First Pacific Quadripartite One Health Webinar

Quadripartite Webinar on “Strengthening One Health in the Pacific: applying One Health operational tools in the Pacific”

Background

The health of people, animals, plants, and the environment are deeply interconnected, particularly in the Pacific islands countries and areas (PICs), where ecosystems are fragile, communities are closely linked with and heavily rely on natural resources, and countries are highly vulnerable to health threats, including climate change, emergencies and disease outbreaks.

One Health – an integrated, unifying approach to balance and optimize the health of people, animals and the environment – is essential to prepare for and respond to climate-sensitive diseases outbreaks such as leptospirosis, frequent in PICs following cyclones.

Across PICs, the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of antimicrobial resistance, food safety issues and climate-sensitive diseases reinforce the urgent need for stronger collaboration across sectors to prevent, detect, and respond to health challenges at the human–animal–environment interface as recommended in Joint External Evaluations and Performance of Veterinary Services evaluations conducted in PICs in the last few years.

To support countries in advancing One Health (OH), the Quadripartite organizations – the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) – have jointly developed the One Health Joint Plan of Action (OHJPA) and a range of One Health operational tools and guidance, including: the Tripartite Zoonoses Guide (TZG), the International Health Regulations-Performance of Veterinary Services (IHR-PVS), National Bridging Workshop (NBW) programme, and a set of more focused tools designed for technical areas known to be particularly challenging in terms of multisectoral coordination. These resources provide practical approaches for strengthening coordination, building capacity, and supporting national priorities.

Following requests from Member States for One Health events in the Asia Pacific Region, including the Pacific One Health Workshop (August 2024), the seventy-fifth session of the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific (October 2024), the WHO One Health Member States Briefing for the Western Pacific (August 2025) and through SPC, the Asia Pacific Regional Quadripartite organized this webinar with the aim to introduce Pacific island countries and areas to the National Bridging Workshop (NBW) and One Health operational tools, highlighting their benefits, and provided guidance on how they can be applied in country contexts to strengthen multisectoral collaboration at the human-animal-environment interface.

Objectives

1. To familiarize Pacific Island countries and areas and stakeholders with the National Bridging Workshop and One Health operational tools and resources developed by the Quadripartite.
2. To share experiences and lessons learned from the application of these tools in other countries and regions.
3. To explore opportunities for Pacific Island countries and areas to adapt and apply these tools in support of national health security, sustainable development, and resilience.

Outcomes

• Increased awareness and understanding of the IHR-PVS NBW and One Health operational tools among Pacific Island countries and areas stakeholders.
• Enhanced opportunities for experience sharing and peer learning on the application of One Health tools across countries and sectors.
• Identification of potential next steps for adapting and applying NBWs and One Health tools to Pacific Island countries and areas

Key outputs of the webinar

Nearly 118 participants joined the webinar from more than 10 PICs including participants from government, academia, research institutes, the Quadripartite, SPC and SPREP.

After an introduction to OH principles, concepts and key activities of the Quadripartite at the global and regional levels, the National Bridging Workshop (NBW) tool was introduced as a tool that can be used to assess the collaboration gaps between OH stakeholders at national/sub-national level in addressing health threats at the human-animal-environment interface. The NBW workshop results in developing a roadmap that can be used to strengthen collaboration and coordination of OH activities. Thereafter, the OH operational tools from the Tripartite Zoonoses Guide were introduced highlighting the purpose of each tool and how they can be used to enhance OH coordination and activities. Thereafter, government representatives from Tonga and Marshall Islands shared their experiences of the benefits of using the NBW and RePrep (Response and Preparedness) tools, respectively. They also shared the experiences and lessons learnt in using these OH tools. At the end, an open moderated discussion was held wherein the questions asked in the chat were answered and further discussions were held regarding the experiences of OH activities in the Pacific.

An evaluation of the event found that:

• Most participants found the webinar highly relevant to their work, with the majority rating it as ‘Relevant’ or ‘Very relevant’ and expressing strong interest in future One Health events.

• The most frequently requested support needs include capacity building, technical training, and continued technical support, especially for operationalizing One Health frameworks and enhancing cross-sector collaboration.
• Suggestions for future events emphasized the importance of practical case studies, more interactive or in-person formats, and clearer guidance on integrating traditional and modern approaches, as well as improved awareness and sharing of resources.

These findings highlight a strong demand for ongoing, practical, and collaborative support to advance One Health initiatives in the Pacific region.

Details

Date and time: 6 November 2025, 12:00 PM (Fiji)

Venue: Virtual

Agenda: Pacific One Health Webinar, 6 Nov 2025