Selection and Designation of Veterinary Education Establishments and Animal Health Research Institutions as Africa Union Centres of Excellence in Anim

Introduction

The African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) is a specialized Technical Office of the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment of the African Union Commission. Its mandate is to support and coordinate the sustainable development and utilization of animal resources (livestock, fisheries and wildlife) to enhance food and nutrition security and contribute to the wellbeing and prosperity of the people in the Member States of the African Union (AU). AU-IBAR accomplishes its mandate through supporting and empowering the AU Member States, the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and other stakeholders in the animal resources sector. AU-IBAR’s vision is of an Africa in which animal resources contribute significantly to the reduction of poverty and hunger.

AU-IBAR led a multi-stakeholder process that brought together livestock sector actors from across the African continent in the formulation of the Livestock Development Strategy for Africa (LiDeSA). The Strategy, which provides a 20 year framework for the collective and coordinated development of the livestock sector on the continent, was approved and endorsed by the AU Heads of States and Government in January 2015.

To kick start the implementation of the continental components of the LiDeSA, the European Union funded an AU-IBAR initiative the Sustainable Development of Livestock for Livelihoods in Africa (Live2Africa) Project, which is being implemented in partnership with Member States, Regional Economic Communities and other key livestock stakeholders. The overall objective of the project is ‘To support transformation of the African livestock sector for enhanced contribution to environmentally sustainable, climate resilient, socio-economic development and equitable growth. The specific objective of Live2Africa is to strengthen the systemic capacity of continental, regional and national livestock sector stakeholders for the economically, environmentally and socially sustainable transformation of the livestock sector.
Live2Africa project addresses all the subcomponents of livestock development utilizing a value chain approach, focusing on selected priority regional livestock value chains.

The problem Statement and the Rationale

In Africa, the availability and quality of Veterinary Education Establishments (VEEs) is highly variable and this reflects in the quantity and quality of veterinary graduates, various veterinary personnel and services in the different AU Member States. Overall, there are inadequate competencies among graduates from VEEs in Africa to meet the evolving needs of industry and society. This results in graduates who are unable to compete effectively at national, regional and international levels. This situation contributes to the poor access of animals and animal products from Africa to regional and international markets due to inability to comply with OIE sanitary standards and other sanitary measures imposed by trading partners based on risk analyses. Furthermore, such personnel are often poorly equipped to deal with emerging global issues impacting on animal and veterinary public health and well-being including climate change, antimicrobial resistance and the one health approach. Thus their contribution to the socio-economic development of Africa in line with the aspirations of agenda 2063 will be sub-optimal unless measures are undertaken to remedy this situation.

There is therefore need for dedicated Centres for advanced, intermediate and skilled manpower development in the various relevant disciplines in animal health. Management decisions and policies in animal health sector in the five regions of the continent needs to be supported by scientific evidence. This evidence should be generated by dedicated research institutes or universities and interpreted by competent animal health and welfare managers. A more tangible solution to the problems of capacity is the establishment of African Centres of Excellence. This will be done by the identification of appropriate institutions and strengthening their capacities in the required disciplines.

The Livestock development Strategy for Africa (LiDeSA) and the Animal Health Strategy for Africa underscores enhancing human capacity development as a key strategic pillar for creating an enabling environment to increase the sustainable contribution of the animal resources sector to food and nutrition security, poverty alleviation, livelihoods and inclusive economic growth.

Competencies already exist in several traditional areas of veterinary education. There is however increasing need to build market-led technical capacities for veterinary students and veterinary professional in core aspects of animal health which are seen as prerequisite for livestock development and market access. These areas of competencies may include implementation of biosecurity measures, animal disease surveillance, disease diagnostics, import and export risk analysis and other core competencies necessary for enhancing the overall management of veterinary services in Africa. Building competencies in these priority areas would contribute immensely to the production or supply of critical mass of expertise and knowledge in priority animal health disciplines. Such improved competencies can lead to effective sanitary control and greater market access for Africa’s animals and animal products and would impact positively on the sustainable management and development of the animal resources sector.

Against this background, the African Union InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) in collaboration with Africa Association of Veterinary Education Establishments (2A2E-V) with support of the European Union under the framework of Live2Africa Project has initiated a competitive process to identify African Veterinary Education Establishments and veterinary research Institutes and designate them as African Union Centres of Excellence in animal health.

Objective

The objective of this announcement is to call for proposals from qualified Veterinary Education Establishments and animal Health Research Institutions to apply for consideration as Africa Centres of Excellence in animal health.

Scope and Priority Areas

Scope of the Centres of Excellence

The Centres of Excellence will be designated at regional and continental levels and will cover training and research in priority animal health disciplines in the 5 regions of Africa. One overarching Continental centre of excellence within each discipline to provide backstopping/develop capacity in the regional centres.

Priority Areas

The Centres of Excellence should be established for capacity development in:

1. Veterinary Policy, legislation and jurisprudence (Regulations and trade in animals and animal products, strategies, etc)
2. Animal welfare
3. Veterinary epidemiology (Biosecurity, import and export risk analysis etc)
4. Veterinary Public Health and One Health approach
5. Veterinary entrepreneurship and innovation (biotechnology, etc)
6. Veterinary Drug quality and Alternative veterinary therapy
7. Clinical Veterinary medicine (by discipline and species differentiation)
8. Wildlife Health and biodiversity
9. Veterinary Education (pedagogical, assessment, clinical and skill training)

Institutional framework and sustainability

The Centres should meet the following institutional framework and sustainability criteria. The Centre should be aligned with and serve as a platform for veterinary advancement

1. The Centre should be a Veterinary Education Establishment or an Animal Health Research Institution and should operate under the coordination of the AU (AU-IBAR) with regards to its designated area of speciality.
2. Proven networking and collaborative/cooperation arrangements with national, regional and international existing institutions in order to share lessons and best practices.
3. Evidence of sustainable financing mechanism

Criteria for Eligibility

The institutions to be selected as Centres for Excellence should meet the following minimum requirements:

1. The Centres should be located on the Africa continent
2. For a particular discipline, the institutions for consideration should foremost have evidence of the required modules, staff and competence in the discipline
3. The institution should have at least 10 years of established history of veterinary education, research and training in the relevant field
4. The institution should have a track record of attracting students/trainees in the chosen discipline
5. The institution should have regional as well as international networks and evidence of impact in the relevant field
6. Adequate infrastructure and amenities

How to apply:

How to apply and the procedures to follow

The proposal should include the following information:

1. Background and introduction to the institution
2. Vision and mission
3. Statement of accreditation by national authority and/or regional body
4. Curriculum for undergraduate, graduate and vocational training programmes
5. Historical records/information of students graduated from the institutions
6. Research outputs
7. Staffing situation and their qualifications (abbreviated resume)
8. Present financing arrangements of the institution and financial control systems
9. Any other relevant information

How to Submit Applications

The entire proposal, including all supporting documentation should not be no longer than 8 A4 pages in length, and should be emailed as a single document to:

procurement@au-ibar.org, with a copy to Khalid.seid@au-ibar.org by no later than 17.00hrs East African Time on 18^th June, 2021.

Specific questions not answered in this call may be emailed to: procurement-210518-1@au-ibar.org not later than 05^th June 2021.

Please ensure that the appended Declaration Form is duly filled in, signed, and stamped.

The Declaration form has to be submitted together with the other application requirements. Failure to do so nullifies your application.

Please note that the Personal Data & Privacy Statement is for their perusal and notice. It requires no action.