Conference Coordinator at African Palliative Care Association

Job Title: Conference Coordinator
Reports to: Executive Director/Programmes & Research Manager
Responsible for: Overall leadership and oversight for the organisation of the APCA conference 2022
Other key relations: The conference organising committee and sub-committees comprised of members from APCA and Worldwide Hospice and Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA)
Duration: Fixed, 6 months, from April, 2022 to September, 2022.
Conditions: Part time., Short-term
Duty Station: Online/APCA secretariat, Kampala Uganda.
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Job summary:**

The African Palliative Care Association (APCA), is a pan- African, membership organisation that was established in November 2002 and its mission is to ensure that palliative care is widely understood, integrated into health systems at all levels and underpinned by evidence in order to reduce pain and suffering across Africa. APCA’s overarching goal is to ensure palliative care for all in Africa.

APCA runs an International Conference once every three years (3 years) under different themes and in various geographical locations. In 2019, the conference was held in Kigali Rwanda, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, Rwanda; in 2016 it was held in Kampala, Uganda in partnership with the Ministry of Health Uganda and the Worldwide Hospice and Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA); in 2013 it was held in Johannesburg, South Africa and in
partnership with the Hospice and Palliative Care of South Africa (HPCA); in 2010, it was held in Windhoek, Namibia; in 2007 it was held in Nairobi, Kenya; in 2004 it was held in Arusha, Tanzania, where it was birthed.

The Conference brings together representatives of African Governments, palliative care providers, patient groups, civil society organisations, development partners, faith-based organisations, private sector, researchers and academic
institutions to engage and plan for the inclusion of palliative care and pain relief in health services, looking at trends and progress made in the various African Countries. In 2013, a session for the African Ministers of Health was added onto the Conference as a side event and this has been successfully running at subsequent conferences.

The 7th triennial conference under the theme, “Palliative and Comprehensive Chronic Care in a Pandemic”, will be co-hosted with the Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA) from 24th to 26th August, 2022, and will be a hybrid meeting, with a bigger virtual attendance and a small physical attendance in Kampala, Uganda. The conference aims to facilitate an understanding of the trends and progress being made on access to palliative and comprehensive chronic care and pain relief during the Covid-19 pandemic and accelerate further action across Africa.
There is an overall conference organising committee and four subcommittees namely; Finance and Logistics, Fundraising, Communications and Scientific. The committees hold regular meetings to discuss progress on various issues.

Aim:
To provide coordination and technical support for the effective preparation and delivery of
the 7th International African Palliative Care Conference scheduled for 24th and 26th August,
2022

Roles and responsibilities:

1. Receive and check the alignment of submitted abstracts with suitable conference tracks through the review of abstract titles.
2. Send out abstract review information to the abstract reviewers and support them to complete the online reviews.
3. Send out abstract notifications to authors and respond to their questions.
4. Support the process of preparation and delivery of notifications and invitations to all conference participants.
5. Work with the Comms Committee and support the process for the compilation of the conference abstracts book, its editing and availability on the conference website.
6. Work with the Scientific and Comms Committee to develop presentation guidelines for the various types of presentations – oral, snapshot etc.
7. Work with the scientific committee to keep in communication with plenary speakers and session chairs.
8. Work with the scientific and comms committee to develop the conference programme and ensure the programme book is compiled, edited and available on the conference website on time.
9. Work with the Finance and logistics committee to ensure the complete registration of participants, ensure all participant queries are responded to in a timely manner, ensure that name tags are prepared for all registered delegates, and ensure that conference certificates will be issued to all participants at the end of the conference.
10. Work with the Finance and ICT teams to ensure a well-organised exhibition, i. e registration of exhibitors, displays and ensure a deliberate exhibition program on the virtual platform.
11. Work with the scientific committee and APCA’s internal conference coordinator to organise pre-conference workshops.
12. Work directly with the APCA internal conference coordinator and support any other conference duties as may be reasonably requested by the various conference committees.
13. Share any creative and innovative ideas that can make the conference a success with the conference organising committees and APCA’s SMT for endorsement.
14. recommendations for future conferences**Key deliverables.**
    Being a part-time role, the coordinator shall be required to prepare weekly update reports that clearly indicate pieces of work completed for each week and those to be followed in her/his absence. A final consultancy report after the conference is also expected by the 30th September, 2022 and should be publishable.
    All roles and tasks as spelt out above.

Logistical Support:
The consultant shall be working remotely and will work closely with APCA’s Internal Conference Coordinator and Programmes/Research Manager as the key points of contact.

GENERAL:
Data protection and confidentiality: As applicable to the job, the post holder is expected to obtain, process and/or use personal information in a fair and lawful way only, always bearing in mind the importance of confidentiality relating to the work of APCA. The post holder should NOT disclose data to authorised persons or organisations only, as instructed by his/her line manager.
Equal opportunities: It is the aim of APCA to ensure that no applicant, employee, volunteer or visitor receives less favourable treatment than another on the grounds of gender, tribe, skin colour, nationality, HIV status or religious faith, and that no-one is placed at a disadvantage by conditions or requirements that cannot be shown to be justifiable. APCA therefore gives equal opportunities to everyone.
Health and Safety: The post holder must be aware at all times of the responsibilities placed upon him/her to ensure understanding of, and adherence to, all relevant safety procedure put in place to maintain a safe environment for employees, volunteers and visitors.
No smoking policy: APCA holds a policy which does not allow smoking on the APCA premises. Review of job description: This job description is not exhaustive but is meant to reflect the main activities and responsibilities of the job. It may be reviewed from time to time in consultation with the post holder.

PERSON SPECIFICATION- CONFERENCE COORDINATOR

• Bachelor’s degree or relevant experience in communications, events coordination, or administration.
• Knowledge/ Experience/ Skills
• Good organisational skills
• Experience in events coordination
• International relations experience
• Basic financial management skills
• Computer literate and proficient in MS office – MS
• Word, Power point and Excel
• Good oral communication and interpersonal skills
• Good written communication skills
• Experience of working independently and in a team
• Personal Qualities
• Flexible, reliable and able to work under pressure
• Shares APCA’s values and will be passionate about our work and that of our members
• Good time management
• Evidence of a non-judgemental approach regarding race, culture, sexuality and lifestyle