Regional Programme Officer (Veterinary workforce development / eradication of peste des petits ruminants (PPR)) at World Organisation for Animal Health

Positioning and reporting

Under the authority of the Director General, the Programme Officer will work under the direct supervision of the OIE Sub-Regional Representative for Eastern Africa and in collaboration with the Capacity-Building Department, the Status Department and the Engagement and Investment Department (World Fund) at the OIE Headquarters in Paris. He/she will work in close cooperation with other Regional Representatives, and other officers involved in similar activities (in particular in West and Central Africa and in Eastern Europe).

Context

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) is an intergovernmental organisation recognised by the World Trade Organization as the reference Organisation for intergovernmental standards concerning the sanitary safety of international trade of animals and products of animal origin and zoonoses, and is in charge of improving animal health, veterinary public health and animal welfare worldwide, as well as transparency of the global animal disease situation. The OIE maintains permanent relations with nearly 75 international and regional Organisations and has 13 regional offices around the globe.
Since the adoption in 2015, in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, of the global strategy for the control and eradication of peste des petits ruminants (PPR), both OIE and FAO are supporting member countries in addressing the challenges of controlling this transboundary animal disease (TAD) in order to achieve worldwide eradication by 2030.
In Africa, one of the key challenges in meeting this objective is the availability of a qualified veterinary workforce at all levels of implementation of the global strategy, i.e. continental, regional, national, but especially at field level, where disease surveillance needs to be conducted and animals (sheep and goats) need to be vaccinated to break the cycle of transmission of the virus from one animal to another and from one herd to another. The training, skills and equipment of veterinary paraprofessionals (VPP, as defined by the OIE), in addition of those of (graduate) veterinarians, will be critical in years to come if the disease is to be brought under control in all 49 affected countries in Africa.
The OIE is implementing several initiatives aimed at supporting the development of a qualified and skilled veterinary workforce, with a particular attention to the category of veterinary paraprofessionals (VPPs). In Eastern Africa, these initiatives will have a particular focus on the eradication of peste des petits ruminants (PPR).
The main project under the incumbent’s responsibility is “The Prevention and Control of Transboundary Animal Diseases for the benefit of smallholder farmers” (PCTAD), financed through the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
The PCTAD programme pursues several objectives to be attained by the end of 2024, one of which is to “control and eradicate peste des petits ruminants” through the following outputs:
Selected countries have analysed their PPR situation and their capacities to control PPR in the context of the PPR Global Control and Eradication Strategy (GCES) and PPR Global Eradication Programme (GEP) 2018 – 2023. This may concern several of the countries covered in the (wider) eastern Africa region: Burundi, Congo (DRC), Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and/or Uganda.
Veterinary paraprofessionals operate in an environment that enables PPR control; this entails supporting countries to establish an enabling environment for the Veterinary Workforce through the OIE PVS Veterinary Legislation Support Programme (VLSP), to improve its VSB regulatory framework and put into place an enabling environment whereby the trained VPPs can be recognised by and work within the national Veterinary Services (both the public and private components).
Veterinary paraprofessionals are trained and equipped to support PPR control and eradication through a cascade approach to training of VPPs, starting with identified national training institutions, delivering training based on curricula that are compliant with the OIE Competency Guidelines for VPPs and the OIE Curricula Guidelines for VPPs.
In selected countries, small ruminants are regularly vaccinated in hot-spot areas through programmatic support to the implementation of best-practice mass vaccination of small ruminants in high risk areas, with the aim of reaching a post vaccination immunity level of at least 70% to break the virus transmission cycle.
The incumbent will be responsible for the implementation of this programme in the Eastern Africa region, also working in close cooperation with staff entrusted with the (PPR) Global Eradication Programme (GEP) and the OIE’s global VPP Programme. The incumbent will take a technical lead to support countries in PPR disease control and eradication efforts, and in VPP training and deployment.

Job description

The Regional Programme Officer contributes to the OIE’s strategy on PPR disease control and eradication as well as on veterinary paraprofessionals (VPPs) by participating in the implementation of related OIE sub-regional activities in Eastern Africa. He/she is responsible for providing technical support to the countries of the sub-region and contributing to the management of activities related to the OIE PPR GCES and GEP, with a focus on the role of VPPs. In addition, he/she contributes to the promotion of these activities in the sub-region and ensures stakeholder outreach and engagement.

