The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) was established in 1976, largely motivated by the need to pool resources and to avoid duplication of financial and human resources. Another key objective was to promote harmonization and development of intellectual property laws appropriate to the needs of its members and the region. The Harare Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs, which entered into force in 1984, is the governing instrument on the administration and management of patents for ARIPO. At present, 18 Sub-Saharan African countries are party to the Harare Protocol. Of these six are developing countries while the rest are least developed countries (LDCs). Of the LDCs, 4 are not members of the WTO. 

Given ARIPO’s status as a regional patent office, successful use of the TRIPS flexibilities hinges considerably on the practices of ARIPO. A critical question is whether ARIPO’s patent filing and grant practices are coherent with, and enable the achievement of, the objectives of the above-mentioned instruments, and public health and development considerations. Recent research suggests “current operations of the ARIPO does not facilitate full use of TRIPS flexibilities and instead erects patent barriers to the importation and local production of affordable medicines.”

A three-day regional Conference is proposed in November 2017 in Lilongwe, Malawi, to discuss recent global developments affecting intellectual property law and policy, and undertake an assessment of the Harare Protocol’s relevance and effectiveness in addressing the needs of member states, with reference to the need for integrating public health perspectives and the special needs of LDCs. The meeting has been proposed to be convened in Malawi for a few reasons:
There has been political commitment from His Excellency President Mutharika in the past on issues of intellectual property and public health including his role in championing the extension of the WTO Waiver for LDCs at the 2015 General Assembly;
The President’s Chief Economic Advisor Dr. Collins Magalasi participated in the Johannesburg Dialogue of the High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines in March 2016 and specifically raised ARIPO as a matter of concern for Malawi;
Malawi is currently reforming its intellectual property legislation; and
There is interest and capacity within the UN in Malawi to promote a treatment access agenda.

The Conference will therefore be hosted by the Malawi Government under the leadership of President Arthur Peter Mutharika.

Specifically, there are three priority areas that warrant discussion and deliberation; namely (1) the implementation and strategic use of the LDCs’ transition periods; (2) the effective integration of public health perspectives and concerns into the ARIPO legal instruments, as well as administration and practices; and (3) the need for increased information and transparency in the patent administration and management system to optimize the benefits of the system. 

The consultant will work in collaboration with the National Organizing Committee and UNDP – Malawi Country Office:

Preparation and Management of the Conference: In collaboration with Host Government and UNDP, the consultant do the following:

• Arranging Organizing Committee Meetings;
• Taking notes and preparing minutes for the preparatory meetings;
• Preparation of conference budget applying UNDP financial rules and regulations; 
• Collecting and documenting contact details of conference participants;
• Source quotations of potential suppliers of conference materials and facilitate their engagement;
• Negotiate terms and conditions and appoint sub-contractors; 
• Monitor budget vs. disbursements;
• Liaise with conference sponsors and Host.
• Identify and communicate to Session Chairs, Speakers and facilitators;
• Create a Conference Registration website.

Management of Conference Participants: This task will involve the following:

• In consultation with host and conference sponsor (UNDP), prepare a list of participants;
• Send out Invitations to all participants, including Session chair(s), speakers, facilitators, etc;
• Follow up on invitations via telephone, email, fax;
• Administer registration through website and compile confirmed registration list of participants, speakers, support staff etc;
• Identify and secure accommodation block booking for self-paying participants at alternate hotels and manage travel bookings/reservations for speakers;
• Send out Information Note to all participants (arrival details, hotels, visa requirements, general city info; etc.);
• Facilitate arrangements for visas for participants, as needed;
• Protocol arrangements for VIPs, including arrival and departure at airport with the Office of the President and Cabinet and relevant Ministries.

