The International Coalition for Animal Welfare (ICFAW) participated in the 93rd General Session of the World Assembly of Delegates of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), held from Monday, 18 to Friday, 22 May 2026 in Paris, France.

ICFAW attended with a delegation of 31 members from different organisations, engaging with representatives from 182 country delegations throughout the event. This year's session centred on the theme "Investing in Animal Health to secure everyone´s future," reflecting the global concern on animal health financial support and sustainable development. During the plenary sessions the presentation and discussion of the terrestrial animal health standards for adoption.  The Chapter 5.4 to 5.7. Measures and procedures applicable during “exportation”, “transit” and importation and the Article 7.5.30 of the Chapter 7.5. Animal Welfare during Slaughter was proposed and approved for adoption. Please find more details in the Report of February. https://www.woah.org/en/blog/document/terrestrial-animal-health-standards-commission_report_february-2026/

WOAH Side Event – 19 May ICFAW participated in the WOAH-hosted side event "Investing in Animal Welfare: From Standards to Implementation." Our colleague Sarah Shields (Humane World for Animals) joined as a panellist on behalf of ICFAW, the event brought the discussion that investment in animal welfare is a strategic imperative, not merely an operational cost.

ICFAW Side Event – 20 May ICFAW hosted its own side event: "Enhancing Animal Welfare During Transport: Practical Solutions and Multistakeholder Dialogue." Moderated by Carolina Cardoso Nagib Nascimento (Four Paws), the session brought together a distinguished panel of experts from across sectors and continents:

• Andrea Gavanelli – Head of Animal Welfare, European Commission

• Marcela Valadez – Humane World for Animals

• Prof. Stella Maris Huertas – University of the República Oriental del Uruguay

• Nancy DeBruynce – Federation of Veterinarians of Europe

• Dr. Rebecca Garcia – UK WOAH focal point

• Peter Hencz – Hunland Trans LtD.

• Silvia Meriggi – Animals' Angels

The panel offered valuable cross-sector insights into the most pressing actions needed to advance animal welfare in transport, highlighting practical solutions and the importance of collaboration between governments, industry, academia, and civil society.

ICFAW Kiosk Throughout the General Session, the ICFAW delegation maintained a dedicated information kiosk, where attendees could access educational materials, participate in an interactive quiz, and respond to a survey — creating meaningful opportunities for engagement beyond the formal programme.
Once again, the ICFAW delegation demonstrated its role as a key advocate for animal welfare on the international stage, fostering dialogue and collaboration with policymakers, veterinarians, scientists, and industry partners from around the world.

The welfare of pigs in Southeast Asia is often under addressed and animals continue to suffer from African Swine Fever, which has devastated herds in the region for several years. In partnership with the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), the International Coalition for Animal Welfare (ICFAW) brought a pig welfare Training of Trainers (ToT) program to Lao PDR and Viet Nam in 2025. The program addressed the humane handling and treatment of pigs on farms and more humane killing methods for disease control.

 In October and November, two ToT sessions were held to support National Veterinary Services from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam to implement the Animal Welfare standards of WOAH. The first two-week session, held in October in Vientiane, Lao PDR, covered Terrestrial Animal Health Code chapter 7.6 on Killing Animals for Disease Control. The second two-week session was held in November, and covered chapter 7.13, Animal Welfare and Pig Production Systems. The content of the trainings was overseen by the University of Melbourne, which is a WOAH Collaborating Center on Animal Welfare. The trainers included Dr Lauren Hemsworth and Bronwyn Stevens from the University of Melbourne and Dr Dennis Will, a veterinary expert in humane slaughter and depopulation methods.

 Five participants from the Veterinary Services of each country — all experts in disease control and farm support — came together for the training. The sessions blended theory and practice, combining insights on animal welfare and more humane killing with interactive group discussions. In the final two days, participants stepped up as trainers themselves, sharing their knowledge and leading sessions for the wider audience — turning learning into action.

The training covered, among other pig welfare topics, basic concepts in animal welfare science, including the Five Domains Model, which covers nutrition, environment, health, behavior and the mental state of animals. ICFAW was instrumental in helping WOAH secure funding for the training through the Open Philanthropy Project and ICFAW members were involved in organizing and facilitating the training.

