The African Union Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resource (AU-IBAR), in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture in the Kingdom of Swaziland brought together the Working groups responsible for the development and drafting of the Communication & Advocacy Strategy, Veterinary/Livestock Legislation review and Livestock Policy formulation in Swaziland.
The official commissioning of Working Groups was conducted by the representative of the Director and Head of Mission of the AU-IBAR together with the Programme on Reinforcing Veterinary Governance in Africa (Vet-Gov) Regional Coordinator (SADC) at Ezulwini on the 23rd September, 2016.
National Action Plans (NAPs) in the Kingdom of Swaziland which had been identified earlier by the National Livestock Policy Hub (NLPH) were to ;
- Develop a Communication and Advocacy Strategy for Improved Delivery of Veterinary & Livestock Services in Swaziland
- Review and Update the Livestock Policy & Veterinary/Livestock Legislation
Over a two day period (12th - 13th December, 2016) a Validation Workshop was held at the Bethel Court Hotel to review the developed Livestock Policy, Communication & Advocacy Strategy and Reviewed Legislation draft documents. These draft documents will be subjected further to a wider audience for validation after the festive season before being submitted to Cabinet.
On behalf of the Principal Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, the Director of Livestock Services thanked AU-IBAR and commended the Working group members for a job well done. The Kingdom of Swaziland has now a newly developed Livestock Policy (replacing that of June 1985), Communication and Advocacy Strategy (new) and Reviewed Veterinary Legislation. He further commended the review process adopted in Swaziland which culminated in developing a critical mass of experts capable of reviewing and drafting its own Veterinary legislation and policies.