The Eighteenth Executive Committee meeting of the ALive platform was held from 7 - 8 November 2011 at the Sawa Hotel in Douala, Cameroon. The meeting was chaired by Mr Bernard Rey, Chief of Operations of the European Union Delegation in Kenya, who officiated as Chairman of the Committee for the first time, having replaced Mr. Christer Hermansson.

Mr. Christer Hermansson (left) and Mr. Bernard Rey (right)

The ALive Executive Committee is composed of RECs, selected research and academic institutions, civic societies, and the financial partners; with FAO, OiE and AU-IBAR as permanent members. The secretariat is hosted by AU-IBAR at its headquarters in Nairobi. The ordinary sessions of the Committee takes place twice a year.

In his welcome address, Director AU-IBAR, Prof. Ahmed El Sawalhy expressed his gratitude to the Government of Cameroon for authorizing AU-IBAR to organize this event in Douala, and the people for the Republic of Cameroon for their hospitality and services provided to all the participants. While introducing and welcoming M. Bernard Rey as the incoming Chairperson of the Executive Committee to the assistance, he emphasized the tremendous contribution received from and achievements made during the preceding two years under the outgoing chairperson, Mr Christer Hermansson.   

Welcoming the participants on behalf of the Governor of the Littoral Region of Cameroon, Mr Elongo Joseph, Head of the Economic, Social and Cultural Division of the Littoral Region remarked that Cameroon was honoured that AU-IBAR had chosen the country to host the 18th session of the Executive Committee of the ALive platform and the meetings of the Participation of African Nations in Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standard-setting Organisations (PAN-SPSO) project. He stressed the coherence of the livestock sector development strategy, which is fully part of the Strategy Paper for Growth and Employment (GESP) of Cameroon, a pastoral country-of-ECCAS, the national strategic orientation for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the objectives of the ALive partnership.
   

Mr Elongo Joseph

The 18th Executive Committee meeting was an opportunity for the ALive Secretariat to report on its activities undertaken from May to November 2011, the implementation of the 17th Executive Committee resolutions, and the update on activities of the Triennial Action Plan by different lead agencies.

Other presentations included lessons learned from the completed PRINT (Promotion of Regional Integration in the SADC Livestock Sector) and IGAD-LPI (IGAD Livestock Policy Initiative) projects, implemented in SADC and IGAD respectively, the status of the livestock and fisheries sectors in Cameroon, the strategies and perspectives for the livestock sector development in Central Africa by the Commission Economique du Bétail, de la Viande et des Ressources Halieutiques (CEBEVIRHA) – a specialized regional institution of ECCAS and the Livestock 2012 initiative to be organized jointly by the ALive platform and the Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines (GALVmed).

Presentations and documents of EC18

The meeting ended with the adoption by the Executive Committee members of resolutions to be implemented before the next meeting, to be held in the first half of 2012 at a venue and dates yet to be determined.

     Participants in a group photo