88th General Session of the World Assembly of Delegates

Key figures and outcomes 

Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic, the 88th Annual General Session of the World Assembly of National Delegates to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH founded as OIE) was held virtually from Monday 24 to Friday 28 May 2021. The General Session took place via the videoconferencing software Zoom featuring simultaneous interpretation into English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Russian.

During five days, participants from all over the world joined the discussions of the first virtual General Session. WOAH (founded as OIE) national Delegates have adopted new Resolutions and made commitments to incorporate the hard lessons learned from COVID-19 into a more sustainable and healthier future.

Here is an overview of the main outcomes:

A global event

Nearly 400 participants from 165 countries

joined the live event- including representatives of OIE Members as well as scientists and observers from partner organisations

6 Ministers and the Executive Director of UNEP*

addressed the Assembly during the Opening Ceremony 

*United Nations Environment Programme

+800 people connected

to the livestream  

People engaged in the #OIE88SG

 discussion on social media 

Main achievements

0

Resolutions

adopted by OIE Delegates to improve animal health and welfare globally 

0

International Standards 

adopted or revised in the field of terrestrial and aquatic animal disease prevention and control, animal welfare, diagnostic methods and vaccine quality 

Terrestrial Code

0

new
chapters

0

revised chapters

Terrestrial Manual

0

new
chapter

0

revised chapters

Aquatic Code

0

new
chapter

0

revised chapters

Aquatic Manual

0

new
chapter

0

revised chapters

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13 official disease status

recognised

A strengthened network

New centres of scientific excellence  
for a total of 331 Reference Centres located in 47 countries to provide scientific and technical support 

New partnerships  
for a total of 77 partnerships to respond more effectively to global health challenge

A new ambition for 2025

7th Strategic Plan 

adopted to pursue OIE’s contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 

Newly elected members of OIE’s governance bodies 

OIE Director General

Dr Monique Éloit (2021-2026)

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OIE Council

New President of the World Assembly of Delegates (2021-2024) 

Dr Hugo Federico Idoyaga Benítez (Delegate of Paraguay)

Past President

Dr Mark Schipp (Delegate of Australia)

New Vice President

Dr Christianne Bruschke (Delegate of Netherlands)

6 new council members

Dr Yobani Gutiérrez Ravelo (Delegate of Cuba)

Dr Roland Xolani Dlamini (Delegate of Eswatini) 

Dr Konstantin Savenkov (Delegate of Rusia) 

Dr Him Hoo Yap (Delegate of Singapore) 

Dr Komla Batassé Batawui (Delegate of Togo) 

Dr Majid Al Qassimi (Delegate of UAE) 

Working Documents

• • SG/1 – Annual Report of the Director General on the activities of the OIE in 2019 and 2020
  • SG/2 – Current animal health situation worldwide : analysis of events and trends
  • SG/3 – Report of the Director General on the Management, Activities and Administrative Work of the OIE in 2020
  • SG/7 – Provisional Agenda
  • SG/8 – Provisional Programme
  • SG/9 – Technical Item – Lessons learned from the pandemic: How OIE can support Veterinary Services achieve One Health Resilience
  • SG/11 A – Recommendations of the Conferences of the OIE Regional Commissions organised since 1st June 2020
  • SG/11 B – Report of the Meetings of the OIE Regional Commissions held during the General Session
  • SG/12 CS1 A – Reports of the meetings of the Terrestrial Animal Health Standards Commission
  • SG/12 CS2 A – Reports of the meetings of the Biological Standards Commission
  • SG/12 CS2 B – Reports of the meetings of the Biological Standards Commission
  • SG/12 CS3 – Reports of the meetings of the Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases
  • SG/12 CS4 A – Reports of the meetings of the Aquatic Animal Health Standards Commission
  • SG/13/GT1 – Report of the Working Group on Wildlife Diseases
  • SG/13/GT2 – Report of the Working Group on Antimicrobial Resistance
  • SG/14 – OIE Seventh Strategic Plan for the Period 2021–2025