National Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Specialist

Organizational Setting

The FAO Representation in Egypt supports the Government of Egypt in developing key strategies to guide the sustainable development of agriculture and food security including sustainable development of the livestock sector. Through its Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD), FAO Egypt has established longstanding partnership with the Government of Egypt for enhancing the capacity of the animal health system and to fight animal diseases including those transmissible to humans (zoonotic diseases). FAO Representation operates under the overall guidance of the Regional Office for the North East Africa (RNE), which supports regional policy dialogue on food security, agriculture and rural development issues, as well as capacity development and resource mobilization for food security, agriculture and rural development in the region.

The tasks envisaged for this consultancy are to be carried out through the Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD), which is currently implementing a number of projects in various countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Within the ECTAD framework, the Animal Production and Health Division (NSA) is closely working with the Office of Emergencies and Resilience (OER) to support various aspects of the animal health and AMR programmes of FAO, including the USAID-funded Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT-2) and Global Health Security Programme (GHSP) and the UK-funded (Fleming Fund) for AMR.

The position is located in the FAO Office in Cairo, Egypt.

Reporting Lines

The Consultant works under the overall guidance of the FAO Representative for Egypt and will be directly reporting to the ECTAD Team Leader. He/she will work in close coordination with the ECTAD Egypt Team, the technical backstopping of the regional and global AMR focal points and in collaboration with all relevant Governmental and nongovernmental partners.

Technical Focus

Best practices in animal production and specialized livestock production systems, herd and flock health, prevention and hygiene, prudent use of antimicrobial medicines and mitigation of antimicrobial resistance.

Tasks and responsibilities

The Consultant will take a leading role in implementing the following tasks:

• Facilitate and contribute to the process of implementing the national action plan (NAP) on AMR to reduce the threat of AMR in the agriculture, livestock and fisheries sectors.
• Coordinate and support the implementation of AMR activities planned under the Global Health Security Program (GHSP) and other FAO projects that aim at mitigating public health and economic impacts of AMR in Egypt.
• Facilitate the generation of knowledge and uptake of good husbandry and biosecurity practices that aim to mitigate AMR threat in selected priority livestock value chains in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MALR).
• Support the promotion of good husbandry practices and raise awareness on AMR threats and prudent antimicrobial use (AMU) in the livestock and fisheries sectors in collaboration with relevant governmental and non-governmental organizations.
• Coordinate, facilitate and contribute to the development of AMR and AMU awareness and communication strategy in coordination with all stakeholders including the food and agriculture sector, the public health sector as well as other relevant partners.
• Engage and collaborate with relevant national authorities, institutions, organizations and stakeholders including the WHO and OIE national focal points to promote FAO/OIE/WHO Tripartite collaboration in support of the implementation of the Global Action Plan on AMR.
• Facilitate and contribute to the development of AMU guidelines for the livestock sector in collaboration with the relevant Ministries.
• Facilitate capacity assessment of the animal health system for undertaking AMR surveillance using FAO’s Assessment Tool for Laboratories and AMR Surveillance Systems (FAO-ATLASS) in collaboration with the relevant FAO units at and national authorities.
• In collaboration with national authorities and other relevant partners, support capacity building of veterinary laboratories for AMR testing, based on identified gaps.
• Facilitate national consultations with government authorities, civil society and private sector to advocate for enforcement of national legislations, guidelines and regulations relevant to AMU.
• Assist in the establishment and operationalization of AMR multi-sectoral working group that serve as One Health (OH) coordination platform on AMR under the National OH Platform.
• Adapt existing advocacy tools to the country’s situation and support AMR awareness campaigns through the One Health approach.
• Produce periodic reports on project implementation status.
• Perform other duties as required by the ECTAD Team Leader and FAOR.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree in veterinary microbiology, epidemiology or related field.
• Minimum of 5-year experience in AMR strategy formulation, surveillance, diagnosis, capacity development.
• Demonstrated experience and technical knowledge in the areas of AMR surveillance, diagnostics and OH approach.
• Working knowledge of English and Arabic.
• National of Egypt.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Relevance and extent of experience in working with inter-governemental bodies and multi-disciplinary teams.
• Excellent organizational skills;
• Good analytical skills with strong orientation to details
• Experience in report writing and data analysis
• Demonstrated communication skills, including the ability to convey and present sensitive issues/positions.

Selection Criteria

Based on above minimum requirements, competencies and skills