Working Group on Wildlife

Purpose and responsibilities

The Working Group on Wildlife (WGW):

1. Report to the WOAH Director General who will transmit the report to the appropriate WOAH governing and technical entities to ensure integration of wildlife health topics into WOAH business.

2. Maintain global perspective and foresight on wildlife health and biodiversity and their interface with domestic animal health and veterinary public health.

3. Assist the WOAH Director General, the Scientific Commission and other WOAH Specialist Commissions as well as the Epidemic intelligence Framework to assess risks and make risk management recommendations.

4. Support and contribute to the development of WOAH Standards and Guidelines, associated with wildlife health and biodiversity conservation.

5. Advise WOAH regarding the development and implementation of the WOAH Wildlife Health Programme, as well as all WOAH Strategies where wildlife health is relevant, providing strategic vision and recommendations to ensure its relevance for the Member Countries.

6. Assist WOAH in receiving, recording, and interpreting information on wildlife disease, including emerging diseases, vector borne diseases, zoonosis and invasive species occurrence from official sources through WAHIS, and support an international network to provide information from non-official sources.

7. Address specific issues relevant to wildlife health referred to the Working Group by the WOAH Director General, which may include matters recommended by Specialist Commissions, Members or WOAH itself.

8. Assist WOAH in acquiring, communicating and disseminating information about wildlife health, ecosystem health and biodiversity conservation, and represent WOAH as requested.

9. Support WOAH in its interactions and collaborations with international organisations working on the animal, human and environmental health interface, and with the wider stakeholder community engaged in these issues.

Membership

1. All members of the WGW shall be specialists recognised at an international level, and shall be selected for their competence (i.e., more than 10 years of work expertise on wildlife health and related sectors such as environment, national parks, wildlife conservation, wildlife trade, aquatic animals, and/or ideally across sectors [One Health]); this competence may have been acquired whilst working in veterinary practice, academia, competent authorities and/or private sector and by a recorded track of high-quality publications.

2. In addition to the aforementioned expertise recognition, membership should lead to a balanced and adequate geographic representation, as well as a balanced representation in gender.

3. Identification of candidates will be done through consultation of WOAH Collaborating Centres, the Academic sector, reference laboratories, regional and subregional offices, relevant organisations or any other stakeholder within WOAH’s network. This process may include setting up an open call for expression of interest. WGW Secretariat will gather resumés and other relevant documentation provided by candidates if they agree on it, for further consideration by the Director General.

4. Members will be appointed by the Director General for a period of 3 years with re-appointment for additional 3-year terms based on the level of engagement and extent and quality of work conducted by the member within the WGW. In cases of consistent non-participation (e.g., repeated absence, failure to contribute, or disregard for the ToRs), the Director General may initiate a formal review process, in consultation with the Chair, Secretariat, and other members as appropriate, to determine appropriate action. Members shall be formally notified of any decision, with a clear rationale and effective date.

5. At each annual Session, the Director General shall report its composition to the World Assembly of Delegates (“the Assembly”) for information.

6. In the exercise of their functions, members shall serve WOAH WGW exclusively; while in that capacity they may not request or receive instructions from any government or authority external to WOAH.

7. Members shall provide the Director General with a statement covering potential conflicts of interest between themselves and any commercial entity in accordance with the procedure established by the Director General.

8. Members shall respect the legitimate confidentiality of information with which they may be entrusted in the performance of their functions and shall submit such an undertaking to the Director General.

9. The WGW should be composed of at least a Chairperson, a rapporteur and not less than two other ordinary members at any given time.

Mode of Operation

1. The WGW shall meet at least twice a year, usually in April or June and November or December, ideally in-person in WOAH Headquarters, with hybrid or fully virtual forms remaining open depending on the overall context. These meetings will be open to members of the Preparedness and Resilience Department, as well as to members of other Departments, when deemed relevant for the purposes of the agenda. When specific expertise not present in the group is needed, the WGW shall welcome external attendees. Observers might attend the meetings when required.

2. Routine business between meetings should be addressed by the WGW or a subgroup of the WGW via email exchanges with the support of the Secretariat.

3. The Working Group will use the WOAH wildlife programme, regularly updated, as the skeleton of their bi-annual meeting agenda and as their work plan.

4. The WGW shall normally reach decisions by consent; if consent cannot be reached, the chair of the Group may take the final decision, however the opinion of the other members of the Group will be mentioned in the report.

5. The operating language of the WGW will be English.

6. The WGW will provide an update of their activities to the Director General and to Members during the WOAH General Session.

