African swine fever technical specialist

African Swine Fever (ASF) is a haemorrhagic viral disease of pigs, which does not pose a direct threat to human health, but has devastating impact on livelihoods, food security, nutrition and incomes in a variety of ways. The recent escalation of the ASF epidemic around the world has placed the majority of the world’s swine population under direct threat. To respond to this challenge, well-coordinated national, regional and global efforts will be required, not only by governments of the FAO Member Countries, national Veterinary Services and other public institutions, but also by a range of different stakeholders, including but not limited to the pig production industry, universities, research centres, forestry management bodies, hunter’s associations, tourism and animal transportation organisations, civil society sector and international organisations. A holistic, inter-sectoral and trans-disciplinary collaborative approach, with effective and participative allocation and management of sufficient resources, will be of paramount importance to prevent further spread and to control ASF worldwide. The ASF specialist will contribute to the implementation of ASF component of the Global Framework for Progressive Control of Transboundary Animal Diseases (GF-TADs) DTRA-funded project, participate and coordinate activities on the development, revision and implementation of the Global control of African swine fever \: a GF-TADs initiative and regional control strategies in Asia and Africa.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall guidance of the Chief, Animal Health Service (AGAH)/Chief Veterinary Officer – FAO (CVO), and the direct supervision of the Animal Health Officer of AGAH, in close coordination with the GF-TADs DTRA- funded project task force, including the Lead Technical Officer, Project Coordinator and Operations team, the incumbent will focus on providing required technical support to FAO project implementation.

The incumbent will focus on providing required technical support to the implementation of the ASF global control initiative at the global and regional levels.

• Will have overall responsibility for all technical components of the ASF component of the DTRA-funded project and oversee the development of project deliverables;

• Interact with the different project technical leads both at HQ and regional level and coordinate all technical inputs for reporting and other technical purposes including but not limited to regular inter-actions with regional and subregional Animal Health Officers, ECTAD ASF Regional Coordinator (Southeast Asia);

• Engage and collaborate with relevant global, regional, national authorities, institutions, organizations and stakeholders, including the OIE, AU-IBAR, ASEAN, ILRI, on the implementation of the project;

Coordination the implementation of the Global control of ASF\: a GF-TADs initiative

• In close cooperation with OIE counterpart, contribute to establishment and functioning of the GF-TADs Working Group on ASF;

• Provide secretariat support to the GF TADS Working Group on ASF;

• In close cooperation with GF-TADs Regional Standing Groups of Experts on African swine fever set up an ASF Global Standing Group of Experts (AGSGE) at the global level and follow up on action items between AGSGE meetings;

• In close coordination with OIE counterpart prepare the quarterly reports at HQs and collate and review the quarterly reports from the regions for assembly into an ASF consolidated report for submission to the donor in coordination with other components of GF-TADs project.

• Contribute to develop/ review of global and regional strategies and action plans,

• Contribute to technical meetings in terms of technical content and liaison with partners like OIE, AU-IBAR, ASEAN, capacity development workshops, policy guidance, providing contribution to all regions

• Support monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities, as required, in collaboration with the M&E team

• Draft progress reports and the annual report on ASF global component of the project

• Advanced university degree in microbiology, diagnostics, vaccinology, emergency disease management or related field in transboundary animal diseases is required and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree is desirable
• At least three-year experience in ASF-related activities
• Working knowledge of English and limited knowledge of one of the FAO languages; Arabic, French, Spanish, Chinese or Russian

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Work experience in national and international entities and industry
• Extent and relevance of experience in transboundary animal diseases with main focus on ASF
• Extent and relevance of experience in surveillance, biosecurity in pig production and diagnostics
• Familiarity with ASF control strategies
• Good understanding of institutional issues related to animal health in developing countries