UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
External VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
Post Title :
Consultant: Conference Coordinator
Organization : UNDP
Post Level : Service Contract Agreement
Duty Station : Monrovia, Liberia
Duration of Initial Contract : Five Months
Expected Duration of Assignment : Six months
Start Date :
01-Aug-2007
Date of Issue : 12 July 2007
Closing Date :
26-July 2007
Background
At the Liberia Partners’ Forum in Washington, D.C. this February, Government of Liberia (GoL) officials made a strong presentation, strengthened relationships with development partners, and achieved substantive progress on key issues such as debt relief. Nonetheless, the level of financial commitments needed for large, crosscutting investments in infrastructure and agriculture from donors has not yet materialized to the degree needed. This is partly due to the still-limited global awareness of Liberia’s situation, partly due to the GoL’s limited capacity to handle large inflows of aid, and partly because of inadequate preparation, unclear articulation of needs, and insufficient personal follow up on appeals for funding before the conference.
The GoL still has a favorable window of opportunity to mobilize larger, more concrete commitments. To achieve this, the GoL will host the Liberia Partners’ Forum for the Financing of Infrastructure and Agriculture in Monrovia this December 6-8th, 2007. This conference will follow broadly a similar format to the Liberia Partners’ Forum held in Washington, D.C. in February 2007. However, in contrast to the previous forum, the Monrovia-based conference will aim to mobilize substantially more resources from both traditional and new donor partners and will be accompanied by more technically detailed needs assessments and project proposals for infrastructure and agriculture. In addition, the President and her key Ministers will need to dedicate significant time over the next five months to cultivating personal relationships with, and making repeated appeals to, foreign heads of state and key development officials to contribute.
These appeals will be directed to longtime past supporters of Liberia, as well as newly rich / medium income countries such as South Korea, South Africa, China, India, Middle Eastern and Caribbean nations, and possible Latin American countries such as Chile, Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina. These appeals must be followed-up with timely responses by staff and should also be accompanied by detailed technical assessments of infrastructure and agriculture needs and estimated costs of the proposed projects. This technical work will be carried out primarily by the Ministry of Public Works, Ministry of Agriculture, and Ministry of Lands, Mines, and Energy and supported by World Bank staff in the Infrastructure and Basic Services Cluster.
A successful fund-raising event will require around-the-clock logistical planning and coordination to organize the conference itself, but also a well-organized, well-executed, and intense campaign of relationship building through letter writing, phone calling and personal visits by the President and top-level Ministers. The importance of this personal relationship building and follow-up, as well as the detailed technical analyses to support these requests, cannot be emphasized enough and must start immediately.
In order to lead the planning activities of the conference, a Conference Secretariat, a Steering Committee and three sub-committees: the Conference Planning and Promotion Sub-Committee, the Documentation Sub-Committee and the Resource Mobilization Sub-Committee have been created.
The Secretariat of the Liberian Reconstruction and Development Committee (LRDC), in the Office of President, H.E. Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, seeks a full-time Conference Consultant to assist the GoL with the planning, organizing, coordination, and implementation of all activities relating to the upcoming Liberia Partners’ Forum for the Financing of Infrastructure and Agriculture.
Description of Responsibilities :
The objective of the Conference Consultant (CC) will be to ensure the timely preparation and dissemination of conference materials, effective communication with potential donors and participants, and smooth execution of a highly professional, secure, well-attended, and productive donors conference.
The CC will head the Conference Secretariat. The CC will be assisted by a local staff person who will work from within the Conference Secretariat on a part-time basis; this local support person will serve as the primary point of contact in the GoL and will be responsible for several key deliverables before the arrival of the CC—(e.g. preparation of technical documents and initiation of potential donor contacts/invitations). The local staff person will report directly to the CC.
The duties of the CC will cover six areas:
Collection of relevant technical documents (i.e. diagnostic/sector studies, needs assessments, etc.) from GOL and donor partner organizations. The key output will be the provision of summary papers (2-3pgs each) for each sub-sector. To this end the CC will:
• liaise with all appropriate line Ministries and sub-sector institutions to collect requisite technical documents for the conference;
• facilitate communication between DSC, Ministries, technical experts, and relevant stakeholders to ensure that all Ministries and sub-sector Agencies create, carry out, or obtain the appropriate technical/diagnostic studies, financial plans/ cost estimates, and summary papers needed for the conference by the required deadlines;
• combine, collate and disseminate all relevant technical documents to donor partners and conference invitees no later than the first week of October, 2007.
