CRSA-AN

REGIONAL FAO-ECTAD/CENTRE OF ANIMAL HEALTH - NORTH AFRICA

http://www.fao-ectad-crsa-an.org/

CONTEXT

The idea of creation of the Regional centres of Animal Health (CRSA) was proposed for the first time at the time of the second International Conference on Human and Bird Flu, held in Beijing (China) in January 2006. Within the framework of this initiative the FAO-ECTAD launched the creation of CRSAs in all the significant areas.

The FAO-ECTAD/Centre Regional of Animal Health - North Africa (CRSA-AN) began its activities in May 2007. The vocation of the FAO-ECTAD/CRSA-AN is to constitute a framework of coordination and harmonization of the strategies of follow-up and evaluation of the activities for control of the animal diseases including the zoonoses and in particular the highly pathogenic bird influenza (IAHP) in the area. The interventions of the FAO-ECTAD/CRSA-AN include/understand the fields of Animal Health, of the Public health, but also of the Public health of Food.

The CRSA-AN covers the Maghreb countries (Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya) but the majority of the activities are also developed also of coordination with Egypt. The CRSA-AN, through initiative REMESA (Mediterranean Network for Animal Health), also seeks to put in contact the two coasts of the Mediterranean and á to promote the coordination of the activities and collaboration between the countries of North Africa and South of Europe.

Its gate improves the information flow between the various members of the CRSA-AN, like with its partners in the various countries of Europe, Africa and the Middle-East. The tools placed at the disposal in this gate are: a diary of information, an interactive database and an electronic space of discussion.

THE CENTER

Located at Tunis (Tunisia), with the Seat of the Sous-Régional Office of FAO, the Regional centre of Animal Health for North Africa (CRSA-AN), was created in the context of the World Framework for the Progressive Control of Transborder Animal Diseases (GF-TADS), signed in May 2004 between FAO and GOOSE.

The GF-TADS is an initiative intended to combine the experiment and the knowledge to make of the two organizations in the fight against the transborder animal diseases to reinforce the capacities of the developing countries and to assist them with the establishment of special programs of control of certain priority transborder animal diseases according to the areas.

FAO is the agency of execution which operates in close cooperation with the profit institutions: ministries for the Agriculture of the countries concerned. The whole of the activities of the CRSA-AN is coordinated through regional office FAO/OIE for animal health. The technical supervision be ensured by ECTAD.

The CRSA-AN is especially constant by the Spanish Agency of International cooperation for the Development (AECID), but also by the Canadian Agency of Development International (ACDI) and the Agency Suédoise of the International Co-operation and the Development (AIDS).