CONFERENCE SERVICES SECTIONS

Planning and Coordination Section

Services provided

The various services provided by the Planning and Coordination Section (PCS) include provision of the following:

• Premises and facilities such as meeting rooms
• Conference equipment
• Conference officers
• Information technology coordination of related functions
• Room attendants and messengers
• Activity statistics
• Assistance in organizing catering services during meetings.

The main services are listed on a meetings request form (a model of which is attached as annex I), which is available online. PCS not only plans and services meetings held in Nairobi but also coordinates the servicing of meetings at other locations.

PCS also maintains statistical records of conference-servicing activities. In addition, PCS provides substantive and technical secretariat services for meetings.

Procedures

1) Services relating to meetings

Clients and potential clients are advised to follow the procedures set out below:

1. Obtain a meetings request form either from the PCS offices located in Block R or from the DCS web site: www.unoncs.org. (For the processing of requests relating to editing, translation and reproduction work, please refer to the section on the Documents Control Unit below.)
   
   
2. Select from the form those services of interest to you, indicating such relevant information as the period of the meeting, the necessary staff complement, the expected volume of work to be handled (specifying separately pre-, in- and post-session work), the venue,etc.
   
   
3. Submit the request form to PCS for consideration and processing (bearing in mind the need to adhere to the rule established by the General Assembly that pre-session documents for an official meeting must be submitted for processing at least 10 weeks before the meeting and distributed to meeting participants at least six weeks prior to the meeting).
   
   
4. PCS will process the request by consulting all the various providers of the required services within and outside the Division before returning the form to the client with a cost estimate of the services selected. At this juncture, the client may negotiate with PCS on some of the items under consideration (cost, number of staff, deadlines, dispatch dates, etc.).
   
   
5. On the basis of the services selected and costed, PCS will also prepare a draft service level agreement or memorandum of understanding stating all the services that the Division will render to the client, ranging from resource persons to equipment.
   
   
6. Once agreement has been reached by both parties (client and PCS) on the provision of selected services and their related cost, both the cost estimate schedule and the memorandum are signed by all parties and returned to PCS for action to be taken at the appropriate time.
   
   

Download a pdf organigram of this section

2) Services relating to processing of documentation

Documents Control Unit

The Documents Control Unit (DCU) is the focal point for all matters involving all steps in the processing of documentation. All manuscripts, if they are to become official documents, must pass through DCU for the sake of recording and tracking. DCU is responsible for the following:

• Acting as the intermediary between submitting offices and the Translation and Editorial Section as well as the Publishing Services Section
  
• Establishing clear guidelines for documentation submission
  
• Receiving and verifying document forecasts and preparing production statistics; negotiating with author departments on their documentation requirements, which must be balanced against workload and availability in downstream sections
  
• Receiving all manuscripts from originating departments to ensure that they meet approved edito rial and technical standards and approving manuscripts for processing
  
• Registering and transmitting manuscripts to appropriate units for processing
• Monitoring the processing of all documents and publications in order to ensure timely and simultaneous distribution
  
• Establishing word and page counts on the basis of which charges for document related services are computed
  
• Providing remote transmission services for meetings held outside Nairobi
  

Documentation forecasting

Forecasting is the necessary first step in the documentation process. The purpose of forecasting is for DCU to know a client’sfuture service requirements. Because it turns on the submitting office’s needs, forecasting is of necessity the responsibility of the submitting office. DCU, however, is always available to consult with and advise the submitting office, thus providing the client with the benefit of DCU's long experience.

To be effective,a forecast should provide:

• A complete list of documents to be submitted for processing during the period concerned, including their titles
• The estimated total number of pages of the documents
  
• The original language of each document and the languages into which it is to be translated
  
• The estimated date on which each document will be submitted to DCS and the date it is tobe issued
  
• The title and dates of the meeting for which the documents are required
  
• A list of any pre-existing documents to be reproduced and referenced by DCS
• Any special instructions
  

Types of forecasts

Documentation workload forecast: submitted twice a year, this covers the periods January-June and July-December and contains global information on submission of documents prepared for the consideration of intergovernmental bodies and publications in a specific sector for a six-month period.

Documentation checklist and forecast form: contains specific and detailed information on the pre-session documentation for one meeting, seminar, workshop or conference. It should be submitted three months in advance of the opening of the meeting.

In-session documents forecast: contains a list of documents to be submitted during a meeting, indicating, where possible, an order of priority.

Publications programme: this includes various types of material such as periodicals, brochures, pamphlets and studies that are designed to inform the public on specific issues or United Nations activities.

	NB. While it is understood that needs may change with time, any serious deviation from a forecast – submission of documents that have not been projected or that are substantially longer than indicated – will have consequences not only for the document in question but for all documents to be processed. For this reason, forecasts must be as accurate and as complete as possible.