Dear All, Some administrative matters. 1). I wonder if those of you who have most recently joined the conference have received the invitation to the meeting from OIE and FAO outlining its purpose and structure as well as the housekeeping notes in my introduction to the first session of the conference. I append some of this background material below. 2). Could Dr Darab Abdollahi of Iran please contact me. I have been sending emails to you for nearly three days without reply and I want to be able to post up your contributions. kind regards, Paul Rossiter +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The specific objectives of the E-Conference are to provide further insight regarding the following topics, which are suggested for discussion: 1) Opportunities and weaknesses regarding PPR control strategies[1]. Weeks 1 and 2 , February 3-14. 2) Identification and prioritization of themes to be addressed by PPR-GREN. Week 3, February 17-21 3) Identification of other sub-themes to be included in the themes agreed above. Week 4, February 24-28 4) Network to be inclusive or exclusive of other small ruminant diseases. Also Week 4, February 24-28 5) Organization and operationalization of the network. Week 5, March 3-7. 6) AOB 7) Conclusion and further actions Expected outcomes of the E-Conference are i) a list of recommended topics to be addressed by the PPR GREN in support of the formulation and/or implementation of the PPR control strategy, including research, technical, organizational and policy issues. This list will serve as a basis for structuring the PPR GREN into various thematic and research groups and ii) an agreed way of operating for the network A general report summarizing the conclusions of the discussions will be published at the end of the E-Conference (see below: “Synthesis Document”). 3.E-Conference organization The dates will be from 3rd February to 7th March 2014 The time allocated to each topic will be the following: 1) Two weeks 2) One week 3) and 4) together: one week 5) One week Points 6 will be covered continuously when relevant matters arise. Final conclusions (Point 7) will be prepared at the end of the E-Conference according to the 5 weeks discussions (see below: synthesis document). The E-Conference will be moderated by Dr. Paul Rossiter. All e-mail exchange will be copied to [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask] This E-Conference will provide an opportunity for discussion with PPR disease control managers, researchers, sociologists, NGOs, private sector and development workers with an interest in PPR control and small ruminant productions development at large. In addition to the forum discussion, written paper contributions are welcomed. They should be concise and approximately 500 to 600 words long. At the end of the E-Conference a synthesis of the discussions will be complied and due recognition will be given to the contributors. This “Synthesis Document” and major contributions to the E-Conference will be shared with all participants and will be published electronically. This document will also be used as a working document for the Global PPR Control Strategy formulation which will be presented during an international conference to be held in December 2014. [1]This topic will allow addressing issues such as tools and constraints for PPR control, ways to overcome them and lessons learnt, description of first hand experiences in PPR research and control programme management. From the moderator: Now some basic housekeeping. Please try to keep your contributions to the recommended maximum of 500-600 words, preferably less. If your contributions cover topics scheduled for a different session they will be held back until that session. Contributions covering more than one session will be edited so that they can be read and discussed at the appropriate times. We have over 230 participants and at this early stage we do not all know each other. Therefore, please add your full name, address and affiliation (if any) to each correspondence, at least to start with, and if possible one or two lines stating your main interest and involvement in PPR control. (This will not be part of the 500 words) ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the FAO-AnimalHealth-L list, click the following link: https://listserv.fao.org/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=FAO-AnimalHealth-L&A=1