Vétérinaires Sans Frontières-Switzerland (VSF-Suisse), a member of the Agriconsulting Europe S.A. (AESA) led consortium, is looking for a short-term NON-KEY EXPERT IN ZOONOTIC DISEASE SURVEILLANCE AND CONTROL for the project EuropeAid/139583/IH/SER/ET "Technical Assistance (T.A.) to Support E.U. - Health of Ethiopian Animals for Rural Development (E.U.- HEARD). The Health of Ethiopian Animals for Rural Development (HEARD) is a 4-year EU-funded project which commenced in January 2019 and is managed by the Ministry of Agriculture, State Ministry of Livestock Resources.
HEARD Project activities are directly implemented by five grantees contracted by the National Authorising Officer: (i) the International Livestock Research Institute and Ethiopian Veterinary Association, (ii) the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and (iii, iv and v) the Livestock Bureau/Agencies of Amhara, Oromia and Somali National Regional States (NRS). The overall project is monitored, coordinated, assisted, and advised by the MoA HEARD Project Coordination Unit (PCU) with support from a Technical Assistance Team (TAT) provided by Agriconsulting Europe S.A. (AESA) led consortium.
This consultancy will provide support to the Veterinary Public Health Directorate of the Animal Health Sector of the State Ministry for Livestock Resources in order to improve joint control, surveillance and awareness of selected priority diseases by developing guidelines/manuals and SOPs. Organisational relationships
The Zoonotic diseases NKE (the Expert) will be answerable to the Team Leader of the TAT. He/she will work alongside national counterpart technicians. The majority of tasks will be undertaken in close collaboration with staff of (i) the Veterinary Public Health Directorate (ii) the Epidemiology Directorate (iii) the Animal Disease Prevention and Control Directorate and (as required) Ethiopia’s One Health platform.
Advise and assist the Directorate of Public Health In confirming list of priority zoonotic diseases and the known current status of each (distribution, animal and human incidence/prevalence, hosts, current prevention / control strategies and their effectiveness, etc). Create greater awareness of zoonoses and prevention and control strategies and, as required, strengthen cooperation of the MoA with the One Health Platform via the National One Health Steering committee
The expert shall ensure that all recommendations are practical and their implementation will be sustainable in the medium term.
The expert shall work closely with counterpart staff in a consultative and participatory manner, and to ensure a holistic approach is taken to disease control and surveillance also, as possible, with the HEARD Disease Control NKE and the HEARD Animal Disease Surveillance NKE,
The expert, in agreement with the Director, may be required to carry out additional related duties.
i. Target zoonotic diseases identified.
ii. Developed guidelines, manuals and SOPs for selected zoonotic disease joint surveillance, monitoring and control (focussing on priority zoonotic diseases) which are based on meeting the needs of counterparts.
iii. Trained animal health experts in regions/zones and Weredas on zoonotic diseases surveillance, control and prevention.
iv. As required/possible One Health platform and regular information sharing supported.
v. Awareness of national and regional level zoonotic disease has been strengthened through development and distribution of Education, Information and Communication materials.
vi. Zoonotic disease joint surveillance and control strategy implementation has been supported by v. above
vii. Developed outbreak investigation guideline for priority zoonoses.
viii. Developed training slides/PowerPoint presentations on priority zoonoses.
ix. Developed zoonotic disease reporting guidelines (abattoir, university clinics, quarantine stations, private clinic, laboratory and public health sectors, Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority and research institutions)
An Inception Report to be submitted at the end of week 1 of the assignment.
Four days before the end of the assignment, a succinct end of assignment report comprising an executive summary, introduction, brief description of approach and methodology, recommendations and acknowledgements. Detailed material to be presented in a series of Annexes. This report shall be submitted at least 3 working days before the end of the assignment to allow comments from the TAT team and counterparts to be incorporated before departure of the STE.
The report and its annexes shall include the findings etc for the nine results listed in 2.5 above.
It is to be noted that payment of fees will depend on acceptance of these outputs by the HEARD project manager.
The expert will be provided with:
· Use of desk with access to electricity supply (the expert shall provide his/her own laptop).
· Use of printer and stationery for production of reports.
· Introductions to all relevant stakeholders
· Assistance and advice as required.
The Expert will be based at the Ministry of Agriculture in Addis Ababa and will be required to consult with the HEARD grantees and selected interventions preferably by making field visits – but if (some of) these are not possible then through virtual meetings.
The intended commencement date is January 2023 and the period of implementation of the contract will be 30 person days (7 weeks) from the start date.
· A degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) or equivalent from a recognized University and a postgraduate degree in a VPH or Epidemiology
· Training on zoonoses, risk analysis, zoonotic disease surveillance would be an advantage.
· Minimum of 7 years of senior professional experience in a veterinary service. Experience and or knowledge of the animal health situation of the eastern Africa region will be an additional asset.
· Good knowledge of the English language;
· High level of skill in preparation of reports
· Excellent organisational, planning and communication skills;
· Working / collaborating with One Health platforms, National veterinary service would also be an additional asset.
· Proven experience in the design and/or establishment and/or management of national zoonotic disease control and surveillance systems,
· Experience in developing, organizing and delivering focussed training programmes.
· Knowledge and use of OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code (specifically Section 6) and the provisions of the Codex Alimentarius.
· Experience in food traceability systems.
| Title | Time of submission | Contents |
| Inception | End of Week 1 | Situation analysis Work plan |
| Interim | In week 5 | Interim summary of findings and recommendation |
| Final | 5 working days before end of assignment to enable the project manager to comment on contents. The expert should submit and approves final report before the last day of the assignment. | A succinct description of the activities, results achieved, recommendations, constraints etc. Annexes should be attached in which the outcomes/findings of the nine activities listed in 2.5 are presented in detail. |
The deliverables of the expert will be evaluated by the Project Coordination Unit for the State Minister. The reports and recommendations will be assessed against the requirements as given in these terms of reference. Trainings given will be assessed on content, the opinions of participants and the value of course notes and manuals.
Relevant targets given in the project Logical Framework (being updated) must be respected.