The first East African Roadmap Meeting on the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Progressive Control Pathway was held on 5-6 March 2012 in Nairobi, Kenya.The events brought together, for the first time the Eastern African country's CVOs, as well as national FMD laboratory experts from the region to share information, experiences, achievements, challenges and plans on the development of a Long Term Roadmap for Progressive FMD control.

The meeting was a follow-up to the FAO/OIE/AU-IBAR Meeting of regional FMD experts and institutions, held in January 2009, at which the vision of an "Eastern Africa region in which FMD is under control and approaching disease freedom in the majority of member states by 2020" was first developed; and provided an opportunity to review progress ahead of the Global Conference on FMD Control organised by FAO and OIE in June 2012.

The meeting was organised by FAO in consultation with OIE, and hosted by AU-IBAR, and supported by the FAO through the Netherlands Trust Fund. On behalf of FAO and OIE invitations were sent to the Chief Veterinary Officers (CVOs) and to the FAO national consultants on FMD from the 12 countries in Eastern Africa.