Historique

Background Information

UNDP and The Global Fund have been supporting Capacity Development (CD) initiatives for Sub-Recipients (SRs) and Sub-sub Recipients (SSRs) since 2009 when UNDP assumed the role of a Principal Recipient (PR) of The Global Fund grants in Zimbabwe. CD Plans have been developed at each cycle of grants implementation to focus on specific capacity gaps identified through SRs and SSRs capacity development assessments. To-date UNDP has funded three phases of the CD Projects, focusing on individual skills transfers, institutional and systems strengthening and Programme Management and Transformational Leadership. The Capacity Development Plans have benefitted mainly the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), National AIDS Council (NAC), Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) and National Pharmaceutical Company of Zimbabwe (NatPharm). UNDP and The Global Fund have co-funded the Capacity Development (CD) Projects. The purpose of the CD Initiatives is to ensure that the national entities have the systems, procedures and technical expertise in place to successfully implement efficient and effective programmes. ?The phase 4 of the CD Plan under the current HIV grant (2018-2020) has extended support to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). ?The functional capacities of two implimenting partners of the HIV grant are being strengthened. This request for proposal is to provide technical support to strengthen the financial management systems (Pastel) of the two implementing partners of the HIV grant.

Technical background

UNDP seeks the services of a PASTEL Management Consultant to configure and train relevant staff of partners of two selected Implementing Partners of The Global Fund HIV grant on the Pastel System. The purpose of the exercise is to support the two Implementing Partners to have in place a functional Pastel system that meets The Global Fund and other donor reporting requirements. The system is expected to improve transparency and accountability and increase the confidence of donors in the management of grant funds. The two Implementing Partners are based in Harare and Bulawayo, and each of them will have 3 users. Currently, these Implementing Partners are using Pastel version 17 and Version 18 which will require reconfiguration and additional training.

Justification/Rationale

Implementing Partner in Bulawayo

The Implementing Partner based in Bulawayo uses Pastel as a Financial Management System. The system has the following gaps:

• The system does not have an Asset Management module; instead, a parallel paper- based system is being used to manage assets outside the system;
• The manual register doesn't capture all relevant information to meet the minumim asset management requirements as per international best practice. For example, information on status/condition and location of the assets are missing;
• The current system does not have a donor reporting module and is unable to generate reports; and ?
• There is no SOPs to guide the management of assets.
• The Asset Register requires an assessment/review to capture key information which are missing from the current register,
• Create Asset Management Module in the Pastel with a functionality to generate reports; and
• Develop SOPs for Financial Management (FM) tailored to the requirements of the partner to guide the management of their assets

Implementing Partner in Harare

The Implementing Partner in Harare uses Pastel as their Financial Management System. The current system has the following gaps:

• There is no asset management module to track assets;
• There is no reporting module to generate reports, including donor reports.
• The Asset register needs to be finalised and configured into the Pastel Finance Management System to enhance the asset register and the management of the assets.
• The partner has an existing draft manual and utilizes Financial Management Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) templates and guidelines. The manual requires to be finalized and the SOPs updated to align with international best practices.

Devoirs et responsabilités

The requested assignment primarily focuses on system upgrade and reconfiguration. User Acceptance Tests have recently been carried out and have revealed some shortcomings of the systems.  Specifically, the services required are to a) Configure the Asset Management and Donor reporting modules in the Pastel System, b) develop a Financial Management Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and c) train users on the proper use of the SOPs, on upgraded system and the Asset management Module.

Scope of Work

The scope of the consultancy will include the following:

• Conduct a detailed assessment or review of the existing financial management systems of the two Implementing Partners to confirm the gaps requiring interventions;
• Develop an Action Plan with clear timelines linking to deliverables and seek the approval from the two implementing partners, UNDP, NAC and UNFPA. The Action Plan should propose measures to address the identified gaps within the consultancy period. The consultant, in developing the action plan, will work closely with designated focal points from UNDP, NAC, UNFPA, and the two implementing partners.
• Lead the implementation process of all the changes both in terms of team leadership, training and hands-on tasks. The implementation is envisaged to be achievable through programming, system configuration, testing, training, development of SOPs and documentation, among other actions as may be agreed with all relevant parties;
• Reconfigure the Asset Management Module into Pastel system to capture and generate reports on Asset
• Develop and finalize the SOPs and Financial Manual
• Reconfigure Pastel to produce GF and other donor required reports
• Train and mentor relevant officers of the two implementing partners on the proper use of the SOPs and the Asset Management Module in Pastel
• Provide six-month after sale service technical support for the two implementing partners. Provide on-call support within five working days.

Methodology/Approach for the consultancy

The selected consultant will discuss the proposed methodology for the consultancy and present it as part of the Inception Report which will be reviewed and approved by UNDP and NAC. Overall, the approach will include the following:

Inception meeting

The consultant will conduct an inception meeting with UNDP, NAC, UNFPA, the two partners and other key stakeholders to refine the methodology/approach, discuss the scope of work in detail and clear road map for the provision of the services

Debrief/Update Meetings:

The consultant will conduct debriefing or update meetings with UNDP, NAC, UNFPA, and the two implementing partners and other key stakeholders to discuss progress, challenges and recommendations every other month and on ad hoc basis when the need arises.  Another meeting will be convened at the end of the assignment, to validate the consultancy.

Assessment:

Carry out a comprehensive testing and assessment of the existing system through user simulation with the aim of identifying and confirming gaps vis-à-vis user requirements for the two partners, UNDP, NAC and UNFPA. The selected consultant will develop a checklist/tool for the assessment and discuss with the key stakeholders. A meeting will be conducted with UNDP, NAC and other key stakeholders to present the findings of the assessment.

