Online conference about animal welfare and sustainable development
Due to the current global pandemic, The Donkey Sanctuary and World Horse Welfare will be hosting their first virtual side event at this year’s United Nations High Level Political Forum (HLPF) on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). On Tuesday 7 July, stakeholders will be able to take part in discussions about the essential role working animals play in achieving key SDGs, and their context within two of the globe’s most pressing challenges: climate change and disease. The charities’ side event: “Working Animals: Climate Change and Public Health Issues in achieving the SDGs” is being run via Zoom. It will highlight the essential role healthy, working animals can play in attaining the SDGs, while mitigating the spread of disease during the global health crisis. The event has the support of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Senegal to the UN, represented by HE Ambassador Abdoulaye Barro. It will feature presentations and a Q&A session with participants. For further details on the event, which starts at 5PM UK time - and to join live - the link to register is here: https://worldhorsewelfare.zoom.us/webinar/register/3015931580754/WN_D1E3... Ian Cawsey, Director of Advocacy & Campaigns at The Donkey Sanctuary said: “In some of the most challenging parts of the world, well cared for working donkeys, horses and mules are crucial in mitigating the effects of climate change and building resilience to extreme events. As a UN Environment report last year stated, donkeys are ‘a valuable mode of all-weather, carbon neutral transport’. Yet up to five million donkeys a year are traded for their skins with all the biosecurity and health risks associated with the wildlife trade. We all want a safe and sustainable world; healthy working animals are an important part of that and must be factored into how governments respond to the challenges ahead”.