Administrative Assistant – Rapporteur, Documentation and Publication of CPHIA 2026 Outputs

 

Background

FHI 360 is a non-profit human development organization dedicated to improving lives in lasting ways by advancing integrated, locally driven solutions. Our staff includes experts in Health, Education, Nutrition, Economic Development, Youth, Research and Technology, creating a unique mix of capabilities to address today’s interrelated development challenges. FHI 360 serves more than 60 countries, all 50 U.S. states and all U.S. territories. Meeting Targets and Maintaining Epidemic Control (EpiC) is a global project funded by the U.S. Government to provide strategic technical assistance and service delivery across HIV, tuberculosis, global health security, maternal and child health, malaria, and health systems strengthening.

The International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA) is Africa CDC’s flagship gathering of the continent’s public health community, now in its fifth edition. CPHIA 2026 will convene in Addis Ababa from 23 to 27 November 2026, hosted by Africa CDC in partnership with the Government of Ethiopia, under the theme “Africa’s Health Security and Sovereignty: Transformation from health dependency and vulnerability to ownership and resilience.” The program spans six tracks across more than 100 sessions and an expected 30,000-plus participants, including heads of state, ministers, scientists and private-sector leaders.

Africa CDC is establishing a coordinated rapporteur, documentation and publication framework for CPHIA 2026, built around a Lead Rapporteur, six Track Rapporteur Leads, a pool of 40–50 Session Rapporteurs, and Editorial, Synthesis, and Publications teams, delivering outputs from daily conference digests through to the official post-conference outcome document and technical report. A workstream of this scale and duration — spanning recruitment, five days of live coverage, and a multi-month publication cycle — requires dedicated administrative support so that its technical and editorial staff can focus on content while scheduling, logistics,

records and budget administration are managed reliably alongside them.

Scope of Work

The Administrative Assistant will provide day-to-day administrative and logistical support to the Lead Rapporteur and the wider documentation, rapporteur and publications workstream, across its pre-conference, live-conference and post-conference phases. The role ensures that scheduling, records management, correspondence, procurement and logistics run smoothly, so that the workstream’s technical deliverables are not delayed by administrative bottlenecks.

Specific Experience and Skills

The consultant will provide the following technical assistance:

Pre-Conference (October 2026)

• Administratively support the rapporteur recruitment process by collating applications, scheduling interviews, and maintaining an up-to-date candidate and onboarding tracker for the session rapporteur pool and track leads.
• Organize orientation sessions, briefings and rehearsals, book venues or virtual platforms, prepare and circulate agendas and joining instructions, and take and distribute minutes.
• Maintain the master contact list and organizational chart for the Lead Rapporteur, six Track Rapporteur Leads, Session Rapporteurs, and the Editorial, Synthesis, and Publications teams.
• Support administrative processing of consultancy agreements, secondment letters or MOUs for rapporteurs and seconded staff, in liaison with Africa CDC’s human resources and legal functions.
• Coordinate the request and issuance of conference access credentials and session clearances for rapporteurs with the Organizing Committee’s accreditation team.
• Assist Africa CDC with the procurement of supplies and equipment needed by the documentation team (laptops, recorders, printed templates, and stationery), and set up administrative access to the shared a digital workspace in coordination with IT.
• Manage scheduling, correspondence and calendar administration for the Lead Rapporteur.

During the Conference (23–27 November 2026)

• Provide on-site administrative support to the Lead Rapporteur and documentation team throughout the conference week, including managing daily schedules and attendance tracking for rapporteurs.
• Coordinate day-to-day logistics, including booking rooms for the editorial huddle and track-lead meetings, distributing materials (templates, badges, note-taking devices) to rapporteurs, and troubleshooting or replacing equipment.
• Schedule and take minutes for the daily editorial huddle and any ad hoc coordination meetings called by the Lead Rapporteur.
• Maintain the central filing system for all structured notes, digests and drafts submitted during the conference, ensuring a complete and organized record for the editorial team.
• Support logistics for rapporteurs covering high-level or sensitive sessions, confirming credentials and access arrangements are in place before each session.
• Coordinate any travel, accommodation and per diem administration for rapporteurs or track leads not based in Addis Ababa, and respond to day-to-day administrative queries from the wider team.