Advertising / promotion of the conference. The key output will be the placement of local and international media advertisements and the dissemination of conference promotional materials. To this end the CC will:
• Design, develop and maintain specific sections of the conference website in collaboration with the Ministry of State’s IT department and Ministry of Information;
• Manage marketing and communications aspects for the events, including marketing materials and advertisements for local and international media (i.e. newspapers, radio, and television) in collaboration with the Ministry of State’s IT department and Ministry of Information;
• Ensure that the local citizenry is well informed about the purpose, activities, and results of the conference through regular news articles, bulletins, radio announcements, etc. before, during, and several weeks after the conference.
Outreach to, and communication with, potential donors and conference participants. The key output will be dispatching and following up on invitation letters sent as well as arranging follow-up phone calls and/or meetings between potential donors and President & top Ministers. The CC will:
• Assist with identification of, outreach to, and communication with, potential contributors to conference and to infrastructure and agriculture funds;
• Maintain a database of potential donors/invitees to the conference;
• Ensure that invitation letters are drafted and sent to potential conference participants in a timely fashion;
• Ensure that regular correspondence and/or meetings as well as timely follow-up takes place between potential donors and the President and her key Ministers;
• Develop and administer the invitation and registration processes and database for participants and speakers in collaboration with the SC and donor partners;
Development of conference content and agenda. The key output will be supporting the relevant Sub-Committee in the creation of a detailed conference schedule, including speakers, plenary sessions, workshops, roundtables, and social/networking activities, etc. The CC will:
• Develop, in collaboration with relevant sub-Committee GoL and donor partners, a minute-by-minute schedule of conference activities (i.e. speakers, plenary sessions, breakout sessions, workshops, roundtables, social/networking activities (meals, coffee breaks, site-seeing tours, artistic performances/displays, etc.)
• Ensure that relevant GoL participants are informed about this schedule, their specific role, and any presentations/materials to be made or given at that time.
Management of conference logistics. The key output will be provision of visas, hotel reservations, transport, and security arrangements (where necessary) for all key conference participants, as well as preparation of the conference facility and hiring of catering services. The CC will:
• Manage travel, visa, accommodation, transportation, security, and protocol arrangements for senior level external participants and partners, speakers, and sponsored participants (including negotiating hotel contracts and arrangements for invited participants and speakers, and arranging for per diem allowances for sponsored speakers and selected participants from developing countries;
• In close consultation with GoL authorities, manage onsite preparations for conference: i) Organize appropriate conference room facilities and all related ICT arrangements (i.e. video conferencing, audiovisual services and equipment, internet connectivity, etc.; ii) Plan/oversee side events (i.e. receptions, breakfasts, lunches and coffee breaks); iii) Organize all appropriate event signage, on-site registration and participant badging, etc.; iv) Coordinate simultaneous interpretation facilities including equipment and interpreters
Reporting requirements. The CC will prepare the following reports:
• Within the first two weeks of arrival, the CC will prepare an inception report (to be reviewed by the GoL) to clarify responsibilities and specify deliverables under the TOR and to detail how s/he intends to implement these;
• Within three weeks of arrival, the CC will confirm a detailed final conference budget;
• Following the event, the Conference Coordinator will prepare a brief report on all aspects of the conference, including organizational and financial (budget) as well as major follow-up steps that should be taken.
Location and Duration of Assignment
• The proposed assignment will be in Monrovia in the LRDC Secretariat in the Office of the President, or in the Ministry of public works, and will last approximately four to five months (i.e. from August until mid December, 2007).
• The candidate must be able to relocate to Monrovia, Liberia to begin work as soon as possible in August 2007.
Competencies :
The candidate for the CC position should:
• be well organized and detail-oriented;
• have excellent interpersonal, communication, and management skills;
• be able to multi-task in a high pressure, deadline-oriented environment;
• demonstrate sophisticated computer literacy skills.
Qualifications :
The candidate for the CC position must hold a Masters degree and have at least 8 years of professional experience in event planning (especially international conference planning) as well as public relations, logistics and communications, donor relations and coordination. Applicants with a Bachelors degree and significant experience may also be considered.
Candidates with additional experience in financial resource mobilization—including development partner coordination and private sector and civil society engagement, especially in post-conflict, developing country environments—will be highly preferred.
Please forward all written applications to:
Deputy Resident Representative (Operations)
Attention: HR Unit
United Nations Development Programme
Simpson Apartment, Mamba Point
Monrovia, Liberia
cc: All UN Agencies and UNDP Programmes/Projects and All Counties
Note: All applications/queries must be addressed to: vacancies.lr@undp.org
Also you can download the P11 Form here
UNDP Liberia