 As part of the program, participants were encouraged to develop both short- and long-term plans to strengthen their animal welfare capacity in their home countries. The participants planned in-person and online training sessions, as well as communication materials to raise awareness and share knowledge. A follow-up event is scheduled to take place in January 2026, continuing the momentum built during the two sessions.

Here you can find the entire report with the corresponding photos.

The International Coalition for Animal Welfare is invited as speaker at the 18th Conference of the Regional Commission for the Middle East of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) in Larnaca, Cyprus from November 24 to 28, 2025. We are pleased about the opportunity to present ICFAW’s work on different animal welfare topics in the region and thank WOAH for putting animal welfare for the first time on the agenda of this important biennial Middle East conference. This is a significant achievement and reflects the positive trend in the region where interest in animal welfare topics is slowly but surely growing. ICFAW is ready to continue contributing to these positive changes, offering our support and cooperation to the Members in various areas of animal welfare.

 For the poster session of the conference, we took up the topic of this year's ICFAW side event to the 92nd General Session of WOAH concerning antimicrobial resistance (AMR) which represents a global threat to human, animal and environmental health. In our poster, we shed light on the critical yet overlooked linkage between animal transport and AMR transmission (Click here to see the poster). During transport, animals face stress that worsens with poor conditions and longer journeys, causing suffering, injuries, illness, and even death. Poor transport conditions are an ethical issue with economic implications and an increased risk of disease spreading and AMR transmission. It is essential to improve the conditions under which animals are transported, to minimize the stress before and during transport and to reduce the journey times for the animals – for the benefit of the animals and humans.

Context: The WOAH aquatic code has a chapter on welfare during transport and welfare during slaughter. Both remain largely up to date in terms of being correct in their content, however both are limited to general principles and higher level guidance. They do not contain specific parameters for different species animals, for oxygen levels during transport or electrical stunning parameters for example. They could be expanded to reflect the much larger knowledge base we now have on species-specific parameters as well as available technology. The WOAH aquatic strategy to 2025 has an action point to review the welfare chapters for how up to date their science is. We would like to see an action to update these chapters in a future aquatic strategy. The aquatic strategy to 2025 set the objective to create a new chapter in the aquatic code addressing biosecurity. We are very keen to promote stress reduction, supporting natural immune function, and good environmental conditions as the basis, or at least an important part, of biosecurity in this ongoing standards development.

Improving the welfare of animals is an investment for future global health. In this event, we raise awareness about the UN Environment Assembly's call for a report on the nexus between animal welfare, the environment, and sustainable development. We also explore animal welfare as an effective means to prevent health crises, such as antimicrobial resistance and zoonotic outbreaks. Join us!

ICFAW side event at 99th WOAH General Session on Animal Welfare & One Health - Monday 22 May 2023 - 11:30-13:00

The recognition that there is a link between animal health and animal welfare is what has prompted WOAH to expand its mandate and start working on animal welfare. Similarly, the acknowledgement that animal welfare can contribute to addressing environmental challenges, promoting the One Health approach and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, has triggered a call from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to work in collaboration with the WOAH,  the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the One Health High-Level Expert Panel on matters related to animal welfare and its nexus with human health and the environment, through a One Health approach (see  Resolution (UNEP/EA.5/Res.1,).

This event aims to provide theoretical and empirical insights on the integration of animal welfare measures within One Health policies. The goal is to provide enough context and examples to make participants leave the event confident that adopting animal welfare measures is an investment in preventing health crises (such as AMR, zoonoses) rather than an additional cost to often limited public budgets.

Agenda

• Opening: Roly Owers, Chair of ICFAW

• Setting the scene: unveiling the Nexus & moderator: James Yeates, CEO of the World Federation for Animals

• Animal Welfare and the Sustainable development goals: Leopoldo Stuardo, Scientific Coordinator, Animal welfare, WOAH Standards Department 

• One Health Case studies in Africa: Manuelle Miller, Veterinary Without Borders

• One Health perception in Americas : Edilberto Britto, WOAH Delegate from Colombia

• Debate led by Moderator, James Yeates (CEO of WFA)