Halfway into the implementation of its 6th Strategic Plan (2016-2020), the OIE continues to strengthen its initiatives in improving animal health and welfare on a global scale. Dr Monique Eloit, OIE Director General, emphasised the Organisation’s steadfast commitment to ensuring resilient animal health systems through the milestones achieved in 2018. She also provided an overview on how the challenges set by the 6th Strategic Plan have been addressed so far and have triggered change in the way the OIE evolves within its environment, paving the way to future perspectives in light of the upcoming development of the 7th Strategic Plan.
Watch Dr Monique Eloit’s presentation.
Paris, 27 May 2019 – The OIE constantly pursues its engagement to address the ever-changing landscape of animal health and welfare. Dr Monique Eloit, OIE Director General, presented to the World Assembly of national Delegates the progress achieved since the beginning of her term in 2016 while stressing the specific steps which were taken during the past year. She highlighted that, in addition to the activities carried out as part of its mandate, the OIE is progressively being transformed and re-structured. Extensive work has been carried out to rethink the functioning of some of the governing bodies and revise many of the Organisation’s internal procedures, the objective being to achieve greater transparency and to promote dialogue between Member Countries as well as partners at an earlier stage in the development of standards and of the OIE’s work programme.
“We are now at the halfway mark, and we are proud to have succeeded in further developing our global strategies through careful consideration of the policies and programmes in place, and to have initiated major projects that will enable the OIE to better respond to the health challenges of the future while making a substantial contribution to broader objectives, such as those of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, highlighted Dr Eloit, while thanking the different stakeholders involved in the OIE’s work.
As the preparations of the 7th Strategic Plan is now underway, the OIE encourages Member Countries and partners to take part in establishing future goals and to identify future opportunities. It is on this note that Dr Eloit underlined how it is even more important to look back at the progress achieved since 2016 to highlight the first tangible impacts in terms of the efficiency, credibility and visibility of the OIE.
A strong collaborative action
Taking into account how the Organisation expands and broadens its scope of initiatives, Dr Eloit presented the new methods adopted by the OIE to further foster collaborative actions within its network. Two structural projects were initiated – the redevelopment of the World Animal Health Information System (OIE-WAHIS) and the preparatory work for the development of an Observatory to understand how OIE Standards are being implemented and how best to help countries apply them more effectively. This was made possible by obtaining the support of the international community at the highest political level and by strengthening some recent partnerships, such as the one with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Regarding partnerships, the OIE has pursued the collaborative work under the FAO-OIE-WHO Tripartite, which was institutionalised in May 2018 with the signing of a memorandum of understanding.
Streamlined strategies, tools and communication
Over the last years, efforts have been aligned to better identify global strategies in areas such as antimicrobial resistance and animal welfare, as well as in the control of priority animal diseases such as dog-mediated rabies, foot and mouth disease, and peste des petits ruminants. To ensure the best possible operational application and better address the support needed by the countries concerned, action programmes have been developed, and specific frameworks were put in place.
To accompany the fight against animal diseases, the OIE continuously works on helping its Members in developing functional and well-organised veterinary and public health structures. The implementation of the evolved PVS Pathway already carried out numerous missions and had its first round of orientation training workshops to stress the vital point of improving the performance of national Veterinary Services. The new features of this programme further take into account the specific needs from countries in order to provide them with tailored solutions.
Dr Eloit also emphasised how the OIE has improved its methods in communicating these actions. The Organisation continuously diversifies communication tools and channels to provide real-time animal health information. In addition to the extensive work on the redevelopment of OIE-WAHIS, which will be a key tool in providing more transparency as well as elaborated information on the animal health situation, communication campaigns have been carried out to encourage behaviour change amongst stakeholders on important topics such as antimicrobial resistance and priority diseases. To facilitate access to information, new interactive digital tools, such as the Rinderpest Serious Game, have been developed to make communication more widely accessible to everyone.
These initiatives leverage the OIE’s engagements defined in the current Strategic Plan, but more importantly, provide results that set the stage for the opportunities that can be better addressed by the Organisation and its network.
Envisioning the step forward as the 7th Strategic Plan is being developed, the OIE Director General reaffirms the Organisation’s role on the global platform to ensure animal health and welfare. “If the keywords for the implementation of the Sixth Strategic Plan were: credibility of a solid organisation, trust and visibility, I would like you to reflect on the following keywords for the next Strategic Plan: an OIE that is influential, attractive and inspirational.”
Discover the OIE 2018 Annual Report
To raise awareness among the wider public and increase their involvement, the report is available on the website in a number of new formats, and it includes concrete examples to illustrate the importance of the OIE’s work in creating a better life for people across the world.
- Related Links: OIE 6th Strategic Plan (Full Text/Infographic)
87 SG SPOTLIGHT
What were the key achievements in the implementation of the 6th OIE Strategic Plan and
what could be its main challenges between now and 2020?
Dr Mark Schipp, OIE President
MORE INFORMATION