Post-Conference (November 2026 – February 2027)

• Support administrative close-out of the conference-week operation by compiling attendance and participation records and processing outstanding payments, honoraria or claims for rapporteurs and seconded staff.
• Maintain records management for the complete documentation archive — session notes, digests, drafts and final publications — preserving institutional memory for future CPHIA editions.
• Schedule and administer the stakeholder and Africa CDC leadership review of the official outcome document, tracking outstanding reviews and sending reminders against agreed turnaround times.
• Coordinate distribution logistics for all published outputs — the rapid outcome statement, the official outcome document, the public-facing summary brief and the full technical report — to stakeholder and mailing lists.
• Support Africa CDC’s Publications and Design Team and translation providers with administrative coordination of the production and printing schedule.
• Prepare basic administrative and expenditure reports on the workstream’s budget line, for consolidation into the Organizing Committee’s overall CPHIA 2026 reporting.

Cross-Cutting

• Act as the first point of contact for routine administrative queries from the rapporteur pool, track leads and partner secondees.
• Maintain confidentiality and exercise discretion in handling sensitive schedules, personnel records and correspondence.
• Work closely with the Technical Support Consultant supporting the workstream to align administrative and technical/editorial timelines, avoiding duplication of coordination effort.
• Perform any other administrative duties reasonably assigned by the Lead Rapporteur / Head, Documentation and Publication.

The table below summarizes how the Administrative Assistant’s support connects to the workstream’s operational needs:

 

The Administrative Assistant, while overseen by FHI 360, will report directly to the Lead Rapporteur / Head, Documentation and Publication. The role works closely with the Technical Support Consultant supporting the same workstream, the six Track Rapporteur Leads, the Session Rapporteur pool, the Editorial, Synthesis, and the Publications and Design teams, and liaises as needed with Africa CDC’s human resources, finance, procurement, IT and accreditation functions in support of the workstream’s day-to-day operations.

Period of Performance

The assignment runs for approximately five months, from October 2026 to February 2027 (approximately 95 days), aligned to the pre-conference, conference-week and post-conference phases of the workstream.

Performance will be assessed on the timeliness and accuracy of administrative support provided, which includes keeping rapporteur and stakeholder records current and complete, arranging meetings, credentials and logistics without disruption to the documentation schedule, tracking review and signoff deadlines and issuing reminders proactively, and completing budget, procurement and distribution tasks accurately and on time. The Administrative Assistant will also be evaluated based on their responsiveness to the Lead Rapporteur and the wider team, and on the overall smooth administrative functioning of the workstream.

Location of Work

The Administrative Assistant will be based at Africa CDC Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Qualifications

Candidates must demonstrate the following:

Education

• A diploma or Bachelor’s degree in business administration, office management, public administration, or a related field.

Experience

• A minimum of two to four years of relevant experience in administrative, secretarial or logistical support roles, ideally within conferences, events, or international or regional organizations.
• Proficiency in standard office and collaboration software (MS Office or Google Workspace) and experience administering shared drives or digital workspaces.
• Experience with basic procurement, expenditure tracking or budget administration is an advantage.
• Prior experience supporting large conferences, meetings or multi-stakeholder events is strongly preferred.
• Good written and spoken communication skills in English; working French is an advantage given the conference’s multilingual audience.

Skills and Competencies

• Highly organized and detail-oriented, able to manage multiple administrative tasks and competing deadlines simultaneously.
• Strong scheduling, records-management and correspondence-handling skills.
• Discretion and sound judgment in handling sensitive information, schedules and personnel matters.
• Service-oriented and proactive, able to anticipate the administrative needs of a large, partly seconded and distributed team.
• Ability to work effectively under time pressure, including extended hours during the conference week.
• Good interpersonal skills for liaising with rapporteurs, track leads, senior Africa CDC leadership and external partners.

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the following criteria:

• Award will be based upon best value (a combination of qualifications and proposed daily rate).
• Payment will be based upon Level of Effort (LOE) with reimbursement for approved related budgeted expenses.

FHI 360 Disclaimers

• FHI 360 may perform a background check on any selected Consultant candidates.
• FHI 360 may cancel the solicitation and not award
• FHI 360 may reject any or all responses received
• Issuance of the solicitation does not constitute an award commitment by FHI 360
• FHI 360 reserves the right to disqualify any offer based on failure of the offeror to follow solicitation instructions
• FHI 360 will not compensate any offeror for responding to solicitation
• FHI 360 reserves the right to issue award based on initial evaluation of offers without further discussion
• FHI 360 may choose to award only part of the activities in the solicitation, or issue multiple awards based on the solicitation activities
• FHI 360 reserves the right to waive minor proposal deficiencies that can be corrected prior to award determination to promote competition
• FHI 360’s consultant terms and conditions can be found here