IGAD Member States to Embark on Extensive Awareness Programmes on Disease Reporting and Livestock Identification and Traceability
© 2015 AU-IBAR. Group Photo of the IGAD Member States Representatives.Representatives of the IGAD Member States expressed their commitment to rollout continuous awareness programmes in their respective countries to accelerate the establishment and implementation of national Animal Disease Surveillance and Livestock Identification and Traceability System (LITS).
At a regional awareness and message validation workshop, held on August 13th and 14th, 2015 at AU-IBAR, Nairobi, Kenya, National Focal Points of the STSD Project and Communication Experts from the IGAD Member States expressed their readiness to create awareness on the fact that disease surveillance and LITS are the critical factors to enhance regional trade and maximise livelihoods services. They reiterated that the awareness and sensitisation programmes are instrumental to bring policy makers and the grassroots on board to ensure utmost support and coordination in the implementations of the systems.
Highlighting the vital role the awareness porogarmme constitutes in the STSD Project, Professor Ahmed Elsawalhy, Director of AU-IBAR, underscored that the support and cooperation of all stakeholders are critical to achieve a robust disease reporting and animal identification and traceability systems in the IGAD Member States. To realise this, Professor Elsawalhy noted, a targeted awareness programme to these stakeholders is vital during project implementation.