings namely:

1. Experts’ Meeting for the African Association of Veterinary Education Establishments (2A2E-V)
2. Experts’ Meeting for the Association of African Veterinary Statutory Bodies (2AVSB)
3. Experts’ Meeting for the African Women in Animal Resources Farming and Agribusiness Network (AWARFA-N) and
4. Business incubation management training for members of the African Youth in Livestock, Fisheries and Aquaculture Incubators Network (AYL-FAIN).

I am really grateful to all of you for your commitments since we started this journey in July 2017 in Dakar Senegal and also for making time to attend these events.

© 2018 AU-IBAR. Expert Review Meeting on Findings of the Verifcation Missions to Short-Listed Institutions for Selection as African Centres of Excellence in Fisheries and Aquaculture; 29-30 May 2018, AU-IBAR Office Nairobi, Kenya.In accordance with the ongoing process for the selection of reputable institutions as Centres of Excellence in Fisheries and Aquaculture in Africa, AU-IBAR organized a series of verification missions to the short listed Institutions in Nigeria, Malawi, Egypt and South Africa for the experts assessment for their selection as African Centres of Excellence in Fisheries and Aquaculture.

Against this background an Expert Review Meeting on Findings of The Verification Missions to Short-Listed Institutions for Selection as African Centres of Excellence in Fisheries and Aquaculture was organised by the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) within the provisions of the Fisheries Governance Project with support from European Union. The meeting was held from the 29^th to 30^th of May, 2018 at AU-IBAR offices in Nairobi, Kenya as a follow-up to the recommendation of the Planning Meeting for Experts Verification Mission, held in March, 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya.

The main objectives of this Experts Review meeting were to undertake a detailed technical review of the findings by the Expert Mission, for informed decision making on selection of the institutions that were assessed by the experts; and to propose appropriate recommendations on the way forward.

The meeting was attended by 8 Experts from AquaEco, South Africa; University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; WAFICOS, Uganda; University of Zambia; ‎Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana; Alexandria University, Egypt; University of Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone; a retired Director of AU-IBAR Dr. Modibo Traore as the Technical Team Leader of the Verification Mission and relevant staff from AU-IBAR.

© 2018 AU-IBAR. AU-IBAR Convenes 9th Panafrican National Codex Contact Point Officers Meeting on Africa’s Coordinated Position on Codex Standards; Nairobi – Kenya 17 to 18 May 2018.The 10^th Pan African meeting of Africa’s National Codex Contact Point Officers to develop coordinated position on Codex standards was held from 17^th to 18^th May 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting was officially opened by Prof. Ahmed Elsawalhy, Director of AU-IBAR. There were opening remarks from Dr. Maritim Kimutai, Chairperson of FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Africa (CCAFRICA) and Mr. Sebasteien Goux, Deputy Head of Unit on Multilateral International Relations of the European Union.

The meeting was co-chaired by Mr. John Oppong-Otoo, Food Safety Officer, at AU-IBAR and Dr. Maritim Kimutai. Delegates from 41 African Union Member States, and Representative from ECOWAS, EU attended the meeting. During the meeting, reports and draft standards from 8 Codex committees were reviewed by participants.

The meeting led to the adoption of African common positions on draft Codex standards scheduled for adoption at the 41^st Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission which will be held in Rome, Italy from the 2^nd to 6^th July 2018.

Other issues discussed during the meeting included:

• Africa’s participation in Codex electronic working groups
• The Codex Trust Fund and
• Data Generation to support Codex work

© 2018 AU-IBAR. Ethics Training Certificate Handover.The African Union mandatory ethics training of staff on the African Union Code of Ethics and Conduct; and harassment Policy; and , Anti-fraud and Corruption Policy was conducted for AU-IBAR Staff Members from 14^th to 15^th May 2018 at the AU-IBAR conference room, Nairobi, Kenya.

The training session for the year 2018 was kick started at AU-IBAR and was attended by all AU-IBAR staff members. The major topics covered during the training include:

• The African Union Code of Ethics and Conduct.
• The African Union Harassment Policy.
• The African Union Anti-corruption and Fraud policy.