FAO joins Regional Health Alliance to accelerate progress of One Health

Cairo, Egypt – In its effort to accelerate the progress of the One Health approach, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has just become the 17th UN agency to join the Regional Health Alliance (RHA).

“FAO has been working for years with different UN agencies to strength the One Health approach at the regional level. Joining the Regional Health Alliance will intensify collaborative efforts and underline the synergy of current partnerships to address One Health with proper planning,” said AbdulHakim Elwaer, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa (NENA).

This came during the high-level panel discussion at the WHO Regional Committee for the Regional Health Alliance: Accelerating Joint UN Implementation of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals to support Member States of the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

“With the development of the RHA Joint action plan, we will ensure proper resource mobilization, addressing health determinants, improving health research on zoonotic diseases and enhance comprehensive data science and digital health solutions. This will be achieved through intensified country-focused support that strengthens the national operational and financial strategies,” added Elwaer.

The Regional Health Alliance comprises of 17 multilateral health, development and humanitarian agencies who are signatories to the Global Action Plan on Healthy Lives and Well-being. Its aim is to identify ways in which agencies can better work together to support countries meet the targets of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Alliance examines new ways of working through adoption of a whole-of-government approach to improve public health and looks at opportunities to implement population-level interventions as advocated in the Global Action Plan.

FAO’s membership in the Alliance will facilitate its implementation of the One Health approach, which is an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals and ecosystems. It works to combat health risks at the human–animal–environment interface for the benefit of improved public health, animal health, food safety and security, and ecosystem health.

FAO will be providing essential support to the Alliance through surveillance, risk assessment, early warning systems, field epidemiology workforce development, laboratory capacity building, emergency response, and contingency planning. FAO is fully committed to contribute with its expertise and capacity to the implementation of the One Health Joint Plan of Action, in collaboration with the UN Organizations, for achieving the SDGs.