Consultant – Event and Logistics UN Women Africa Communications Retreat

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

UN Women South Africa Multi-Country Office (SAMCO) is based in Pretoria, South Africa and serves five countries: South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and Swaziland.

Communication is central to the functioning of modern organizations, including UN Women in Africa. The strategic use of communication can significantly increase influence and support organizations’ outcomes. It is therefore critical for organizations to fully leverage all their communication assets to achieve impact and drive success.  Communicating effectively is an important part of achieving this agenda. Over its first decade of existence, UN Women has already made significant progress in that arena, but gaps remain. To further maximize impact, it will be essential to further connect the dots: build synergies across the organization, enhance coordination, and build communication capacity across the region.

Key components of this retreat will include: editorial writing, practical session by visiting the project sites and documenting UN Women’s impact; innovation in communications; goodwill ambassador programme and global campaigns; and multimedia production

Building on last year’s successful Africa Communications Retreat the East & Southern Africa and West & Central Africa UN Women Communications Units will convene the annual retreat in Cape Town, South Africa to re-examine the lessons learned from previous years and devise more unified, structured, all-encompassing, and appropriate strategies for addressing communication practices in the region. The consultant will be required to assist in the planning and coordinating logistics prior to, during and after the retreat.

The consultant will be reporting to the communication analyst, and supported by the programme associate, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Duties and Responsibilities

Deliverables

• The consultant will be responsible for ensuring appropriate organizational and logistical support for the organization of the events as requested and in accordance with the description of services.
• Develop a detailed workplan and timeline for the tasks to be delivered
• The consultant shall develop the Activity Report after the completion of the Event, which would include but will not be limited to date, location, hotel/guesthouse name, list of participants, nature of services delivered, breakdown of costs.
• Facilitate Ground Transportation
• Participants’ queries: Act as focal point for questions received from the participants, potential speakers, and other before and during the meeting;
• Event materials: Assist in the production, organization and transportation of the event materials and collateral;
• The consultant is expected to periodically meet with UN Women Team for event-planning purposes.

Bedore the event

• Identify suitable accommodation for event participants, request quotation, negotiate preferential rates (lower than the displayed or walk-in guest rates) and other terms and conditions. To present the original invoice and transfer all discounts to UN Agencies. Preference should be given to the UN security pre-cleared hotels and hotel with pre-agreed for UN Agencies preferential rates.
• Confirm accommodation, coordinate necessary changes or cancellation, and absorb charges for cancellation or any other change caused by contractor’s fault or negligence.
• Identify suitable venue, request quotation, negotiate preferential rates and other terms and conditions. To present the original invoice and transfer all discounts to UN Women. To liaise and coordinate with conference venue on all organizational issues. The price should be in line with the market prices. The recommended venue should have an acceptable security system (including fire safety system), outside lighting of territory, space for temporary parking, heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems, water closets nearby the event room. When requested, the venue should be wheelchair accessible and inclusive including but not limited to event room, toilets, elevators, fire exit, etc.
• Assure high speed reliable internet connection and power outage backup systems.
• Check the venue security system, accessibility, and test good functioning of the equipment.
• To assure rental, installation, and full functionality of simultaneous translation/interpretation system with not less than 2 channels. Interpreters in most cases will be arranged by UN Women, but the company should be able to provide interpreters in exceptional cases. To arrange instruction of interpreters to ensure their technical capacity to use the system.
• Arrange event consumables including but not limited to flipchart paper, markers, etc.
• Facilitate procurement of design event materials including but not limited to participant folder, pen, paper, notebook, printouts, certificates, visibility materials, etc. (Priority given to women-owned businesses)
• Make necessary seating arrangement, including name tags, name tent holders.
• Coordinate with the hotel timely catering arrangements for serving meals including but not limited to lunch, coffee 

During the event 

• Coordinate transportation services for participants attending site visits in and around Cape Town.
• Assure rental, installation and good functioning of electronic and audio-visual equipment including but not limited to screen, LCD, pointers, notebooks/laptops, desktop, printers, photocopy machine, conference system, tape recorder, lightning, cable extension, etc.
• Coordinate with the UN women focal point for the registration of participants.
• Arrange and staff registration desk. To monitor and report actual attendance.
• Support participants’ registration and prepare participants list.

After event

• Provide an event report, invoice, and list of participants. 
• Receive event satisfaction feedback from UN Women and implement improvements, where applicable.

Deliverable table:

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

 Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: 

Functional compentencies:

• Ability to produce high quality outputs and in a timely manner while understanding and anticipating the evolving client needs;
• Ability to focus on impact and results for the client, promoting and demonstrating an ethic of client service;
• Strong organizational skills;
• Ability to work independently, flexibly and under pressure utilizing initiative;
• Sound judgment, strategic thinking and the ability to manage competing priorities;
• Flexibility in responding to changing priorities in a fast-paced environment;

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s in communications, marketing, public relations, business management or other relevant fields.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in organizing international meetings and conferences within the context of international organizations;
• A strong sense of client orientation and a strong drive for results;
• Knowledge of Word, PDF, and Excel;
• Strong verbal and written communication skills required;
• Prior experience with the UN System would be an asset.

Language:

• Fluency in English is required (written and verbal);
• Working knowledge of another UN language (French and Spanish) is considered an asset.

All applications must include (as an attachment) a completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from 

Please note that the system will only allow one attachment and candidates are required to include in the P-11 form links for their previously published reports and articles completed within the last two years. Applications without the completed and signed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Notes:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.