The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Disease (ECTAD), plans and delivers veterinary assistance to FAO member countries responding to threat of transboundary animal health crises. ECTAD plays a leading role over animal health activities at country level in support of the FAO country office. It is responsible for the planning, implementation and monitoring of country animal health programmes, under the overall administrative supervision of the FAORs and in close coordination with ECTAD regional managers and the animal production and health officers at regional and global level. It also addresses policy issues that mitigate negative health impacts of the expected growth in the livestock sector. Through ECTAD, FAO builds animal health capacity to prevent, detect and respond to zoonotic and non-zoonotic disease outbreaks at source. With funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), FAO is implementing the programme “Supporting the Global Health Security Agenda to address Zoonotic Disease and Animal Health in Africa”. The programme primarily supports the Government of Uganda especially the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries and Fisheries (MAAIF) to enhance capacities to deal with endemic, emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases, including Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) which is a global threat that requires a coordinated and collaborative ‘One Health’ approach across the human-animal-environment interface.

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 Uganda, and the direct supervision of the ECTAD Country Team Leader in Uganda, and technical backstopping of the ECTAD regional team for Eastern Africa.

Tasks and Responsibilities

 The National Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Coordinator will:

• Coordinate implementation of the AMR projects under the FAO Uganda portfolio;
• 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 production and fisheries sectors;
• Collaborate with relevant national authorities to support implementation of existing surveillance systems and capacity building of existing laboratories for the diagnosis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), based on identified gaps;
• Facilitate the operationalization of One Health coordination platforms such as the National and sub-national AMR Committees by supporting routine meetings and other technical matters of importance to AMR Coordination Committees (AMRCC);
• Support generation of evidence to support AMR National policies;
• Support implementation of good practices to reduce AMR;
• Support development of legal frameworks, guidelines, and manuals   to support antimicrobial prudent use, farm biosecurity, and good animal source food processing practices that reduce AMR;
• Adapt existing advocacy tools to the country’s situation and support AMR awareness campaigns through the One Health approach;
• Engage and collaborate with relevant national authorities, institutions, organizations, and stakeholders, including the WHO and OIE national focal point and delegates to promote FAO/OIE/WHO Tripartite collaboration in support of the implementation of the Global Action Plan on AMR;
• Produce periodic reports on project implementation status;

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree in Veterinary Medicine and a post-graduate study in veterinary diagnostics
• Ugandan National
• Working knowledge of English

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical Competencies and Experience Requirements:

• Five years of relevant experience in animal health activities 
• Experience in the management and control of livestock diseases
• Extensive knowledge on  and reasonable experience in  AMR/AMU in livestock
• Extensive knowledge of the main aspects of prevention and control of high impact emerging and re-emerging zoonotic and non-zoonotic disease in livestock
• Extensive experience in the veterinary diagnostics on zoonoses and non-zoonotic animal diseases
• Systematic document review and analysis and technical report writing skills
• Experience in organizing and facilitating stakeholder consultative meetings and preparation of reports/ proceedings
• Experience in large data collection, analysis and reporting
• Experience in utilization of various antimicrobials along the livestock value chain
• Proven record in writing/documenting and editing of technical/scientific papers and manuscripts