Conference Venue arrangements:

• Arrange and ensure all meeting rooms (for plenary and break-out sessions) are arranged and ready for the meetings as required (as per specified meetings’ schedule);
• Ensure all required audiovisual equipment is available in all the rooms as required;
• Ensure light catering as well as service maintenance are promptly available as would be required for all equipment/services and facilities in and around the meeting rooms;
• Arrange and manage participants’ registration on site;
• Design and make up name tags/badges for all participants, speakers, Media, VIPs, etc;
• Support the preparation, production and efficient distribution of materials that will be used at the conference;
• Organize and keep notes/minutes of all conference sessions.

Communication & PR:

• Prepare and set- up a one-stop general information support service/information kiosk for participants;  
• Arrange simultaneous interpretation for all sessions as required (English, French);
• In liaison with UNDP Communication Officer, arrange publication of print media articles in local and international newspapers (Number of slots in the media and to be determined by organizing team);
• Arrange for designing and printing of conference publicity materials
• Arrange for high profile interviews for the radio and television coverage of the conference including special press conference and interviews.

Other general logistical arrangements and event management: In collaboration with Host Government events management team, the consultant will do the following:

• Arrange and manage VIP transport;
• Set up a secretariat room; 
• Planning and organization of all the meals, cocktails and other social events for the Conference;  Arrange for the design and production of conference bags;
• Arrange for pens, writing pads and conference documents for participants;
• All other tasks as determined by the conference organizing team.
• Ensure all conference participants sign registration forms at entry into conference room and submit signed registration forms along with your signed invoices for Hotels and conference facilities.

Competencies:

• Communication skills and skills in digital media;
• Strong negotiation and event management skills; 
• Consultation skills;
• Team management skills;
• Planning skills;
• Administrative and Logistical management;
• Demonstrated knowledge of events management.

Education:

• A minimum of a Master’s Degreee.

Experience:

• Above 7 years professional experience in management of major events.

Language:

• English.

Contract Duration:

• The assignment will run from September, 2017 to December 2017, on a part time basis with a Maximum of 15 days per month.

Management:

• The Consultant will be accountable to UNDP Deputy Resident Representative (Programmes). The day-to-day assignment and contact will be managed through a Portfolio Manager – Responsive Institutions and Citizen Engagement - to whom the Consultant will report directly.

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications by 14 September, 2017, to the following email address: procurement.mw@undp.org.

Technical Proposal:

• Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work;
• Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work.

Financial Proposal

Personal CV (P11 Form) including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references

Proposals must include all three documents (combined) uploaded in the online system as one document. Proposals not meeting this requirement will be rejected.

Financial Proposal:

• Contracts based on daily fee.

The financial proposal will specify the daily fee, travel expenses and per diems quoted in separate line items, and payments are made to the Individual Contractor based on the number of days worked upon satisfactory completion of the required deliverable.

Travel:

• All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station in Lilongwe/repatriation travel. 

Evaluation of proposals:

• Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

Cumulative analysis:
When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria weight; 70 points

Financial Criteria weight; 30 points

Evaluation Criteria:

• Criteria A:    A minimum of a Master’s Degree; 5 points.
• Criteria B:   Above 7 years professional experience in management of major events; 15 points.
• Criteria C:  Proven experience in project management; 30 points.
• Criteria D: Strong negotiation and event management skills and skills in communication; 10 points.
• Criteria E: Brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work in not more than 2 pages; 10 points.

Financial: 30 points.
Combined Total Score (Maximum); 100 points.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 points in the Technical Evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

The financial score for the financial proposal will be calculated in the following manner:

Sf = 100 x Fm/F, in which Sf is the financial score, Fm is the lowest price and F the price of the proposal under consideration.(Total Financial Maximum points = 100 points)

Total Score:

• The technical score attained at by each proposal will be used in determining the Total score as follows:
• The weights given to the technical and financial proposals are: T= 0.7, F=0.3
• The Total score will be calculated by formula: TS = St x 0.7 + Sf x 0.3
• TS - Is the total score of the proposal under consideration?
• St - is technical score of the proposal under consideration.
• Sf - is financial score of the proposal under consideration.