Implementation

Will take 50 working days, spread over a period of 9 months and a progress report provided for the main activities every other month. The consultant will make several consultations with key stakeholders as they develop the Financial Manual for the two organizations and finalize. Furthermore, the consultant will visit the two sites in Harare and Bulawayo to assess the system, reconfigure and train the users. During implementation, meetings will be held with key organizations to discuss and review the progress. There after sale support will be offered for the next 6 months.

Key Deliverables

• Asset Management Module reconfigured into Pastel System to capture and Report on Assets
• Reconfigured Pastel System generating GF and other donor required reports (20days)
• Finalized SOPs and Financial Manual (5days)
• Report on the training of Relevant staff of the two implementing partners on the SOPs and reconfigured Pastel (5days)
• Presentation of the draft reports and status of the assignments
• Combined Final Report (5days)

Note: Deliverables listed above are not to be necessarily achieved in sequential order but spread over the consultancy period. Total number of days is 50, implemented over a 9-month period.

Institutional Arrangement

• On a day to day basis, the consultant will work with and directly report to the SR for the project, NAC and the SSR for the project UNFPA.;
• NAC and UNFPA have the overall responsibility for the project and will certify every consultancy deliverable and completion of work for payment purpose
• UNDP as the contracting party will be the sole source of instructions for the intended engagement.  UNDP- Capacity Development Officer shall be the focal point for all contractual issues.
• Progress reporting will be done at the end of each milestone or on an ad-hoc basis as the situation may require.

Payment will be made in as per each deliverable.

• Development and Finalization of the SOPS and Financial Manual (5days) (10%)
• Reconfiguration of Asset Management Module into Pastel to capture and report on Asset (15days) (50%)
• Reconfiguration of Pastel to produce GF reports and other donor required reports special indicators such cost category, budget by beneficiary, (20days) (30%)
• Training of relevant staff of Two partners on the SOPs and Pastel (5days) (5%)
• submission of a combined Final Report (5days) (5%).

Duty Station

The duty station for this engagement is in Bulawayo and Harare. Tasks will be carried out on fulltime basis for the duration of the consultancy;Working hours of the partners are from 8am to 4pm from Monday to Friday, except weekends and official holidays.

Compétences

Corporate:

• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the Advisory Committee.
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, age and Key Populations in their diversity.

Functional:

• Strong analytical, negotiation and communication skills, including ability to produce high quality practical advisory reports and knowledge products,
• Professional and/or academic experience in one or more of the areas of international development, public health or related field.

Project and Resource Management:

• Ability to produce high quality outputs in a timely manner while understanding and anticipating the evolving client needs.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Ability to work independently, produce high quality outputs.

Communications and Advocacy:

• Strong ability to write clearly and convincingly, adapting style and content to different audiences and speak clearly and convincingly.
• Strong analytical, research and writing skills with demonstrated ability to think strategically.
• Strong inter-personal, negotiation and liaison skills.

Partnership building and team work:

• Excellent negotiating and networking skills.
• Demonstrated flexibility to excel in a key Populations sensitive environment.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Qualification

• Master’s Degree in Finance/Computer Sciences/Accounting
• Certification in configuration of Pastel Modules
• PASTEL Certified in Financial Accounting (FI) and any other relevant qualification or relevant experience

Experience

• At least five years’ experience in developing and deploying PASTEL solutions in government departments, Civil Society Organizations and Private Sectors
• Has done similar work in any CSO, or Private sector and or local authority organizations. Reference of such work must be provided
• Demonstrated or provision of documented evidence of handling at least three similar projects with contactable references, a brief project profile of one of similar tasks should be submitted along with the application.
• At least 5 years of PASTEL experience, including experience configuring Asset management,

Language:

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required for this consultancy.

Selection criteria

Evaluation

Candidates will be evaluated using a combined scoring method with the qualifications and methodology weighted at 70% and the price offer weighted at 30%.  Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49% (out of 70%) points on the technical qualifications part will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.
Criteria for evaluation of qualifications and methodology (70 points maximum):

• Relevance of education of the Consultant
• Master’s Degree in Finance/Computer Sciences/Accounting (10 points)
• Certification in configuration of Pastel Modules (10 points)
• The Consultant must have at least five years’ experience in deploying PASTEL solutions in government departments, Civil Society Organizations/Private Sector (10points)
• The Consultant must be PASTEL Certified in Financial Accounting (FI) and any other such as, Materials Management (MM), Controlling (CO), Sales and distribution, (10 points)
• The consultant must have done similar work in any CSO, or Private sector and or local authority organizations (10points)
• Two references of such work must be provided (10 points)
• The Consultant must have at least 3 years in configuring Asset management (10points)

Criteria for financial evaluation (30 points maximum):

• p = y (µ/z), where
• p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal
µ = price of the lowest priced proposal
z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Payment Method:

• Payment: All-inclusive Daily Fee
• Payment will include DSA and air ticket
• The consultant will be paid as a daily rate (based on the number of days worked).
• Payments will be based on the Certificate of Payments that will be submitted at each milestone;
• Final tranche upon performance evaluation from the direct supervisor.
• Travel will be approved and re-imbursed by UNDP.

Please note: The Consultant should submit a Technical proposal upon whose basis the technical evaluation will be performed. The Technical Proposal when submitted should include the CV, documentation of previous work and proof of address. The Financial Proposal should be submitted separately from the technical proposal.