7. The WGW will provide a written report of its meetings and teleconferences to the WOAH Director General. The reports will be available for WOAH Members on the organisation’s website.

8. The Director General may request individual WGW members to participate in ad hoc Groups or Subgroups, or to represent WOAH in relevant meetings or conferences where wildlife health expertise is requested.

9. Representatives of international organisations, that have a cooperation agreement with WOAH, may be invited to participate as active observers at their own cost, depending on the agenda, in the WOAH WGW biannual meetings.

10. Members of the WGW receive per diem and travel compensations according to WOAH rules in place.

Chair

1. The chair shall be appointed by the Director General for a period of 3 years in consultation with the WGW, with a possible re-appointment for additional 3-year terms.

2. The chair liaises with the Secretariat on behalf of the WGW.

3.  The chair revises and approves the agenda compiled by the Secretariat for the WGW biannual meetings.

4. The chair moderates the WGW biannual meetings with support of the Secretariat and enumerates the agreed actions and decisions made by the WGW to be included it is meeting report.

5. The chair is responsible for reporting the WGW activities to the Director General and to Members during the WOAH’s annual General Session with support of the Secretariat.

6. The chair will maintain additional regular communication with the WOAH Preparedness and Resilience Department and other Departments as appropriate.

7. In case of absence or impediment for a meeting or event, the chair can nominate a member of the working group as interim acting chair for the time of the meeting or event.

Rapporteur

1. The rapporteur will be appointed by the chair at the beginning of each meeting.

2. The rapporteur will revise and provide input for the proceedings of the WGW meeting within two weeks at the latest of receiving these. The proceedings will include key resolutions and workplan progress made by the WGW and will be prepared with the support of the WOAH secretariat.

Secretariat

1. The secretariat prepares and sends formal meeting invitations on behalf of WOAH to members of the WGW and observers, if any, via email. Delegates of countries where members of WGW reside will also be included for information.

2. The secretariat coordinates venue needs for face-to-face meetings.

3. The secretariat assists in the collation and preparation of meeting working documents and agenda with the input of the WGW chair.

4. The secretariat prepares meeting report drafts under the oversight of the WGW rapporteur. The meeting reports shall be reviewed by the WGW Chair and the Head of the Preparedness and Resilience Department. The final report shall be signed off by the Deputy Director General or the Director General and translated into the WOAH official languages.

5. The secretariat provides assistance in the preparation of technical documents developed by the WGW.

6. The secretariat updates the WGW webpage with meeting reports and technical documents.

7. The secretariat facilitates communication between WGW and specialist Commissions.

8. The secretariat interacts with the WGW during the whole year, fostering cohesion and engagement.

Version updated on 25.04.2025

April 2025	Wildlife Working Group Report
November 2024	Wildlife Working Group Report
April 2024	Wildlife Working Group Report
December 2023	Wildlife Working Group Report
June 2023	Wildlife Working Group Report
December 2022	Wildlife Working Group Report
June 2022	Wildlife Working Group Report
December 2021	Wildlife Working Group Report
June 2021	Wildlife Working Group Report
December 2020	Wildlife Working Group Report
March 2020	Adapted Procedure – World Assembly, May 2020
December 2018	87th General Session – World Assembly, 26-31 May 2019
December 2017	86th General Session – World Assembly, 20-25 May 2018
November 2016	85th General Session – World Assembly, 21-26 May 2017
Sept-Oct. 2015	84th General Session – World Assembly, 22-27 May 2016
November 2014	83rd General Session – World Assembly, 24-29 May 2015
November 2013	82nd General Session – World Assembly, 25-30 May 2014
November 2012	81st General Session – World Assembly, 26-31 May 2013
November 2011	80th General Session – World Assembly, 20-25 May 2012
October 2010	79th General Session – World Assembly, 22-27 May 2011
February 2010	78th General Session – World Assembly, 23-28 May 2010
January 2009	77th General Session International Committee, 24-29 May 2009
January 2008	76th General Session International Committee, 25-30 May 2008
February 2007	75th General Session International Committee, 20-25 May 2007
February 2006	74th General Session International Committee, 21-26 May 2006
February 2005	73rd General Session International Committee, 22-27 May 2005
February 2004	72nd General Session International Committee, 23-28 May 2004
February 2003	71st General Session International Committee, 18-23 May 2003
February 2002	70th General Session International Committee, 26-31 May 2002
March 2001	69th General Session International Committee, 27 May-1 june 2001
April 2000	68th General Session International Committee, 21-26 May 2000