The Second Regional Aerial Desert Locust Survey and Control training course wasorganized by CRC and DLCO-EA, it was held in Nazareth, Ethiopia during the period 08-11 June 2009. Particpants were from Egypt, Ethiopia, Oman, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, and from Inernationl Red Locust Control Organization for Centarl and Southern Africa.

The Secretary of the Commission in the Central Region had travelled to Agadir, Morocco in the period 21-29 June to participe in the 5th Session of the Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Western Region (CLOCPRO).

The CRC Secretary and the DG of the Locust Control Centre in Egypt visited the Locust Bases along the Red Sea coast during the period 12-17 April to evaluate the situation, staff status and their prepardness during recession and in case of emergency.

The Secretary of the Commission travelled to Rome in the period 9-14 March and participed in the 39th Session of the Desert Locust Control Committee.

The fifth Sub-regional training Course on Desert Locust Survey and Control operations will be organized by CRC in Damascus, Syria during the period 05-16 July 2009. Particpants are from Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and one participant from the Western Region.

FAO HQ (Mr. C. Pantenius) and CRC will organize a Contingency Planning Workshop in Cairo, Egypt during the period 26-31 July, participants are ELO from each of Egypt, Eritrea, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen.

In Ethiopia, no new swarms have arrived from northern Somalia since 10 June but there are about a dozen swarms reported in the country. Many of the swarms split into smaller swarmlets and groups that have moved into the Somali region (Shinile and Jijiga zones), Dire Dawa, Oromiya (E. and W. Haraghe zones), Harari, and the central Rift Valley in Afar (zones 3 and 5). A small swarm moved into the northern highlands (North Wello) on 9 June and reached southern Tigray on the 12th. Small groups of adults also arrived in southern Gondar zone in Amhara region on the 14th. Control operations are nearly impossible because the immature swarms are very mobile and difficult to follow in the rugged and inaccessible terrain. Some damage occurred on irrigated cotton crops in the Afar region. The situation in northern Somalia and in Yemen remains unclear due to a lack of surveys. Ground surveys resumed today in northern Somalia to check areas on the plateau and escarpment where immature swarms have been reported between Boroma and Erigavo. There remains a high risk that a few small swarms from northern Ethiopia could reach the summer breeding areas of western Eritrea and central Sudan while other swarms from northern Somalia could cross the Gulf of Aden and move along the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula and cross the Arabian Sea to the summer breeding areas along the Indo-Pakistan border. National locust teams are on alert and have been mobilized in Eritrea, Sudan, Oman, Pakistan and India. So far, no swarms have been reported in these countries.