Iraq: Directorate of Planning in the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources and FAO discuss veterinary services in Kurdistan Region [EN/AR]
Erbil-27 February 2020 – The Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources-Directorate of
Planning in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO), has held a consultation meeting on improving animal health services. The
objective of the meeting was to discuss FAO programs and support to strengthen national
veterinary institutions as a key instrument for enhancing rural livelihoods.
Speaking on behalf of the Ministry, Dr. Ghazi Faeq Haji, Director General of Planning, stated that
FAO programs in the KRG are of great importance to the agriculture and livestock sectors. He also
expressed the Ministry’s readiness for increased collaboration with FAO on vaccination campaigns
to control Endemic and Cross-Border Epidemics that negatively affect animal production in the
country.
Moreover, Dr. Haji praised FAO’s role in supporting disease surveillance especially that livestock
vaccination campaigns have been limited in KRG due to financial crises. He also stressed on the
importance of mutual coordination to include other stakeholders and donors.
FAO’s Country Representative for Iraq, Dr. Salah ElHajj Hassan commended the Government of
Kurdistan for taking the initiative in organizing this meeting. He informed the meeting that FAO
received funding from US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) to control and reduce the
international movement of animal diseases threatening livestock production, food security and
nutrition, food safety and health and the environment in Iraq and KRG. He expressed FAO’s
commitment to strengthen the capacity of veterinary services to detect, diagnose and report highly
pathogenic animal diseases.
Dr. ElHajj Hassan also highlighted that FAO supports the Kurdistan Region initiative to move
forward with sustainable growth that ensure agriculture and rural livelihoods improvement,
poverty reduction as well as build resilience to climate change through institutional capacity
building.
The DTRA project targets three governorates; Duhok, Nineveh and Anbar, and will strengthen the
technical and institutional capacity of Iraqi veterinary services for effective surveillance and
control of zoonotic and transboundary diseases in order to protect livestock from losses and reduce
serious threats to human health and safety.
The meeting was attended by specialists from the Veterinary and Research Departments of the
Ministry and Senior Officials from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in
Iraq.