Advancing One Health governance structures at the regional level – lessons learned from the Economic Community of West African States
Abstract The One Health (OH) approach mobilises collaboration among sectors, disciplines, and communities to foster health and well-being and tackle health, livelihood, and ecosystem threats. The complex interplay between multiple stakeholders and multiscale institutions requires leadership and gove...
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CABI
2025-04-01
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| Series: | CABI One Health |
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| Online Access: | http://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/10.1079/cabionehealth.2025.0015 |
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| author | Gilbert Fokou Jakob Winter Virgil Kuassi Lokossou Hassane Adakal Raoul Kouame Djane Dit Fatogoma Adou Vivian Iwar Issiaka Sombie Melchior Athanase Aïssi Klaas Dietze Bassirou Bonfoh |
| author_facet | Gilbert Fokou Jakob Winter Virgil Kuassi Lokossou Hassane Adakal Raoul Kouame Djane Dit Fatogoma Adou Vivian Iwar Issiaka Sombie Melchior Athanase Aïssi Klaas Dietze Bassirou Bonfoh |
| author_sort | Gilbert Fokou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The One Health (OH) approach mobilises collaboration among sectors, disciplines, and communities to foster health and well-being and tackle health, livelihood, and ecosystem threats. The complex interplay between multiple stakeholders and multiscale institutions requires leadership and governance systems to coordinate collaborative operations. However, while many governance systems for OH coordination mechanisms (OHCMs) emerged at global and national levels, these are lacking for regional OH coordination mechanisms (ROHCMs). Showcasing the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region, a qualitative analysis of online interviews and surveys of 42 national, regional, and international informants from the multiscale human-, animal-, and environmental public health sectors was conducted to develop a governance structure for a ROHCM. Information on regional OH understandings, setups, expectations, governance structures, working procedures, and an OH Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis was collected. The findings on governance structures were validated at three regional meetings and consolidated in the ECOWAS regional OH governance manual. The results show that OH is recognised and endorsed in the region. Multiple regional OH governance models are conceivable in the ECOWAS context. ECOWAS coordinates OH operations through established national OH platforms. However, it faces challenges in implementing OH operations due to legal issues, a lack of resources, strategies, and regional governance. The findings show capacity asymmetry and divergence of expectations concerning OH governance between the public-, animal-, and environmental health sectors. This requires a political dialogue translating the current science-driven results into common grounds for OH policy implementation. Furthermore, a gap in familiarity with the OH approach was observed between the international, regional, and national levels. This work highlights the importance of partnerships between researchers, policy makers, and funders to co-develop regional OH governance structures and guide further regions embarking on this process. One Health impact statement Due to multiple zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial resistance as events of global concern, the One Health approach is perceived internationally as a guiding principle for improved pandemic prevention and preparedness. However, with the high level of complexity that comes with coordination, collaboration and communication across different disciplines and sectors, including the private sector and civil society, implementing One Health encounters challenges if not picked up by appropriate governance, meaning official coordination and communication structures. Research on establishing this governance, including all relevant One Health sectors and disciplines, and leading to evidence-based policy documents, is in high demand. This work aims to foster sustainable One Health structures and their implementation in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to benefit the region, member states, the communities within, and the global One Health community. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-548d20ad3ca04e1c87d7782c03b4e271 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2791-223X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | CABI |
| record_format | Article |
| series | CABI One Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-548d20ad3ca04e1c87d7782c03b4e2712025-08-20T03:15:04ZengCABICABI One Health2791-223X2025-04-014110.1079/cabionehealth.2025.0015Advancing One Health governance structures at the regional level – lessons learned from the Economic Community of West African StatesGilbert Fokou0Jakob Winter1Virgil Kuassi Lokossou2Hassane Adakal3Raoul Kouame4Djane Dit Fatogoma Adou5Vivian Iwar6Issiaka Sombie7Melchior Athanase Aïssi8Klaas Dietze9Bassirou Bonfoh10Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d’Ivoire (CSRS), Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire;Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald – Insel Riems, Germany;ECOWAS Regional Center for Surveillance and Disease Control West African Health Organization, Abuja, Nigeria;Regional Animal Health Center, ECOWAS Commission, Bamako, Mali;ECOWAS Commission, Environment