World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Sub-Regional Representation for North Africa was established in 2009 and inaugurated in January 2010. Activities of the Sub-Regional Representation fall within the 5th Strategic Plan. These include the following activities:
- Assist member countries in the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) region:
– To comply with international standards in the field of animal health and animal welfare, including the WTO SPS Agreement;
– To improve governance and Performance of Veterinary Services ( PVS Pathway: PVS evaluations, gap analysis, roundtables donors, veterinary legislation update etc.);
- Provide technical support to Member Countries in the AMU region and policy advice in the field of animal health and animal welfare to strengthen veterinary services involvement in animal health, veterinary public health and animal welfare policy design and governance;
- Develop and implement capacity-building programs (training, seminars) for national veterinary services of Member Countries in the AMU Region through support to OIE Permanent Delegates and National Focal Points;
- Provide, in collaboration with the FAO office for North Africa, the Secretariat of the Mediterranean Animal Health Network (REMESA) which involves countries of the southern and the northern shore of the Mediterranean with the aim to coordinate and develop regional animal health actions;
- Provide the Secretariat of the Mediterranean Network of Establishments for Veterinary Education (REEV-Med), which includes the Veterinary Educational Establishments (VEE) of Mediterranean countries with the aim of establishing an harmonization process of veterinary education in the South Mediterranean Region in partnership with the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE);
- Support member countries in the AMU region in their efforts to develop their official disease status dossiers (FMD and PPR in particular);
- Develop the use of the concept of WOAH twinning in the AMU region and support the recognition of new WOAH reference centers (Reference Laboratories and Collaborating Centers) while encouraging the networking of scientists in the region;
- Promote transparency on sanitary information through maintaining and updating formal and informal animal health information;
- Support initiatives promoting the veterinary profession (Veterinary associations that focus on technical issues as “GTV”, for example) and animal health and welfare (World Veterinary Day and World Rabies Day for example);
- Support Member Countries in the AMU region to improve collaboration between the public health and animal health sectors and other competent ministries, for example regarding the fight against rabies or the fight against antimicrobial resistance (in line with the “One Health” tripartite initiative developed by WHO, WOAH and FAO).
