Edition: 9 to 20 October 2023
PARTNERSHIPS
 ©fao/SURENDRA KARKI | NEPAL FAO ECTAD Nepal receives special mention during the FAO Achievement Award on World Food Day Congratulations to our team in Nepal for receiving special mention during the FAO Achievement Award on World Food Day on 16 October 2023. FAO ECTAD Nepal represents a great example of a comprehensive programme that delivers excellent achievements in the prevention, detection and response to transboundary animal and zoonotic diseases. The programme strengthens laboratory and epidemiological capacities of the Department of Livestock Services and supports biosecurity measures implementation at the farm level, resulting in the improved capacity for timely diagnosis of infectious diseases and reduced use of antimicrobials on farms. The programme also showcases a significant increase in funding, which reflects the recognition of the project's cost-effectiveness and ability to generate substantial impact. Further, the programme has supported the country office in additional resource mobilization such as the Pandemic Fund. The expanded funding has enabled the ECTAD programme to extend its reach to all provinces in Nepal. This expansion enhances sustainability by effectively addressing disease outbreaks and protecting farmers' livelihoods throughout the country. The Award was mentioned in the @FAODG tweet here. |
 ©fao | ASIA AND THE PACIFIC REGION Regional coordination workshop FAO ECTAD teams across Asia-Pacific gathered in Chiang Mai, Thailand, from 10 to 12 October 2023. A total of 45 participants from 12 country teams and the regional office, including team members from the animal production and health module, began three days of discussions on the implementation of the new USAID Global Health Security Program and ECTAD’s overarching strategy for the future. In preparation for the fiscal year 2024, FAO teams have worked tirelessly to develop work plans, aligning with donor requirements and integrating regional support into country-specific strategies. This workshop aimed to chart a course for coordinated project implementation in the future, and to foster collaboration and alignment across the ECTAD regional programmes to tackle animal health threats and related challenges effectively. Read the web article on FAO intranet here (available only for internal FAO). |
-joint-event-in-jakarta.jpeg?sfvrsn=89055083_1) ©fao/Solomon Benigno | ASIA AND THE PACIFIC REGION Safety across Asia for the global Environment (SAFE) joint event in Jakarta From 17 to 18 October 2023, the SAFE project team, composed of FAO, UNODC and UNEP, had consultative meetings with relevant ASEAN Secretariat officers that coordinate regional cooperation on food, agriculture and forestry, environment, health and transnational crime. The meetings provided the opportunity for ASEAN Secretariat counterparts to better understand the scope and objectives of the project, identify contributions and synergies with regional strategies and priorities, and craft a plan to implement collaborative and mutually reinforcing activities, moving forward. Also during this mission, the project team met the EU Delegation to ASEAN to exchange updates on the progress of the project, including the planned ASEAN-EU high level forum to intensify cooperation in preventing spillover of zoonotic diseases from wildlife. Thanks to UNODC as the lead implementer and EU for financial support of the project. Learn about the project here. |
 ©fao | BANGLADESH The Second Bangladesh Veterinary Olympiad The qualifying round for the Second Bangladesh Veterinary Olympiad was held on 7 October 2023 at all 14 veterinary schools in Bangladesh, organized by the National Veterinary Dean Council (NVDC). The Veterinary Olympiad, supported by FAO through USAID funding, promotes collaboration, knowledge enrichment and skills development among veterinary students between different veterinary schools. This initiative holds immense significance in shaping the future of veterinary professionals and elevating Bangladesh's veterinary sector. A remarkable increase in participation was observed this year, with 329 teams from 14 veterinary schools and a total of 1 645 students. Notably, these teams are gender-balanced, emphasizing diversity and inclusivity in the field. The core purpose of this competition was to foster interaction, knowledge exchange, teamwork, problem-solving, critical thinking and professional growth among students. |
| Learn more about our partnerships here. | |
ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE
 ©FAO/Surendra Karki | NEPAL Awareness training on AMR and One Health for multisectoral stakeholders FAO, through USAID support, conducted two half-days of awareness training to veterinarians, public health professionals and animal health technicians on 19 October 2023. The training was conducted in Pokhara, Gandaki Province, where around 80 participants were trained on AMR and One Health. Apart from the AMR and One Health concepts, the Veterinary and Public Health Laboratories Gandaki Province presented zoonotic disease situation in animal and public health, while the Pokhara Veterinary Laboratory presented AMR pattern in animal samples. The programme was conducted in collaboration with the Directorate of Livestock and Fisheries Development, Pokhara, Gandaki Province. |
 ©FAO/Erianto Nugroho | INDONESIA Workshop on AMR Surveillance in the poultry sector
From 9 to 11 October 2023, FAO attended a workshop on AMR clinical surveillance in the poultry sector hosted by the Directorate General of Livestock and Animal Health Service and Fleming Fund Country Grant to Indonesia in Blitar, East Java. This workshop followed up on the AMR and antimicrobial use surveillance pilot study conducted by FAO in 2019 with funding from USAID. FAO participation in this workshop aimed to harmonize FAO's AMR and antimicrobial stewardship activities to be implemented on sentinel farms. In this workshop, during the discussion session with farmers, FAO provided an overview of the activities that were carried out and emphasized the benefits obtained to encourage community participation, especially from livestock farmers, in reporting disease surveillance incidents. |
| Learn more about our AMR here. | |
CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT
 ©FAO/Alia Dwirahmani | INDONESIA Implementation of Joint External Evaluation tools
As part of the Joint External Evaluation (JEE) to assess Indonesia's capacity in 19 technical areas for response to a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), JEE external evaluators (Dr Praveen Malik, Dr Karen Sliter and Dr Luca Porfiri) visited Disease Investigation Center (DIC) Wates on 16 October 2023. This visit served to verify supporting evidence from JEE tool indicators to assess capacity to prevent, detect and respond to animal health threats. This field visit focused on the Technical Areas of Detect 1 (D.1) National Laboratory System and Prevent 7 (P.7) Biosafety and Biosecurity. FAO and the Directorate Animal Health Ministry of Agriculture, with funding support from USAID, assisted DIC Wates with technical support and accompanied them during the evaluation process. |
 ©FAO/Marina Sitepu | INDONESIA Performance Veterinary Services follow-up mission evaluation
At the request of the Government of Indonesia, a team of three certified Performance of Veterinary Services (PVS) experts conducted a PVS Pathway follow-up mission from 1 until 14 October 2023. Indonesia, as a member country of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), conducted this assessment as part of the national effort for the sustainable improvement of national veterinary services. With the support of FAO and other development partners, the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture hosted the PVS Pathway follow-up mission. The missions seek to measure the capacity of veterinary services nationally, specifically to improve sustainable animal health services, the national veterinary authority and the Indonesia’s Animal Health System (SISKESWANAS). During the two-week programme, the assessor team from WOAH visited several vet authority provinces, disease investigation centres, animal quarantine and rehabilitation centre, animal health services, farms and the vet public health lab in Java, Sumatera, Bali and Lombok Island. |
| Learn more about our work on capacity development here. | |
RISK MITIGATION
 ©fao/Andri Jatikusumah | INDONESIA After action review for foot-and-mouth disease |
| Learn more about our work on risk mitigation here. | |