(Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, September 23, 2025) – The School of Veterinary Medicine at Bahir Dar University, in partnership with Project HOPE and Tufts University, successfully hosted a two-day national workshop on “Mapping and Adapting One Health Core Competencies to Support Emergency Preparedness and Life-Saving Responses in Ethiopia.” Held on September 21–22, 2025, at Wisdom Hall, the event brought together senior experts from federal ministries, regional health bureaus of Tigray, Amhara, and Afar, academia, and international partners.

Dr. Yeshwas Ferede, Dean of SVM-BDU, welcomed participants and emphasized the critical need for multi-sectoral collaboration in strengthening national health security. Keynote presentations by representatives from Project HOPE, Tufts University, and regional institutions highlighted the urgency of integrating One Health approaches into emergency response systems.

Through plenary and group sessions moderated by Dr. Berihu Gebrekidan of Project HOPE, stakeholders identified priority capacity gaps and co-developed a competency-based framework focusing on surveillance, infection prevention, risk communication, and logistics. Dr. Andnet Yirga of SVM-BDU presented the specific One Health needs of the Amhara region.

The workshop concluded with a commitment to draft a national roadmap for integrating One Health Core Competencies into in-service and pre-service training, with SVM-BDU and the College of Medicine and Health Sciences playing central roles in implementation.

By: Dr. Dagmawi Yitbarek, SVM Website Administrator