Africa Animal Welfare Conference

The 8th Africa Animal Welfare Conference, hosted by the Africa Network for Animal Welfare (ANAW), was held in Nairobi, Kenya over three days between 30th September to 2nd October 2024. 

The event had the title theme of ‘Partnership Actions to Improve Animal Welfare and Environmental Sustainability’ and was co-organised and sponsored by ANAW, the UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) and the InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources.

Over three days, a variety of insightful and comprehensive talks and discussion panels were hosted, on: Innovations, Education and Emerging Trends in Animal Welfare; Farm and Working Animals; Animal Welfare, Environmental Conservation and Development; Disasters and Animal Welfare; Unlocking the Obstacles to the Adoption of Animal Welfare Policies in Africa; and Understanding Animal Sentience: Science, Ethics and Policy.

ANAW won a Lush Prize for Training in 2014 and to date represents the only winning organisation of a Lush Prize award from the Africa region. 

On the first day of the event, Nick Jukes from InterNICHE (the International Network for Humane Education) presented on ‘Humane innovations and replacement: case studies to illustrate the curriculum of an ideal veterinary degree’. InterNICHE is a former Lush Prize Training Award winning organisation for its work and outreach to students on humane education and replacement of animals with alternative models. 

During his presentation Nick launched the publication of Lush Prize’s new investigative report, ‘The use of animals and alternative approaches in research, testing and education in Africa’. Our report notes that much of the animal use in research and education in Africa is within the veterinary field, particularly in universities.

We look forward to welcoming more future nominees from across the 54 nations of Africa who are interested in working on and campaigning for non-animal methods in testing, research and education. 

More information on ANAW and a link to the conference programme is here. 

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11 October 2024