At World Animal Net, we are heartened by these victories, but we believe the animal protection movement can be even better and achieve even more for animals. That’s why we provide so many tools for the movement at no cost to animal advocates. From guidelines for the implementation of humane education programs, to the use of international policy frameworks, laws and constitutions; formation of coalitions and our course on strategic advocacy, we are doing everything we can to ensure that the animal protection movement is:

• effective,
• sustainable,
• collaborative, and
• successful.

To this end, we’ve been busy this year improving and creating new resources for advocates, and in pushing for improved international protections which advocates can use to pressure their own governments to do right by animals.

Here are our major accomplishments for 2015, and if you want to know even more about what we do, here's a comprehensive list of our accomplishments!

1. Completed the Model Animal Welfare Act after four years of painstaking legislative research, drafting and consultations. This will provide the ‘gold standard’ for international animal welfare law and will be formally announced in January 2016.
   
   
2. Finalized a new resource on how to advocate for the inclusion of animal protection in constitutions, including the first-ever comprehensive database of existing provisions around the world.
   
   
3. Helped to develop major animal protection coalitions and alliances through our membership participation and support and by providing best practice advice and resources.
   
   
4. Published new resources on international policy, empowering animal protection organizations around the world to leverage existing policy frameworks to encourage their governments to do the right thing for animals.
   
   
5. Published new research on best practice in humane education, empowering organizations to implement their own humane education programs and to advocate for the introduction of humane education in national curriculums.
   
   
6. WAN was honored to receive special consultative status from the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), allowing us to have a stronger voice for animals at the United Nations.
   
   
7. Advocated for the inclusion of animal welfare and wildlife concerns in stakeholder consultations leading up to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the United Nations.
   
   
8. Continued to host and develop WAN’s International Policy Forum, contributing to the building of effective animal protection advocacy, molding and using the new international policy agenda.
   
   
9. Developed WAN’s role and advocacy regarding the World Organisation for Animal Health’s (OIE’s) animal welfare policies, including influencing the content of global and regional strategies. We used our membership in the International Coalition for Animal Welfare (ICFAW) to contribute research and strategic analysis, attended the OIE General Session in Paris as an ICFAW representative, and were pleased to provide input that helped improve the agenda for the OIE’s 2016 Global Animal Welfare Conference.
   
   
10. Used research to mobilize animal organizations to address animal agriculture’s impact on climate change at COP21, and to inform policy makers.
    
    
11. Supported NatureWatch Foundation in promoting World Animal Day around the world, including in Africa and and the U.S.
    
    
12. Welcomed nearly 100 new organizations to the World Animal Net Directory (add your organization here).
    
    
13. Kept advocates up to date with over 300 animal protection events in one centralized location – the WAN Event Calendar (register your events here).

Want to keep up to date with our work into 2016? Sign up for our monthly newsletter, the World Animal Navigator, and you’ll never miss a thing! Subscribe here, and as always, feel free to drop us a line! We’d love to hear from you.