A common operational (harmonized) framework for transferring cash to government and non‑governmental IPs, irrespective of whether these partners work with one or multiple United Nation agencies. The objective of the HACT framework is to support a closer alignment of development aid with national priorities and to strengthen national capacities for management and accountability, with the ultimate objective of gradually shifting to national systems. It is intended to serve as a simplified set of procedures on requesting, disbursing, providing assurance, and reporting on funds as a way to effectively manage risks, reduce transaction costs and promote sustainable development in a coordinated manner.
Harassment is any improper and unwelcome conduct by UNDP personnel against UNDP or external personnel that has caused, or that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause, offence or humiliation. Harassment may be present in the form of words, gestures, electronic communication or other actions that annoy, alarm, abuse, demean, intimidate, belittle, or cause personal humiliation or embarrassment to another, or cause an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment. It includes but is not limited to harassment based on any grounds, such as race, religion, color, creed, ethnic origin, physical attributes, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Harassment will often consist of a series of incidents, but it may be brought about by a single incident only.
A joint decision of the Executive Boards of UNDP/UNFPA, UNICEF and UNWOMEN approved a new harmonized conceptual framework for defining and attributing all costs, both programme costs and organizational costs (DP-FPA/2012/1), and a new harmonized methodology for calculating cost-recovery rates on other resources (non-core) (DP-FPA/2013/1; DP/2013/9).
“Head of Office” refers to the head of either a UNDP headquarter office or UNDP country office, i.e. Bureaux Directors, Resident Representatives, heads of UNDP liaison offices, and heads of UNDP administered funds and programmes. Heads of Regional Service Centers and Heads of Policy Centers receive their delegated authorities from the Regional or Central Bureaux Directors as the case may be and/or from those directly delegated specific functional authorities by the Administrator (such as the Chief Procurement Officer, Chief Finance Officer, Treasurer etc.) and hence not included in this definition. Similarly, Country Directors receive their authorities from the Resident Representatives and are not considered heads of offices;
The purpose of the Home Leave (HL) travel entitlement is to allow eligible internationally recruited staff members periodic visits to their home country to renew and strengthen cultural and family ties. Having a multicultural staff is a founding principle of our international civil service. The UN invests in maintaining its multicultural nature through the HL entitlement. HL does not carry any extra entitlement to days of leave beyond the normal annual leave entitlement. The time spent on HL is charged against the staff member’s normal annual leave entitlement. Absence on HL is subject to the exigencies of service, as determined and approved by the staff member’s supervisor.
Official UNDP hospitality is intended to facilitate external networking activities undertaken by UNDP officials to serve the interest of UNDP and the larger United Nations (UN) community. guidelines for headquarters locations and other locations, including country offices. UNDP's policy on hospitality recognizes representational activities of senior UNDP staff members in receipt of a representational allowance and explains what the allowance is expected to cover and provides for the reasonable reimbursement of hospitality-related expenses.
Refers to the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons by a vendor, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation
Refers to the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons by a vendor, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation
Refer to ICT components that can no longer perform their intended function due to loss of compatibility with other ICT systems or failing to meet standards. Obsolete components cannot and should not be used UNDP ICT environments. For example, hardware becomes obsolete when it is unable to efficiently run a minimal version of UNDP standard software. Software becomes obsolete when it is unable to integrate with other ICT infrastructure components or it is no longer able to run on hardware with minimum supported configuration defined in this document.
Obstruction or Obstructive Practice is an act or omission by a vendor that prevents or hinders UNDP’s data gathering and analysis in a particular case.
The Offeror’s response to the Invitation to Offer, including the Offer Submission Form, Technical Offer and Price Schedule and all other documentation attached to the Offer.
An Offer of Settlement, as further described in paragraphs 44 and 45 below. An OoS may be made by UNDP to the Respondent(s) under either the DRP and PRP
A staff member or a group of staff members who are designated with an authority for acquiring, creating, maintaining and disposing of information and corresponding ICT systems as well as to make operational, strategic, financial or human resource decisions in the corresponding office (e.g. Director of the Bureau or Office, Deputy Director, Resident Representative, Country Director or Operations Manager, etc).
The OAI, as internal auditor of UNDP, conducts its audit to give reasonable assurance to UNDP senior management about the activities undertaken by a given UNDP unit and to bring to their attention areas requiring improvement. OAI reports to the Administrator.
This sourcing method creates awareness in the business community of an opportunity related to a specific project, and requires advertisement in an appropriate medium (including, but not limited to, the UNDP global website) depending on the nature of the procurement activity. In an open competitive bidding process, there will be no shortlisted companies; consequently, all vendors wishing to participate in the process are invited to do so.
Opening competition to the international market provides equal opportunity to all eligible vendors. It entails a public advertisement in globally accessible media. The following conditions must be met: a. The procurement opportunity should be advertised on UNDP’s corporate website; b. It should be posted in the UN Global Marketplace (i.e., www.ungm.org); and c. Advertisements should remain online for a minimum of two weeks.
