
Hayley Severance
Deputy Vice President, Global Biological Policy and Programs
NTI’s
biosecurity program (NTI | bio) convened more than 80 senior officials from 43 countries,
international organizations, and non-governmental sectors from May 7-9 in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia for the second Global
Biosecurity Dialogue. Hosted
by the African Union and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
(Africa CDC), the event sought to accelerate concrete actions countries and
organizations can take to improve global biosecurity capabilities. Building on last year’s Global
Biosecurity Dialogue in London, participants also developed four new
proposals to advance biosecurity policies, develop country capability, and
create capacity to identify and reduce emerging biological risks, including
those associated with advances in technology.
According
to published World Health Organization (WHO) Joint External Evaluation reports,
less than 11% of 77 assessed countries have demonstrated the biosecurity and
biosafety capabilities required by the WHO to prevent deliberate and accidental
high consequence biological events. The Global Biosecurity Dialogue gives
countries an opportunity to brief others on their progress toward these goals
and to identify national and regional barriers that hinder progress.
On May 10, following the conclusion of the
Global Biosecurity Dialogue, Africa CDC held a stakeholders meeting to advance its
continent-wide commitment to advance biosecurity and biosafety through Regional Collaborating Centers
(RCCs). This commitment was launched by
African Union Commissioner for Social Affairs Her Excellency Amira Elfadil
Mohammed Elfadil at last year’s Global Biosecurity Dialogue in London. In June
2019 in Johannesburg, NTI will partner with the Southern Africa RCC , the
Africa CDC, Global Affairs Canada’s Weapons Threat Reduction Program, the Open
Philanthropy Project, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency, and others to convene this
initiative’s first workshop.
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NTI | bio hosted more than 50 high-level biosecurity experts and professionals from governments, civil society, and regional and international organizations for the 2023 Global Biosecurity Dialogue Workstream meetings.
NTI | bio convened experts from around the world from governments, industry, and civil society in Cape Town, South Africa to discuss emerging biological risks and offer actions to address them.