Directorate, Abuja, Nigeria;Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d’Ivoire (CSRS), Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire;Regional Animal Health Center, ECOWAS Commission, Bamako, Mali;West African Health Organisation, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina FasoWest African Health Organisation, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina FasoFriedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald – Insel Riems, Germany;Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d’Ivoire (CSRS), Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire;Abstract The One Health (OH) approach mobilises collaboration among sectors, disciplines, and communities to foster health and well-being and tackle health, livelihood, and ecosystem threats. The complex interplay between multiple stakeholders and multiscale institutions requires leadership and governance systems to coordinate collaborative operations. However, while many governance systems for OH coordination mechanisms (OHCMs) emerged at global and national levels, these are lacking for regional OH coordination mechanisms (ROHCMs). Showcasing the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region, a qualitative analysis of online interviews and surveys of 42 national, regional, and international informants from the multiscale human-, animal-, and environmental public health sectors was conducted to develop a governance structure for a ROHCM. Information on regional OH understandings, setups, expectations, governance structures, working procedures, and an OH Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis was collected. The findings on governance structures were validated at three regional meetings and consolidated in the ECOWAS regional OH governance manual. The results show that OH is recognised and endorsed in the region. Multiple regional OH governance models are conceivable in the ECOWAS context. ECOWAS coordinates OH operations through established national OH platforms. However, it faces challenges in implementing OH operations due to legal issues, a lack of resources, strategies, and regional governance. The findings show capacity asymmetry and divergence of expectations concerning OH governance between the public-, animal-, and environmental health sectors. This requires a political dialogue translating the current science-driven results into common grounds for OH policy implementation. Furthermore, a gap in familiarity with the OH approach was observed between the international, regional, and national levels. This work highlights the importance of partnerships between researchers, policy makers, and funders to co-develop regional OH governance structures and guide further regions embarking on this process. One Health impact statement Due to multiple zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial resistance as events of global concern, the One Health approach is perceived internationally as a guiding principle for improved pandemic prevention and preparedness. However, with the high level of complexity that comes with coordination, collaboration and communication across different disciplines and sectors, including the private sector and civil society, implementing One Health encounters challenges if not picked up by appropriate governance, meaning official coordination and communication structures. Research on establishing this governance, including all relevant One Health sectors and disciplines, and leading to evidence-based policy documents, is in high demand. This work aims to foster sustainable One Health structures and their implementation in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to benefit the region, member states, the communities within, and the global One Health community.http://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/10.1079/cabionehealth.2025.0015One Health approachgovernance modelsregional coordination mechanismscollaborationcommunicationECOWAS |
| spellingShingle | Gilbert Fokou Jakob Winter Virgil Kuassi Lokossou Hassane Adakal Raoul Kouame Djane Dit Fatogoma Adou Vivian Iwar Issiaka Sombie Melchior Athanase Aïssi Klaas Dietze Bassirou Bonfoh Advancing One Health governance structures at the regional level – lessons learned from the Economic Community of West African States CABI One Health One Health approach governance models regional coordination mechanisms collaboration communication ECOWAS |
| title | Advancing One Health governance structures at the regional level – lessons learned from the Economic Community of West African States |
| title_full | Advancing One Health governance structures at the regional level – lessons learned from the Economic Community of West African States |
| title_fullStr | Advancing One Health governance structures at the regional level – lessons learned from the Economic Community of West African States |
| title_full_unstemmed | Advancing One Health governance structures at the regional level – lessons learned from the Economic Community of West African States |
| title_short | Advancing One Health governance structures at the regional level – lessons learned from the Economic Community of West African States |
| title_sort | advancing one health governance structures at the regional level lessons learned from the economic community of west african states |
| topic | One Health approach governance models regional coordination mechanisms collaboration communication ECOWAS |
| url | http://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/10.1079/cabionehealth.2025.0015 |
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