On 24 December, the Serbian government officially announced support for the development of a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare – a United Nations endorsed agreement to respect animals and their welfare needs.
This milestone is yet more proof of the progress this historic campaign for animals is making, progress that we intend to build on in eth coming year. Will you help?
Full support
The government of Serbia adopted a Conclusion stating their understanding of the need to provide support for a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare (UDAW).
The government also confirmed that the Ministries of Agriculture and Foreign Affairs are now responsible for informing the Serbian Mission to the United Nations that they must vote to support the text of a Declaration.
The potential benefits of a UDAW, if endorsed by the UN, go beyond the end of animal suffering – good animal welfare can help people out of poverty and contribute to protecting our planet.
Determination pays off
Serbia’s support follows unwavering work by WSPA member society ORCA (the Organisation for Respect and Care for Animals).
In April 2009 ORCA secured endorsement for a UDAW from President Boris Tadic and Minister for Agriculture, Saša Dragin. Shortly after, the country’s commitment to animal welfare was enshrined in the first Serbian Animal Welfare Law, which came into force on 10 June 2009 and signalled the crowning achievement of nine years of dedicated animal advocacy by ORCA.
Moving forwards
The campaign for a UDAW can look back on a very successful 2009, in which no less than 31 countries announced official endorsement, starting with Palau in January and closing with Serbia in December.
These encouraging signs of the growing momentum of the animal welfare movement herald further progress in 2010.
Keep up to date with the campaign for a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare and find out how you can get involved »
Since 2007, WSPA Canada has been working tirelessly to convince the Canadian government to support our campaign to achieve a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare (UDAW). In a landmark decision on November 6, MPs from all four political parties unanimously adopted a motion which calls on the Canadian government to support (in principle) the development of a UDAW.
The motion was put forward by Liberal MP Michelle Simson (Scarborough Southwest) and seconded by NDP MP Bill Siksay (Burnaby Douglas). This makes Canada a leader – we are the first North American country to express support for UDAW – and it means that Canada is one giant step closer to fully endorsing the campaign.
The next step – which we expect will happen soon – is for WSPA to meet with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to confirm the government’s formal support, in principle, of the development of a UDAW. Then next year and throughout 2011, the actual details of the UDAW will be negotiated and finalized by key countries. And finally, Canada must then agree to and endorse the UDAW.
The WSPA campaign to achieve a UDAW was supported by our member societies and more than 75,000 Canadians who signed petitions and sent more than 25,000 individual letters to MPs and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
If you’d like to say thanks to your MP for a job well done, please send them a thank you e-mail.
WSPA, alongside key governments supporting the development of a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare (UDAW), hosted a series of meetings at the United Nations during World Animal Week. Together we highlighted the vital link between animal welfare and sustainable development, using this film to illustrate the urgency of the issue.
Animal welfare matters: UN leaders heard last week about how good animal welfare practices improve food security, combat poverty, protect the environment and make agriculture sustainable.
Mike Baker, WSPA’s director general, told UN Missions that “Animal welfare is not some unaffordable luxury. It’s an essential part of solutions to some of the most pressing problems facing us today.”
Animal welfare: an essential solution
To encourage countries to explore the very real benefits that animal welfare offers, WSPA is asking the UN to include language that recognises the links between animal welfare and development issues – such as poverty and climate change – into this year’s UN General Assembly resolution on sustainable development.
Including references to animal welfare would be a vital milestone in the journey to adoption of a UDAW by the UN General Assembly.
A Declaration will establish that animals can feel pain and suffer, and encourage governments to make and enforce laws that benefit animals – laws that can also protect people and the environment.
Jakob Strom, Counsellor for Economic and Social Affairs, Permanent Mission of Sweden to the UN, has called the link between sustainable development and animal welfare a “win-win solution for human beings and animals.”
Making the case for welfare
To lobby for this potentially amazing step forward for animal welfare, WSPA spoke with over 80 countries – all the EU member states, JUSCANZ (including Japan, United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand) and the G77 – a loose coalition of developing countries – and several UN agencies at the UN’s New York headquarters, with encouraging results.
HE Dr Augustine P Mahiga, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenitpotentiary, Permanent Mission of the United Republic of Tanzania, is keen for countries to look at the practical benefits of animal welfare, saying, “We need to encourage continued stakeholder-based conversation on animal welfare that will culminate into a forum to exchange best practices at international level.”
Mr Strom echoed his enthusiasm, telling guests at a reception co-hosted by WSPA, the Seychelles, Tanzania and, Sweden “The EU considers animal welfare to be of common concern and global importance… [it] will be integral to our new constitution, the Lisbon Treaty.”
Animals overlooked at great risk
Mike Baker spoke about international agencies’ tendency to overlook animals’ important economic, social and cultural role in poor communities.
For instance, during relief efforts after the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, aid agencies found that local people were using the tents they provided to shelter animals, rather than protect themselves.
Margareta Wahlström, head of the UN’s Disaster Reduction Risk programme agrees that animals must be part of our response to natural disasters, commenting that the loss of animals contributes to people being “even more poor when they come out of the disasters than when they go into them.”
Putting it all into practice
At the G77 briefing, WSPA invited Mr Vinod Kapur, Chairman of Keggfarms – a village poultry initiative in India – to explain how several of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals can be progressed through animal welfare practices.
Vist the UDAW website to read case studies that prove why animal welfare matters to everyone, and to support the campaign for a UDAW »
The Brazilian Ministry of Environment has backed the development of a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare (UDAW), moving the whole country towards recognising the importance of how we treat animals.
On 14 May 2009, Minister Carlos Minc signed a statement of support for the development of a UDAW on behalf of the Ministry of Environment.
Minister Minc also promised to present the concept of a UDAW to President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and encourage him to follow his positive example on behalf of the whole Brazilian government.
The Ministry of Environment’s support reflects public opinion – more than 232,000 Brazilians have stated their support for a Declaration. With Brazil’s influence both within the region and on the international stage, their support has the potential to improve the lives of millions of animals.