Organizational Setting
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has been advocating and promoting the importance of multisectoral and multidisciplinary approach for health management encompassing preparedness, prevention, detection, and response of health threats such as zoonotic diseases (ZDs), Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and food safety arising at human-animal-environment interface. The FAO’s Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) assists governments to develop policies, programmes and projects to address these threats and provides technical support for the sustainable development of their One Health (OH) initiatives.
Under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded Global Health Security (GHS) Programme, several activities are being implemented in Mozambique in the areas of surveillance and One Health, amongst others. Subsequently, FAO is recruiting a Surveillance Specialist to support the animal health surveillance activities of the veterinary services (VS) and act as the One Health (OH) focal point of the programme in the country.
The position is based in the ECTAD office of the FAO Representation in Maputo, Mozambique.
Reporting Lines
Under the overall supervision of the Senior Animal Health Officer/ ECTAD Global Programme Coordinator (NSAH), the functional and administrative supervision of the FAO Representative in Mozambique and the direct supervision of the ECTAD Country Team Leader in Mozambique, and technical backstopping of the ECTAD regional team for Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), the surveillance specialist will support the country VS in the development and implementation of surveillance activities and act as the One health focal point for the FAO ECTAD Mozambique team while supporting the National OH platfo
Technical Focus
Implementation of the ” Supporting the Global Health Security Agenda to address zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and animal health in Mozambique” project (OSRO/GLO/1148/USA).
Tasks and responsibilities
The Surveillance Specialist will perform the following tasks:
• Draft a national animal health (AH) surveillance strategy (plan) – incorporating the key observations made by several assessments (PVS, JEE, and SET) of the AH surveillance system in Mozambique.
• Support an integrated disease surveillance and response (IDSR) of the AH sector through:
• Strengthening of the use of standardized forms for slaughter/veterinary facilities (any established premise, structure or ambulatory service where any animal is attended (Animal Health Regulations, Decree 26/2009 of 17 August), and notification forms for priority animal diseases
• Train stakeholders on new forms and notification procedures
• Create a transition plan to move to full digitization of animal health reporting
• Increase coverage of electronic reporting system (EMA-I or similar) to cover all districts in Mozambique
• Support the strengthening and institutionalization of the existing governance structure for animal health surveillance at all levels
• Support the VS to generate a digital register of technical personnel involved in animal health surveillance who are trained on risk assessment and conduct relevant import and export risk assessments, including a support to the VS to:
• Develop an inventory of personnel trained on RA
• Customize RA protocol and SOP
• Undertake import RA
• Undertake export RA
• Disseminate RA findings for decision making
• Conduct correction measures as relevant
• Develop protocols for priority animal diseases in line with surveillance objectives and establish SOP for regular protocol review, this may include but not restricted to supporting the VS to:
• Clearly identify all national partners (private sector, higher learning institutions, farmers’ association, and multisectoral collaborators) and development partners.
• Work with all partners to develop field surveillance guidelines and protocols.
• Validate all protocols and guideline in expert meetings with other stakeholders/partners.
• Disseminate protocols to all levels and organise required trainings.
• Develop an early warning system mechanism and generate a digital register of outbreak investigation and rapid response team (RRT) personnel and associated SOP, this include supporting the VS to specifically:
• Develop early notification trigger in the relational database for priority zoonotic diseases (PZDs) and priority transboundary animal diseases (PTADs).
• Review outbreak investigation SOP.
• Develop outbreak investigation SOP defining personnel requirement (type, roles and number) and reporting procedures and formats.
• Develop an inventory of personnel to be involved in the outbreak investigation and response.
• Validate SOP and inventory with other stakeholders/partners.
• Disseminate outbreak investigation SOP to all levels and organize required trainings.
• Support animal diseases informatics.
• Support the national OH platform and the implementation of the PASS.
• Undertake any other assignments as may be requested by the supervisor.
CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWINGMinimum Requirements
• Advanced University degree in Veterinary Epidemiology/animal health/public health or a related field.
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in animal health surveillance and the use of OH approaches in disease informatics.
• Working knowledge of English (C) and Portuguese.
• National of MOZAMBIQUE.
FAO Core Competencies
• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement
Technical/Functional Skills• Conversant with epidemiological tools for mapping disease hotspots
• Professional experience in veterinary epidemiology, including production of disease hotspot maps.
• Experience in conducting AH disease surveillance in a Southern Africa context.
• Experience with OH initiatives.
• Demonstrated evidence of skills in data analysis and use of various online platforms.
• Ability to work in interdisciplinary teams, and good interpersonal skills.
• Good computer skills as well as ability to use epidemiological tools.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing)
- Applications received after the closing date will not be accepted
- Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/
- For additional employment opportunities visit the FAO employment website: http://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/
- Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, and security clearances.
