Opening of the 86th OIE General Session

^{At the centre, Dr Michael Botlhe Modisane, President of the OIE and Dr Monique Eloit, OIE Director General, accompanied by 17 of the Ministers and high-level representatives of Member Countries attending the Opening Ceremony of the 86th OIE General Session.
© OIE / Maurine Tric}

Paris, 20 May 2018 – The 86th OIE General Session was opened this afternoon at the Maison de la Chimie in Paris by Dr Botlhe Michael Modisane, President of the OIE and Delegate of South Africa. The Opening Ceremony, which included several speeches, was attended by more than 700 participants, including 21 ministers and government representatives from OIE Member Countries, and major institutional actors.

All the speeches from the Opening Ceremony are available on Youtube.

Honours and awards

During the ceremony, the OIE presented honorary distinctions for services to the veterinary community and to the OIE. The gold medal was awarded to Dr Michael Graeme Garner (Australia) and medals of merit were awarded to Dr José Leopoldo Naranjo Yáñez (Chile) and Dr Beverly J. Schmitt (United States of America).

Finally, the names of the ten winners of the OIE world photo competition, «Animal Health and Welfare, beyond the cliché», were announced for their respective regions.

Region	OIE Network	Student Network
Africa	Dr Nazaria Nyaga (Kenya)	Mr Mohamed Said Abdulle (Somalia)
Americas	Mr Miguel Galarde (Mexico)	Ms Katherine Sum (Canada)
Asia and Pacific	Dr Ulaankhuu Ankhanbaatar (Mongolia)	Mr Giri Bhuwan (Nepal)
Europe	Dr Daniel Fekete (Hungary)	Ms Sarah Hilka (France)
Middle East	Dr Abdullah Alfneekh (Saudi Arabia)	Ms Ceren Ates (Turkey)

View the winning photos on the competition’s website: www.oiephotocompetition.com

 

Topics that will be covered during the General Session

The work of the General Session will continue for the next five days, concluding on Friday 25 May, and will be endorsed with the adoption of resolutions debated in plenary sessions by the World Assembly of Delegates of OIE Member Countries.

As every year, new OIE International Standards will be adopted. The 2018 technical item will focus discussions on the implementation of these standards by OIE Member Countries, the difficulties that countries encounter, and the solutions that the OIE can offer.

In addition to the adoption of international standards, the following subjects will be addressed:

• Latest developments in the global strategies developed by the OIE, particularly in relation to the fight against antimicrobial resistance
• Adoption of new official disease status and recognition of national control programmes for priority diseases
• Presentation of the future development envisaged for WAHIS, the OIE’s World Animal Health System, through the WAHIS+ project
• Launch of an educational game centred on the vigilance that is required to ensure that our world remains free from rinderpest

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On Friday, 25 May, the closing day, the Assembly will vote on the membership of Santa Lucia, which will be the OIE’s 182^nd Member. In addition, elections will be held for members of the four Specialist Commissions and members of the boards of the five Regional Commissions.

Finally, the World Assembly of Delegates will elect a new President and new Council Members.

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Follow the discussions of the 86th OIE General Session on social media : #86SG #86SG (Twitter / Facebook).

Press releases covering the topics addressed will be issued throughout the week. In addition, some sessions and interviews will be broadcast on our YouTube channel, and official photos of the event will be available on FlickR. Further information for the press Sessions open to the press (press section) Press accreditation (required) Full programme for the week Contact:[email protected] / 06 16 46 28 90