Dutch Committee for Afghanistan

Report of a Workshop on the role of Paraveterinarians in the present and future veterinary infrastructure in Afghanistan;

Peshawar, Pakistan; 4-5 March 1999
Organised by: Dutch Committee for Afghanistan - Veterinary Programmes (DCA-VET)

The workshop in a nutshell

Paraveterinarians are presently a well established phenomenon in Afghanistan. For over 10 years, different NGOs, mainly DCA, have trained paraveterinarians ("paravets"), for all organisations involved in the veterinary sector in Afghanistan. This resulted in a new cadre of veterinary auxiliary personnel which constitute at present probably the most important group in the veterinary scene in Afghanistan.

To address the issue of how these paravets could be incorporated in a future veterinary infrastructure and how to get the paravet officially recognised by the Government, DCA organised a workshop in Peshawar on the 4th and 5th of March 1999.

The objective of the workshop was to gather key persons involved in the veterinary sector to address the following issues:

• What is the role of paravets in the present infrastructure in Afghanistan, and: what can be their future role?
• How can the paravet be recognised by the Government, and: till what level should he be upgraded, if required so?
• Can an "Educational Board" or "Paraveterinary Steering Committee" be established to guide this process?

The main conclusions and recommendations were that the group recognised the critical role that paravets have played in the delivery of animal health services at the local level for livestock owners in Afghanistan in recent years. The Group recommended that paravets of the present level should be allowed to continue to work in Afghanistan. The Group identified also numerous advantages by having paravets work on a fee for service basis and therefore recommended that paravets continue to work in the private sector and not become government employees.

The Group recommended that a legal framework be worked out to enable paravets to continue to work within conditions specified by law. The Group therefore recommended the introduction of a licensing mechanism, through the already existing Educational Board or Attestation Committee, to check credentials and competence of already working paravets and future graduates. The Group also gave recommendations for the establishment of a Paraveterinary Steering Committee to deal with policy matters regarding paravets and to define the need for regularly required additional technical upgrading.

This workshop and the underlying report was made possible by contributions from NOVIB, the European Community (DGI), Intervet and DCA.
The report was prepared by DCA staff members in consultation with the chairman, and is based on the presentations given during the workshop, the results of the various working groups and the general recommendations drawn up during the workshop in its final session.

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For further information, please contact:

DCA
Rozengaard 13-10
8212 Lelystad
The Netherlands

b.e.c.schreuder@id.dlo.nl