Women Deliver 2023

Introduction

Women Deliver is a leading global advocate that champions gender equality and the health and rights of girls and women, in all their intersecting identities. Their  advocacy drives investment — political and financial — in the lives of girls and women worldwide. 

Since 2010, Women Deliver has sponsored WD conferences every three years, bringing together decision-makers from diverse fields.

The Ask

For WD2023, Women Deliver envisioned a higher emphasis on partnerships than ever before by developing links between varied actors and bringing country-level advocates' viewpoints to the forefront, both in-person and virtually, at every stage. For this four-day event, they required high-fidelity, live interpretation services to facilitate smooth communication.

Our Solution

Congress Rental EA was tasked with providing Simultaneous Interpretation (SI) support for 15 conference rooms at the Kigali Convention Centre (KCC). The solution supplied was customised to each room based on the available space and the individual SI standards. Interpreters worked in soundproof ISO-compliant interpretation booths in the KCC Auditorium for the Plenary meetings, and the audio was relayed to delegates through digital infrared receivers. For the remaining 14 breakout sessions, interpreters worked remotely via our collaborators' - Interprefy - Remote Simultaneous Interpretation (RSI) module, and the audio was relayed back into our system before being transmitted to delegates via digital infrared receivers.

Collaboration with Planitswiss and Interprefy

Because of our previous experiences at the KCC, Planitswiss, a full-service hospitality solutions provider and professional conference organiser (PCO), sought our advice and assistance on Simultaneous Interpretation as it related to KCC activities. 

We also easily interfaced with Interprefy, a world-leading provider of remote, multilingual, and live translation services, as part of our solution to support the KCC breakout sessions.

The Venue

Plenary Sessions at the KCC Auditorium

Given the auditorium's circular shape, delegates were seated in a stadium configuration, with a circular stage of speakers at the foot of the main floor. Our tailor-made design allowed our system to communicate with every other service provider in the room, thus ensuring uninterrupted infrared coverage throughout the auditorium, which could seat about 2250 delegates. 

Breakout Sessions in the KCC Meeting Halls and Terrace

Bringing multiple interpreters per language to site for 15 breakout rooms would have been a logistical and financial nightmare, so we collaborated with Interprefy in these sessions to provide Remote Simultaneous Interpretation (RSI), which we relayed to all delegates in each breakout session via digital infrared receivers. This resulted in a cost-effective solution and continuous communication throughout all KCC breakout sessions.

Conclusion

In partnership with Planitswiss and Interprefy, Congress Rental East Africa successfully offered Simultaneous Interpretation support from start to end. Throughout the four-day event, every attendee had access to live interpretation in the available languages.