Vacancy Announcement for the Consultancy Work Macro Assessment of Public Financial Management Systems of Georgia
On behalf of UN agencies in Georgia UNICEF Country office is looking for a consultant capable to undertake the assignment outlined in details below at a high quality and professional level:
Objective and Scope of the Macro Assessment
To ensure adequate awareness of the public financial management (PFM) environment in which UN agencies provide cash transfers to the implementing Partners (IPs), a desk review of assessments of the PFM system needs to be conducted. The term ‘PFM’ in the harmonized approach to cash transfers (HACT) framework is broadly defined to include a range of considerations for operating within the country; it is not limited solely to the financial environment but also includes national procurement capacity, exchange rate volatility, presence of informal/black markets, etc. This assessment is called a macro assessment.
Primary outputs of the macro assessment
- An outline of the risks related to use of the PFM for cash transfers within the country by governmental IPs, as well as other country-specific knowledge for non-governmental IPs; and
- A determination on whether the government’s supreme audit institution (SAI) has the capacity to undertake scheduled and special audits of government IPs.
Macro Assessment Procedures
The consultant performing the macro assessment collects available PFM assessments to aid in detailing the risks related to the use of PFM systems for cash transfers within the country. This includes considerations regarding the use of the SAI and broader country conditions, such as environmental conditions, legal regulations, judicial environments, exchange rate volatility and the presence of informal/black markets, etc.
Typical sources of PFM assessments could be (but not limited to) some, most or all of the below listed documents (in the application together with the expected service fee and duration of work the candidate should point out particularly which of the documents will be reviewed during the assessment):
World Bank
- Country financial accountability assessments. These vary in format and presentation.
- Public expenditure reviews. These analyse a country’s fiscal position, expenditure policies and public expenditure management systems.
- Country procurement assessment reviews. These review public procurement institutions and practices.
- Institutional and governance reviews. These review the quality of accountability, policymaking and service delivery institutions.
- Capacity assessments of heavily indebted poor country PFM. Performed jointly with IMF, this assessment covers some of the same issues as a country financial accountability assessment.
Other institutions
- Fiscal transparency reviews (IMF). These use the code of good practices on fiscal transparency adopted by IMF in 1998.
- Diagnostic study of accounting and auditing (Asian Development Bank).
- Ex-ante audits of PFM systems (European Commission).
- Assessments by CIDA, DFID, EU, ADB and other agencies.
The preliminary results of the macro assessment are discussed with the UN agencies implementing the HACT framework, both to provide a summary of the results and to incorporate agency-specific experience and knowledge of the country into the final assessment.
Deliverables
- The consultant summarizes the findings on the risks related to the use of PFM systems for cash transfers within the country in the macro assessment checklist (provided in Annexes);
- The consultant summarizes and concludes about capabilities of SAI on undertaking scheduled and special audits of government IPs
Required qualifications
The candidate should be experienced in performing assessments similar to a macro assessment and assessing risks related to PFM systems. He/she should also have financial management experience and knowledge of the United Nations system and the development sector.
Curriculum vitae (CVs) should include details on engagements carried out, including ongoing assignments, and qualifications and experience in undertaking similar assessments.
How to apply
Interested candidates are requested to submit:
- Cover Letter together with motivation statement should include: (a) daily fee; (b) expected number of days for successful accomplishment of the assignment; (c) expected list of existing documents to be reviewed during the assessment process;
- Curriculum Vitae;
- Completed UN Personal History Form (P11)
The above package should be sent to UNICEF by e-mail:
hrtbilisi@unicef.org with ref. subject:
“Macro Assessment”. Application deadline:
COB 5th of November 2014.
Only short-listed applicants will be contacted.
.gif)
