Training OIE communication focal points (cycle I) English

The first cycle of regional training seminars for OIE focal points for veterinary communication came to a close in Bamburi Beach, Mombasa on Thursday, 29 September 2016. A total of 25 English-speaking participants including OIE National Veterinary Communication Focal Points, Directors of Veterinary Services (OIE Delegates) and observers from African countries attended the meeting. The countries represented at the training seminar hailed from Botswana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

The training seminar, convened by the OIE in collaboration with the Government of Kenya, was financially supported by the European Union (EU) and was enriched with an observer from the AU Interafrican Bureau of Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), and with expert trainers in health-related (risk) communication from the World Health Organization (WHO) including Ms. Laura Ngo-Fontaine and Ms. Pippa Haughton. The OIE trainers consisted of Dr. Catherine Bertrand-Ferrandis, head of the OIE Communication Unit, and Ms. Valerie Vouligny, OIE Consultant.
The seminar was conducted over a three day period, including a half-day celebration of World Rabies Day (WRD) on 28 September, the theme of which (i.e. rabies) was integrated into the training programme. Overall the training covered three main themes namely; “standards, communication approaches and risk communication”, “putting lessons learnt to the test: raising awareness”, and “crisis management and dealing with the (social) media”.

The opening ceremony was presided over by Kenya’s Deputy-Principal Secretary in charge of Livestock in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MoALF), Dr Kisa Ngeiywa, Director of Veterinary Services (and OIE Delegate of Kenya), Mr Stephen Wathome, Rural Development Officer of the EU Delegation to the Republic of Kenya, as well as Dr Walter Masiga, Representative of the OIE Sub-Regional Representation for Eastern Africa and the Horn of Africa.

The general objective of the seminar was to provide the national focal points in charge of veterinary communication with all the necessary information to enable them support their national OIE Delegates in the field of communication, in line with their Terms of Reference as well as Chapter 3.3 of the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code. The agenda of the seminar was therefore specifically developed to train these focal points on the management of national communication systems and of operational communication campaigns, in line with OIE standards.

In order to engage the participants and to strengthen the learning process, the seminar was conducted following the guidance of the OIE Communication Handbook for Veterinary Services, developed in 2015 in collaboration with WHO, which was used as basis of the methodology used in the seminar. The sessions were interactive, both through the numerous exercises to be completed by the participants, organised in several working groups, and by the use of the modern communication tools (pre-course WebEx session and on-line questionnaire, exercises based on internet-based research, photo bank, etc).

The next training seminar for French-speaking communication focal points in Africa will take place in Bamako, Mali, from 11 – 13 October 2016.