Joint Efforts to Address Animal Welfare
GLOBAL - FAO recently convened the First Global Multi-stakeholder Forum on Animal Welfare, with participants representing the food industry, farmers, the civil society, inter-governmental organizations, governmental authorities and the academia, reflecting the growing conviction that animal welfare is an issue of widespread interest.
19 April 2012
3 minute read
According to FAO, the Forum was organized with the support of the European Economic and Social Committee and the European Commission. The meeting was a stocktaking experience convened to share and scale-up best ideas, practices and innovative solutions to the complex animal welfare challenges. It provided a comprehensive overview on activities addressing animal welfare and on the variety of stakeholders providing them.
The Forum was attended by over 250 participants from 35 countries (including Canada, USA, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Suriname, almost all EU ones, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, Israel, South Africa, Kenya, the Gambia, China, Mongolia, Malaysia, India, Australia and New Zealand). It included a wide range of speakers, representing governmental institutions (e.g. Norwegian, Australian, Israelian, and Surinamese authorities); private sector representatives like the USA National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), the Animal Transport Association (ATA), the International Wool and Textile Organization (IWTO) and GLOBALG.A.P.; civil society organizations like the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty Against Animals (RSPCA), Animals' Angels, the Africa Network for Animal Welfare (ANAW), the Pan African Animal Welfare Alliance (PAAW), etc.; academic, research training centres; professional organizations and inter-governmental agencies.
The meeting gathered a plethora of interesting experiences and modalities of partnership to enhance animal welfare, but also showed the constraints faced by all stakeholders. There was a clear commitment of all stakeholders to participate in the process to enhance animal welfare in the context of a responsible and sustainable development of the livestock sector.
FAO, as an honest broker, will continue to facilitate the joint, multi-stakeholder approach through specific activities to enhance partnerships that will take into account similar existing initiatives and scale up successful experiences to provide a platform to develop a global, common, road-map for animal welfare.
