International Consultant: Coordinator for the Asia and Pacific Regional Conference on Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction to be held in Hanoi in April 2016

Overview:

UN Women Viet Nam is looking for a Coordinator for the Asia and Pacific Regional Conference on Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction to be held in Hanoi in April 2016. The international consultant supports the coordination between UN Women and other partners for the organization of the Asia and Pacific Regional Conference on Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction.

The overall objective of this assignment is to support UN Women Viet Nam Country Office in the preparation and organization of the Regional Conference on Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction. The position will be expected to act as primary focal point for all internal and external stakeholders related to the conference.

Scope of work and specific tasks:

The conference coordinator will be responsible for the following duties:

Coordination:

• Ensure appropriate mechanisms to facilitate collaboration and exchange of information both inside and outside the UN system, for purposes of planning and organizing the conference.
• Work closely with Organizational Committee, Rapporteurs and UN Women Communications Team to ensure key messages on the expectations and outputs of the conference for internal and external audiences are ready for dissemination through websites, social media, etc.
• Serve as the primary focal point for event preparations. Liaise with international participants on sharing information on necessary administrative procedures for attending the conference.
• Particularly, ensure all speakers have good guidance on what they are expected to talk about to make sure that the sessions are substantive and coherent.
• Process for identification and selection of participants and handling registration from funded and non-funded participants. Support in the invitation processes, including tracking of responses and follow-up confirmations.
• Coordinate with communications team in ensuring all supporting documents including save the dates, invitations, background paper, event outlines and agendas, booklets, press releases and webpage content are ready for distribution on time.
• Liaise with Viet Nam government and other conference partners to ensure their participation and commitment to the conference main events and side events.
• Liaise with Embassy of Japan in Ha Noi, Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and other Japanese organization and experts related to inputs and their participation to the conference.

Logistics and execution:

• Support programme staff where necessary in liaising with the Vietnamese Government and other relevant UN staff to address protocol, logistical, security and other requirements for the event.
• Support programme staff where necessary in liaising with a designated Event Management company to ensure the organization of a successful organization while maintaining the multistakeholder nature of the process.
• Support UN Women programme and procurement team where necessary in handling logistics around booking venues and working with vendors.
• Maintain and update information on shared drives and other internal and external communications.
• Performs other duties as required.

Duration of assignment and duty station:

Duration of assignment:

The tentative contractual period is from 22 February 2015 to 29 April 2016 (36 working days). The tentative date for the conference is 11-13 April 2016, followed by 1-day field visit.

Payment:

Payments will be made in installments based upon satisfactory completion of agreed outputs approved by Project Manager.

Duty station:

This is a home-based assignment with travel to Ha Noi at least 4 weeks before, 1 week during the week and 1 week following the conference.

Degree of expertise and qualifications:

Candidates who meet the following criteria should apply.

Required qualifications:

• Advanced degree in in one of the following fields: event planning, communications, social sciences, public relations, business administration and management.
• 5 years of relevant experience at the national and international level including experience in organizing international large scale conferences.
• Excellent managerial/organisation skills and a solution-oriented attitude.
• A strong sense of client orientation and a strong drive for results.
• Demonstrated ability to work well both independently and within a multicultural team.
• Strong skills in writing communications content for large events and international conferences.
• Good command of information and communication technology.
• Prior experience with the UN system would be an asset.
• Prior experience working in Viet Nam would be an asset.
• Previous experience in organizing international conferences and supporting the coordination of numerous stakeholder groups.

Language:

• Fluency in English both oral and written is required.
• Fluency in Japanese is an advantage, but not necessary

See terms of reference for schedule of work, deliverables and schedule of payment and the evaluation criteria.