The OIE is the intergovernmental organization responsible for improving animal health worldwide. The need to combat animal diseases globally led to the creation of the International Office of Epizootic Diseases through the international agreement signed on 25 January 1924.
In May 2003, the Office became the World Organization for Animal Health, but kept its historical acronym OIE. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, the OIE has seen its role and activity grow in close coordination with WHO, FAO and UNEP, which sees it at the heart of the “One Health” approach. The quadripartite alliance aims to address the needs of the most vulnerable populations on the basis of the intimate relationship between their health, the health of their animals and the environment in which they live, considering the broad spectrum of determinants that emerge from this relationship. The OIE is recognized as a reference organization by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and has a total of 183 member countries.
The OIE maintains permanent relationships with nearly 75 other international and regional organizations and has 13 regional and sub-regional offices on all continents. The organization is placed under the authority and control of a World Assembly of Delegates composed of delegates nominated by the governments of all member countries. The financial resources of the OIE derive mainly from compulsory annual contributions supported by voluntary contributions from member countries. Bilateral collaboration with Italy was greatly strengthened in 2021, following specific agreements with the Ministry of Health, the Istituto Superiore di Sanità and the network of zooprophylactic institutes. The day-to-day operations of the OIE are managed at its headquarters in Paris under the responsibility of a director general elected by the World Assembly of Delegates.
The French Monique Eloit is the current Director General, the first woman elected to the position on 26 May 2015 and reconfirmed for a second five-year term in 2021.
Official site: https://www.oie.int/