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News ArticlesCentral Africa Regional Consultative Meeting to identify Priorities for Inclusion in the 2025-20230 Africa CDC Biosafety and Biosecurity Strategy – Libreville, Gabon

Central Africa Regional Consultative Meeting to identify Priorities for Inclusion in the 2025-20230 Africa CDC Biosafety and Biosecurity Strategy – Libreville, Gabon

Central Africa Regional Consultative Meeting to identify Priorities for Inclusion in the 2025-20230 Africa CDC Biosafety and Biosecurity Strategy – Libreville, Gabon

Central Africa Regional Consultative MeetingThe Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), in collaboration with the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM), convened a two-day Central Africa regional consultative meeting in Libreville, Gabon from June 18-19, 2025. The Biosafety and Biosecurity program is funded through the Government of Canada and the United Kingdom (UK) through the G7-led Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction, other partners: Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World bank, aimed to identify regional priorities for inclusion in the 2025–2030 Biosafety and Biosecurity (BSBS) Strategic Plan.

The consultative forum follows the recent review of Africa CDC’s current 2021–2025 BSBS strategy and was held under the Signature Initiative to Mitigate Biological Threats in Africa. Discussions centered on evaluating progress, identifying challenges, and outlining future actions to enhance biosafety and biosecurity systems across the region.

Key observations from the strategy review included:

  • The critical role of Africa CDC in providing strategic coordination, fostering partnerships, and co-developing solutions with Member States.
  • Increased awareness of BSBS across the continent, although further advocacy is needed to engage leadership and decision-makers.
  • Continued reliance on external partners for funding BSBS capacity strengthening remains a challenge to program sustainability.
  • National Coordination and Implementation structures are best suited for contextualizing regional approaches and are more sustainable

The objectives of this meeting include:

  • Review the implementation status, achievements, and challenges of the BSBS Strategic Plan 2021–2025 in Central Africa.
  • Identify best practices, lessons learned, and gaps in BSBS capacities at national and regional levels.
  • Engage MS and stakeholders in discussions on emerging threats and evolving needs in BSBS.
  • Solicit inputs and recommendations for the development of the next strategic plan (2026–2030).
  • Strengthen regional collaboration, partnerships, and resource mobilization for sustainable BSBS programs.

Southern Africa regional consultationThe expected outcomes include:

  • Comprehensive review report on the implementation of the 2021–2025 Strategic Plan.
  • Documented best practices, lessons learned, and identified gaps in BSBS.
  • Stakeholder consensus on priorities and focus areas for the 2026–2030 Strategic Plan.
  • Initial draft framework for the BSBS Strategic Plan 2026–2030.

Strengthened network of regional actors committed to advancing BSBS.

This Central Africa regional consultation follows a similar meeting for the Northern, Southern, and Eastern Regions held the last two weeks. The next and last consultative meeting is planned for the West Africa region next week in Abuja-Nigeria