Responsibilities and activities

• Ensure the delivery of technical support activities
• Act as the technical contact point on PPR / VPP for the region and provide topic-specific advice on matters relating to the programme,
• Organise and support regional and international workshops, meetings, and conferences relevant to the programme, including providing local support to the PPR Secretariat for OIE/FAO GEP roadmap meetings for the Eastern Africa region,
• Contribute to training and awareness materials for country/national workshops in collaboration with relevant OIE Department and Units, as well as experts from OIE Specialist Commissions (Code Commission and Scientific Commission) and their ad-hoc groups,
• Use available data to develop country profiles relative to PPR/VPP activities in relevant / selected countries;
• Liaise with relevant internal and external stakeholders on matters pertaining to the PPR Global Eradication Programme (GEP).
• Contribute to the coordination of activities related to VPPs and PPR in the sub-region
• Ensure the overall technical coordination and follow-up of the veterinary workforce development / PPR programme in Eastern Africa, in the framework of the PC-TADs funding (BMZ) and ensure integration and alignment with parallel initiatives, implemented in other regions,
• Identify risks and analyse, manage and propose mitigation measures to ensure timely delivery of programme outputs and attain outcomes,
• Coordinate specific technical activities and deliverables (including those implemented by consultants and external implementers),
• In collaboration with the project team, contribute to the development of a detailed operational work plan and programme monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework, performance metrics and data capture system to track programme performance.
• Contribute to communication and stakeholder engagement
• Contribute to the development and implementation of a communication plan targeting the two topics : PPR and VPP, in collaboration with staff involved in the programme and the Communications Department,
• Represent the OIE at external meetings as relevant, including regional control and eradication coordination committee meetings (CECC) convened under the auspices of the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) as part of the regional PPR Control and Eradication Strategy for Eastern Africa,
• Ensure partner engagement including with national Veterinary Services, VPP training institutions and other relevant stakeholders in the region,
• Contribute to the preparation of background documents and progress reports for the BMZ funding governance mechanisms in collaboration with the OIE’s Capacity-Building Department (VPP), the OIE’s Status Department (PPR) and the OIE Engagement and Investment Department (World Fund).
• Provide general support to the work of the Subregional Representation
• Contribute to drafting technical / scientific papers, posters, website articles and other relevant informative technical and communication material to promote the programme’s objectives,
• Assist the Sub-Regional Representative in managing the day-to-day technical issues in the sub-region, including following up Member Countries on required information, conducting country visits, etc.,
• Carry out other related activities as assigned by the Director General.

Qualifications and experience

Required qualifications

• Graduate degree in Veterinary Science, veterinary public health, public administration, animal production or equivalent,
• Minimum of 10 years of professional experience, with at least 5 years in the coordination of regional or international programmes related to animal health and production in developing countries,
• Professional experience in English-speaking Africa;
• Demonstrated professional background (through post-graduate qualifications or work experience) in veterinary epidemiology and/or management of transboundary animal diseases (TADs);
• And/or
• Demonstrated professional background (through post-graduate qualifications or work experience) in policy/strategy formulation and/or legislative/regulatory review and/or last mile veterinary service delivery;

Desirable qualifications and experience (assets)

• Professional background in the prevention, control and/or eradication of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) or other TADs of small ruminants;
• Professional background in the formulation and/or delivery of training for veterinary paraprofessionals curriculum development, continuous education / continuous professional development (CPD) and/or approaches to adult learning;
• Professional background in the review, development and improvement of primary and secondary legislation;
• Affinity with the OIE Performance of Veterinary Services (PVS) Pathway and methodologies;
• Affinity with e-Learning approaches and technologies.
• Prior exposure to programme / project planning and management, as well as experience with donor-requirements (logical framework approaches, auditing, performance dashboards and GANTT tables, monitoring and evaluation);

Requirements

Technical skills

• Advanced command of the English language, both written and oral, with related skills required in scientific writing and editing of reports, briefs and papers;
• Intermediate command of the French language, both written and oral;
• Significant experience with the use of the Microsoft Office suite;

Additional skills

Knowledge of Portuguese, Arabic or Kiswahili is considered an asset ;

Interpersonal skills

• Demonstrated skills in interpersonal relations and the ability to develop synergies and partnerships with key stakeholders;
• Capacity to work in a multi-cultural environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity.
• Demonstrated capacity to communicate to larger audiences, using supports such as power-point presentations and social media channels;
• To be highly organised, independent, and a diplomatic professional.

Working conditions

The incumbent will be based at the OIE Sub-regional representation in Nairobi, Kenya. This post requires flexibility to travel internationally and long hours in a seated position at a computer.