In a joint effort between the Food and Agriculture Organization (FOA) and the state Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries, a crucial 10-day animal health vaccination campaign has been launched in Rumbek Central and Rumbek North counties.
The campaign aims to target a substantial number of animals, including 177,559 cows, 262,798 goats, 10,742 poultries, and 926 dogs.
The vaccination campaign was officially inaugurated at the Kaac cattle camp in Jiir Payam on Thursday.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Friday, Dut Manak, the Commissioner of Rumbek Central County in Lakes State, expressed his gratitude and highlighted the significance of this initiative for the community.
He stated, “Today, we are in the Kaac cattle camp of Jiir Payam of Rumbek central county to launch a vaccination campaign with the partners (UNFOA) head of the field office and the director-general of the Ministry of Animals Resources and Fisheries and vaccinators. We have come to launch this animal health vaccination campaign here, and it is our grateful appreciation, especially to our partners UNFOA, for the great things they have done for our county and also the Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries.”
Commissioner Dut Manak emphasized that this campaign aims to ensure the health of animals, regardless of their number, encouraging the youth to maintain their cattle in good condition rather than focusing solely on quantity. He also called on FOA to extend the animal health vaccination campaign to the remaining six counties of Lakes State.
Sebaduka Hannington, the Head of the FOA Field Office in Rumbek, Lakes State, expressed appreciation to the government of Norway for their funding support, which made the livestock animal vaccination campaign possible. He explained, “We have eight counties, but the direct implementation is with the government, and the others are going to do implementation with partners. We have continued support for the government of Lakes State in all counties as much as possible and as much as resources are available.”
Hannington further elaborated that the vaccination efforts are accompanied by capacity-building initiatives for the livestock section, with 60 community health workers and 30 animal health workers trained in Rumbek Central and Rumbek North counties.
Gabriel Makuac Aggrey, the Director-General of the Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries in Lakes State, expressed his appreciation to the partners for securing funds for the vaccination campaign, which experienced a delay earlier in the year due to funding constraints. He appealed to partners to expedite the process so that vaccination can commence in other counties as well.
Aggrey asserted, “Finally, the security is calm, and the vaccination is going to spread across all the counties, even villages for poultry, goats and dogs. The next intervention will include PPR, which is the next phase. We are going after this vaccination. We are going to sell out and make a plan with our partners.”