The Arab Organization for Agricultural Development (AOAD) inaugurated a training course in the field of Laboratory Diagnosis of Transboundary Animal Diseases that started on the 24th of Jun 2018 and lasted for two weeks, at the headquarters of AOAD in Khartoum, Sudan. The course was funded by the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA). The participants were 13 trainees from African-speaking English, (Botswana, Malawi, Kenya, Ghana, Seychelles, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Namibia, Zambia, Lesotho and the Gambia).

 At the opening ceremony, the Head of the Technical Programs Department at AOAD delivered a speech on behalf of AOAD Director General H.E Prof Ibrahim Adam Al-Dukheri, explaining the importance of the course for the livestock sector and appreciating the cooperation between AOAD and BADEA, hoping that the course would achieve its objectives in increasing the skills and knowledge of trainees in the field of laboratory diagnosis of transboundary animal diseases.

AOAD conducted the course in collaboration with the laboratories of the Livestock Research Authority in Sudan.

 It is worth mentioning that AOAD carried out the National Program for the Control of Transboundary Animal Diseases in the Arab Region, believing that it is important to provide adequate protection of livestock resources, in view of the emergence and spread of transboundary animal diseases in the international arena. This program included three national capacity-building projects in three animal diseases: foot-and-mouth disease, gastroenteritis, and Rift Valley fever. AOAD has sought to finance it through Arab, regional and international development finance institutions. This program aimed at building human capacity to effectively contribute in preventing the dangers of transboundary animal diseases and control their spread in the Arab region. As well as supporting epidemiological survey systems in the Arab countries, prepare epidemiological disease maps and lay the foundations for cooperation and coordination between the Arab countries to develop and adopt a unified strategy to combat the transboundary animal diseases.

It is worth mentioning that the implementation of this course was a part of a series of programs and capacity building activities carried out by AOAD within the framework of the joint plan of the Arab-African Cooperation Mechanism adopted at the Arab Summit in Sirte 2010. This activity won’t be isolated from the coming activities that AOAD seeks in cooperation with several regional and international organizations.