Sub-regional awareness raising workshop on workforce development and Veterinary Paraprofessionals - Southern Africa

A healthy and resilient workforce includes personnel with appropriate training and competencies distributed across the territory and able to deliver the essential functions of Veterinary Services.

“Veterinary Services are critical to global and national health security, food security and food safety, agricultural and rural development, poverty alleviation, safe national and international trade, wildlife health and environmental protection; as such they are considered a global public good. To achieve these goals, Veterinary Services require good governance, including effective policy and management, personnel and resources, veterinary professionals and interaction with stakeholders in a One Health approach”

Article 3.1.1. of the Terrestrial Animal Health Code

Workforce needs

WOAH encourages members to systematically assess their veterinary workforce needs and realistically address them within the limits of the financial, human and educational resource constraints that may be facing.

In recognition of these efforts, WOAH is delivering the PC-TAD project. Several activities are included in the project that could help members in the process of improving their human resource capacity in the veterinary domain to strengthen Veterinary Services.

PC-TAD project

The Project for the Prevention and Control of Transboundary Animal Diseases – (PC-TAD) Project is being implemented in selected countries of the focus region of the BMZ Special Initiative ‘One World-No Hunger’ with a particular focus on eastern Africa and benefits smallholder farmers in predominantly rural areas. Through this Project and through improved animal health, food security, wellbeing and welfare, lives of the beneficiaries will be improved.

Workshop objectives:

Better understand the elements contributing to an enabling environment for effective integration of different cadres of personnel in the workforce through.

• Becoming familiar with the regional context of veterinary workforce and VPPs.
• Developing interest in veterinary workforce planning.
• Understanding the steps that can be taken to develop workforce planning and VPP integration.

Gaining awareness of WOAH capacity building in support of veterinary workforce development, including through the PVS Pathway and use of VPP competency and curricula guidelines and support for public-private partnerships

Workshop format:

• Participatory group discussions, a poster gallery and thematic presentations.
• An introductory workforce survey that was conducted before the workshop and results were presented during the event.
• Presentations by countries that were already involved in national level activities for workforce development

The Shoatlandia exercise allowed one to 1. Assess and analyse the data provided and the scenario provided 2. Use standards applicable to Veterinary requirements VLU. Even then, understand the difference in having all the data, as the standards are different for mixed commercial farming compared to single agricultural farming enterprises. 3. I found it interesting as elicited heated debate in our group and allowed maximum participation by all group members. 4. The end results, showed, where there was a deficit of both Veterinarians and VPPS and where there was an excess. 5. The issue which has not been clarified is where the VLU standards are taken from, and this is critical for reference purposes” – anonymous