National Epidemiologist

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. FAO in Ghana has been implementing activities in close cooperation with the Government of Ghana since its establishment in 1957. FAO’s goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active healthy lives. We believe that everyone can play a part in ending hunger. The tasks envisaged for this consultancy are to be carried out through the Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD), which is currently implementing several projects in various countries in Africa. Within the ECTAD framework, the Animal Production and Health Division (NSA) is closely working with the Emergency and Resilience Division (OER) under the Strategic Program 5 to support various aspects of the animal health programme of FAO, including the Global Health Security (GHS) project.

Reporting Lines

Under the general supervision of the FAO Representative (FAOR) in Ghana, the overall supervision of ECTAD Regional Manager for West & Central Africa (WCA), and the direct supervision of the Country Team Leader of ECTAD Ghana, and in close collaboration with the ECTAD Ghana and ECTAD regional team for West and Central Africa.

Technical Focus

Strengthening national capacities for early detection, preparedness and rapid response to emerging, re-emerging and endemic priority zoonotic disease.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Support the assessment of the status of surveillance capacities using SET, JRA and EMT tools, and the implementation of recommendations in the country; • Support the implementation of capacity building activities relevant to emerging and re-emerging zoonotic and non-zoonotic disease (rEID) surveillance in livestock in the country. This includes: o Support the preparation and implementation of national surveillance plans based on the results of the risk assessment and mapping activities; o Support the planning and implementation of sample collection from livestock in targeted farming systems, value chain nodes and at domestic animals-wildlife interfaces at risk; o Support the country on Epi data collection, analysis and dissemination to decision makers from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, One health platform stakeholders and partners on regular basis; o Plan and organize capacity development of animal health systems through the use of field epidemiology training and participatory epidemiology approaches targeting veterinarians, animal health technicians, community animal health workers and farmers; o Provide technical assistance to the country on the use of mobile applications for data collection from the field (example: Event Mobile Application (EMA-i) app, Kobo toolbox, Epi Value Chain – EVC Platform etc.); o Provide technical assistance to the country to develop and the implement the animal mobility data collection across the country and at the borders; o Analyze surveillance results and facilitate data sharing with the region and project partners. • Support risk assessment/mapping exercises at the human/livestock/wildlife interface and along the livestock/bush meat value chain in collaboration with national stakeholders; • Support the implementation and monitoring of the Animal Health workforce development activities (In-Service Applied Veterinary Epidemiology - ISAVET); • Contribute to the development and the implementation of disease surveillance tools, protocols and procedures; • Contribute to support the operationalization of the One Health approach at country level and to promote multisectoral coordination and animal health networking; • Compile the country Epi data on weekly basis and share with the ECTAD regional office; • Contribute to the preparation of the weekly updates on the epidemiology situation in West and Central Africa under the supervision of the regional epidemiologist; • Contribute to the elaboration of national and regional strategies for animal disease prevention and control, development of plans and protocols for epidemiological investigations and studies; • Assist in outbreak investigations for priority diseases and participate in emergency preparedness and rapid response missions; • Assist in the organization of training workshops, simulation exercises and other technical meetings; • Contribute to the preparation of the project documents and annual work plans of ECTAD Ghana relevant to epidemiology and surveillance; • Contribute to implementation of annual work plans in close collaboration with the ECTAD team and the other staff of FAO office in Accra; • Contribute to resource mobilization efforts through writing and submitting project proposals; • Contribute to the preparation of project reports as required by the Governments, FAO and donors; • At the end of this assignment, prepare an end-of-assignment report articulating achievements, difficulties encountered and recommendations; • Perform other related duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Veterinary medicine degree (DVM) and Advanced university degree in Veterinary Epidemiology/Public Health (PhD, MSc or advanced FETP certificate) • At least Five (5) years of relevant working experience on disease control and surveillance, outbreak investigation, risk assessment/mapping and with proven experience in design and implementation of epidemiological studies • Working knowledge of English • National of Ghana

FAO Core Competencies

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

Functional Skills

• Extent and relevance of experience in the design and implementation of disease surveillance and control plans • Extent and relevance of experience in qualitative and quantitative data analysis • Extent and relevance of experience in the design and evidence of implementation of cross sectional and longitudinal studies • Effective written presentation skills, particularly ability to present epidemiological data in a concise, logical and accurate manner • Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to operate effectively across organizational boundaries • Excellent skills and ability to use Microsoft software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint,…) and data management/analysis software (R, STATA, EPI Info, SPSS, QGIS, ArcGIS, Kobo collect, SurveyMonkey,…) • Good judgment and initiative, imagination and resourcefulness to ensure adequate articulation of data and reports • Evidence of previous publications and /or technical reports