9th Advisory Committee Meeting of the PACE Programme - 3

The PACE mid-term review as well as the 6th 7'11 and 8'11 Advisory Committee meetings recommended specific directions the communication unit was to follow. For example , the mid-term review recommended clearly a more field oriented approach through supporting national programmes in carrying out Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices (KAP) studies with the aim of obtaining a detailed picture on the information situation, the comprehension and the opinions of the PACE programme beneficiaries. The 6th and the 8th AC meetings on the other hand also urged the Unit to improve the institutional visibility of the PACE programme through the consolidation of a "brand image" for PACE. The Communication Unit therefore implemented its activities during the WP4 in line with the recommendations of the mid-term review and the 6th , 7th and 8'1' Advisory Committee Meetings. During the period under review, the communication unit concentrated its activities in the areas of capacity building at national level, improving PACE visibility ( internal and external) through the production of information and promotional material. The PACE web-site is now in place and can be accessed on-line. The PACE booklet on PACE is under preparation after encountering some hitch due to the departure of the Communication TA who was working on this. Strengthening the PACE national communication components is another important goal that the Communication Unit has been addressing during this period under review. This has an aim of improving the information /communication flow within the epidemiosurveillance networking and at the regional and sub-regional levels, thus progressively ensuring the sustainability of PACE activities, and integrating information/communication activities in the national Vets Services ( at least 15 countries have been visited and assisted in different ways). The Communication Unit also participated in the meeting of African Ministers of Agriculture held in ,Maputo in July, 2004, and organized an exhibition of IBAR and PACE documents.