Sunday 31 August 2008

African Biosafety Network Meeting

The African Biosafety Network of Expertise (ABNE) Regional Stakeholders' Meeting was held August 28-29, 2008 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. This is a follow-up on the activities under Phase I of ABNE and following the countries consultation on regulatory needs and gaps. Among the expected outcomes of this meeting were: validate the inputs on needs and gaps obtained during the countries consultative processes; discuss and agree on the operationalization of ABNE; and share information on biosafety from countries that have functional biosafety frameworks.

The Africa Biosafety Network of Expertise (ABNE) is a project of NEPAD Biosciences Initiative, which comprises a cluster of life sciences flagship programmes of the Africa’s Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action, an African-led plan endorsed by the African Union Heads of State and Government. The objective of ABNE is to provide science-based information and technical support to the regulatory agencies of various countries in Africa.