Progress & Steps Ahead: Veterinary Workforce Development

Background

Veterinarians, veterinary paraprofessionals (VPPs) and in some cases community animal health workers (CAHWs) are at the forefront of animal disease surveillance, prevention and control. The provision of high-quality education and training is key to equipping veterinary personnel with the necessary knowledge and skills. In addition, their respective responsibilities need to be clearly defined to ensure that they can best perform their roles where they are needed. Through WOAH’s Workforce Development programme and the PVS Pathway, WOAH helps Members identify existing gaps in their veterinary workforce and provides national Veterinary Services with a range of tools and recommendations to strengthen the workforce. The tools continue to be developed and refined.

In the Asia and Pacific region, a regional virtual awareness raising workshop on VPPs and workforce development was organised in 2021 to introduce the concept of workforce development and the programme. Following the workshop, WOAH invited its Members to submit expressions of interest (EOIs) for WOAH support for national level activities. Based on the EOIs, WOAH organised national workforce development workshops with seven Members. These national workshops resulted in workshop recommendations that national veterinary services can follow to strengthen veterinary services.

Information Session

While a physical regional workshop on workforce development is planned in 2025, as it had been nearly 3 years since the first regional virtual workshop, a virtual information session for WOAH Members and Partners in Asia and the Pacific region was organised to:

promote workforce development as a part of strengthening veterinary workforce resilience;
share updates on WOAH’s workforce development programme and implementing countries since 2021; and
share findings from regional/sub-regional analysis on Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) and legislation.