Progressive Pathway for Emergency Preparedness Workshop for the Caribbean by Carol-Faye Bynoe-George

Background

Since the reintroduction of African Swine Fever (ASF) into the island of La Hispaniola
in July 2021, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has been
leading a regional project funded by USAID-APHIS to support emergency response in affected
countries while fostering preparedness and preventive actions in free countries.

The FAO Progressive Pathway for Emergency Preparedness (PPEP) is a continuous
process designed to help countries assess their preparedness to animal health emergencies
and gradually improve their emergency management system. The ultimate goal of PPEP is
for regions and countries to achieve self-sufficiency in emergency preparedness by tailoring
their programs to the specific threats they face.

Since March, FAO has been working with the Caribbean countries and territories on
their self-assessment process, which serves as the basis for designing tailored support
activities that address the identified priority capacity needs. Based on the results, the first
regional in-person workshop will be conducted to jointly advance on the common needs
identified by the assessed Caribbean countries and territories.

This event has bee jointly organized with the Caribbean network of animal health and veterinary public health (CaribVET), the Caribbean Agriculture Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA) and will be attended by representatives from regional institutions.

PPEP Results and topics for the workshop were:
The workshop was the initial step in a progressive, collaborative process between FAO and Caribbean
countries to enhance animal health emergency preparedness. The event focused on the topics identified
through the PPEP process. The PPEP assessment identified the following regional areas for improvement:
• A.3. Inter-sectoral coordination.
• B.1. Planning for animal health emergencies.
• B.4. Testing animal health emergency management systems (EMS).
• B.5. Monitoring, Audit and Review of animal health EMS.

Objectives and Expected outputs
The workshop was designed to strengthen the abovementioned improvement opportunities detected during
the PPEP process and selected by the countries by providing practical guidance and support through
lessons, real-life examples (e.g., ASF, HPAI), group discussions, template examples and practical exercises.

The workshop aimed to:
– Improve knowledge and capacity in the Caribbean on inter-sectoral coordination, emergency
preparedness planning, testing of EMS and monitoring, audit and review of EMS.
– Develop a roadmap to improve animal health emergency management systems in the
Caribbean as a sub region and per country/territory as needed

On 24th October, the last day of the workshop was dedicated to activities organized by IICA.
Following the workshop, FAO, CAHFSA and CaribVET will evaluate the possibility of additional expert support
for the sub-region and each country according to prioritization and availability.

Summary

The conference was held in Trinidad from 21st to 24th October.  Attending and representing Antigua and Barbuda was Dr. Diandra Payne/Veterinary Officer within the Veterinary and Livestock Division of the Ministry of Agriculture.  In addition to Dr. Payne’s attendance/participation, Dr. Nneka Hull James, a native Antiguan who has been seconded to Caribbean Agriculture Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA) and based in Suriname.  She also participated, as an Animal Health Specialist she made remarks in the opening ceremony and did a presentations on  Risk Communication.

“This workshop was very engaging and informative. It has highlighted the need for good communication and the importance of inter-sectorial collaboration, cooperation and coordination to be better prepared to efficiently and effectively navigate any emergency that we may encounter especially with all these emerging and reemerging diseases”, Dr. Payne declared.