May 22, 2025 (JIGJIGA, Ethiopia) With funding from the Government of Switzerland under the Regional Livestock Program (RLP) ICPALD convened the Ethiopia-Somalia joint planning for surveillance and vaccination calendar against TADs and launch of the synchronized vaccination calendar. Present were delegates from the Governments of Ethiopia and Somalia, Representatives from Ministries of Agriculture and Livestock, and key Development Partners engaging in similar efforts along the cross-border areas.

In opening on behalf of IGAD Executive Secretary Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu, Head of Mission to Ethiopia Abebaw Belachew said, “Transboundary animal diseases continue to pose a severe threat to pastoral communities, cross-border trade, and food security throughout the IGAD region. They demand a unified response that transcends national boundaries; today’s joint planning and synchronized vaccination efforts exemplify that collective spirit”.

Mentioned as key highlights during the discussions were the need for effective coordination, collaboration, information sharing, documentation and reporting which facilitate smoother implementation of the existing MoU between Ethiopia and Somalia. The MoU covers cross-border cooperation and coordination on animal health and sanitary measures.

The delegates reviewed the 2025 surveillance and vaccination calendar and planned for the 2026 joint cross-border vaccination; operationalization of the implementation framework; engagement of cross-border partners in regional projects for improved coordination of TADs control; digital disease surveillance systems and ways to improve them. They also tabled the status of vaccines, kits and reagents supply in the cross-border areas.

These deliberations culminated in the harmonized Ethiopia-Somalia calendar kick off with a vaccination launch at Gadab and Gobyar Villages in Somali Region-Ethiopia. In June 2025, the vaccination exercise will continue along the cross-border areas of the two countries.

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Background

Transboundary animal diseases (TADs) can easily spread from one country to another and reach epizootic proportions. Therefore, their control or management requires cooperation between two or more countries to mitigate their threats to the economic, trade and/or food security of the affected countries. All the major transboundary animal diseases and zoonoses are present in the IGAD region, among which Ethiopia and Somalia are members. Movement of livestock during drought periods across the international borders of the countries in search of water and pasture contributes to the spread of TADs (e.g., Foot and mouth disease (FMD), Peste des petits ruminants (PPR), contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP), contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP), etc.) from infected animals. This calls for harmonized approach for cross-border management of the said diseases to mitigate further spread and economic losses.

ICPALD is mandated with coordinating harmonized cross-border disease surveillance and trans-boundary animal disease (TADs) control, and facilitated the development and signing of six bilateral and one multilateral cross border MOUs. ICPALD also facilitated the development of an Implementation Framework (IF) and governance structure (steering and border committee establishment) to operationalize the MoU so that TADs control and livestock trade are enhanced. The MoU has identified key priority areas for action, among which is transboundary animal diseases (TADs) control along the borders. The countries developed an IF detailing actionable activities to be followed, including harmonizing disease surveillance and vaccination, control of livestock movement, shared use of diagnostic facilities, and natural resources, among others, in their respective cross-border areas. Regular meetings, coordination and consultation are critical to operationalize the signed MoUs.

Consequently, there was a need to review implementation status and update harmonized surveillance and vaccination calendars of some cross-border priority TADs as part of the ongoing effort to operationalize the signed MoU between Ethiopia and Somalia; this is a flagship activity in the cross-border areas, with a regional approach. Stipulated in the MoU, the Joint Steering committee (JSC) and Multi-disciplinary Technical Committees (MTC) form the governance structure and also serve as a coordination unit in the IF. Therefore, these coordination teams presented the implementation status and updated the joint surveillance and vaccination calendar with a view of organizing harmonized vaccinations along the clusters against priority TADs in their cross-border areas.