The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) offers online training courses through Virtual Learning Centers (VLCs). There are six VLCs covering Southern Africa, Africa, Asia/Pacific, Near East and North Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. The courses are targeted toward the needs of each regional VLC to support capacity-building, but cover areas including animal health, food and feed safety, aquaculture, forestry and wildlife management. Courses can be customized and rolled-out as needed based on requests from countries.

These courses are geared toward professionals and practitioners in the target region, providing regionally relevant training opportunities. The VLCs are largely digital (with some face-to-face workshops) and are intended to reach a wide audience at lower costs than otherwise available. Courses are self-paced and tailored to local languages and contexts – often offered bilingually. To support capacity development initiatives, each VLC has different focus areas – whether that be specific diseases of concern (e.g., foot-and-mouth disease), specific skills or professions (e.g., veterinary professionals, specific technical areas (e.g. laboratory biosecurity), or specific identities (e.g., women in leadership). One Health is an overarching framework for the training provided in the VLCs.

The VLC program has offered more than 30 courses as of 2024, and reached participants in over 150 countries. The program aims to expand in the near future.