Dr Bewket Siraw during the 2012 OIE Gap-Analysis mission to Ethiopia. Pictures (c) T. Hunt (CFIA) 2012.
The OIE has learned of the untimely passing away on 27 January 2021, of the former Chief Veterinary Officer and OIE Delegate of Ethiopia, Dr Bewket Siraw.
Dr Siraw was Director of the then Animal and Plant Health Regulatory Directorate (APHRD) from 2011 – 2016 and later went on to work for -amongst others – the Regional Office for Africa of Tufts University and the Liberia Country Office of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
He will be remembered as a dynamic and forward looking professional, with deep respect for science and undeniable leadership skills, who modernised and brough technological innovations to the veterinary services, often on the basis of recommendations of the PVS Pathway missions, of which he was an avid supporter.
He was also the former President of the Ethiopian Veterinary Association (EVA).
Bewket also served his country as Director of Livestock Research and Head of the Department of Livestock Resources Development in Amhara State.
He passed away on 27 January 2021, while seeking medical treatment in India and lies buried in his native Ethiopia.
Below : Dr Bewket as President of the EVA at the Annual Conference in Addis Ababa, in 2015. Picture (c) P. Bastiaensen (oie) 2015.