These are trust funds established by UNDP to receive contributions from multiple donors for global, regional or broad thematic programmes, which usually consist of a number of projects. Their terms of reference outline their purpose, objectives and administrative arrangements.
An Operating Lease is a lease other than a Finance Lease. For office space, a Lease that has been formulated and agreed following UNDP’s Standard Lease Template will be an Operating Lease.
Operations Management & Administration: Activities related to overall staff/office management and the provision of workplace and support services (ICT, Finance, OHR, UNDP security, travel, assets and general services) which permit UNDP to carry out the mission of the organization (but excluding direct project implementation support). Activities related to the harmonization and simplification of UN operational processes and business practices should also be included here.
The VRC may recommend, and the CPO may decide to impose, other sanctions that it finds appropriate, including requiring that future contracts with the Vendor reflect special conditions, or that the vendor compensate UNDP for any loses and/or costs sustained or incurred by it as a result of the Vendor’s involvement in a Proscribed Practice.
Overpayments: Payments made by the Organization to a staff member in excess of his/her salary, benefits and entitlements under the UN Staff Regulations and Staff Rules and relevant policies;
Oversight means the general process of review, monitoring, evaluation, supervision, reporting and audit programmes, activities, policy implementation, and results of the organization. This is to ensure organizational, financial, operational and ethical accountability, effectiveness of internal controls, and the prevention of fraud and malpractice.
All UNDP programmes and projects must be governed by a multi-stakeholder board or committee established to review performance based on monitoring and evaluation, and address implementation issues to ensure quality delivery of results. In crisis contexts where constraints prevent the government from being able to participate in relevant programme and/or project boards, the Regional Bureau can grant approval for modified oversight mechanisms, taking risks and stakeholders into account.
Overtime means the time worked in excess of the scheduled workday or scheduled workweek or during any of the UN official holidays. 2. The following is not considered as overtime: a) Time spent travelling to and from the place of work; b) Work performed during the lunch period; c) Work performed outside regular working hours due to the adoption of a shift system except when the total time worked exceeds the scheduled workday or workweek. Overtime compensation (OC) is payable to General Service (GS) staff members, with Permanent, Continuing or Fixed-Term appointments governed by the UN Staff Regulations and Staff Rules. OC is neither payable to National Professional Officers (NPOs) nor to International Professional staff members.
The process under which cases are reviewed by a panel composed of UNDP staff who determine the recommendation(s) to be made to the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO).
Under Parallel Fund Management, each organization independently manages its own funds, whether coming from Regular or Other Resources. This option is likely to be the most effective and efficient when interventions by participating UN organizations are aimed at common results, but with different national, sub-national and/or international partners.
PCAT is a mandatory tool that includes a partner pre-requisite checklist and capacity assessment scoping to assist project developers to determine which capacity assessments (if any) need to be completed before the project is finalized and approved.
PPSA is a contractual modality through which UNDP may engage and administer non-staff personnel contacts for an on behalf of client UN entities - ‘the Partner’ for the purposes of this policy.
Partner risk is determined by the impact on human development and well-being which arises from the nature of the industry sector and business performance. It has social, environmental and governance aspects.
Partner Risk Rating is defined as the overall Risk Assessment derived from the Micro Assessment risk rating adjusted for other available information including results of the Macro Assessment, past experience with the Partner including results of assurance activities, prior capacity assessments and micro assessments by other Agencies.
A UNDP partnership is a voluntary and collaborative commitment between UNDP and one or more parties. Together, they work to achieve common objectives in line with overall development goals supported by UNDP. Parties should agree to respect the values and policies central to UNDP’s mandate, and maximize the effective use of resources, including through careful assessment of risks, responsibilities, competencies and benefits. They may provide opportunities for innovation and achievements that might not be feasible by either UNDP or its partner working alone.
Partnership risk is shaped by the nature of the collaboration with UNDP, by the private and public benefits of the collaboration, and also by the role that UNDP takes in brokering, co-creating and/or implementing activities that arise from the collaboration.
Under the pass-through fund management, two or more organizations develop a multi-donor trust fund or joint programme. If the donor(s) and participating UN organizations agree to channel the funds to participating organizations through one UN organization, then the pass-through modality applies. The UN organization channelling resources, called the Administrative Agent (‘AA’), is jointly selected by all participating organizations.
The United Nations Joint Pension Fund (UNJPF) provides participating staff members with benefits in the event of death, disability, separation from service before retirement age, or upon retirement. The United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF) (www.unjspf.org) was established by the General Assembly (GA) to provide retirement, death, disability, and related benefits for the staff of the United Nations and other organizations admitted to membership in the Fund. The Fund is administered by the UNJSPF Board together with staff pension committees from each member organization, with a secretariat to the Board and to each such committee (in tripartite and equal representation). The assets of the Fund are property of the Fund and are acquired, deposited, and held in the name of the UN on behalf of the participants and beneficiaries of the Fund; however, the assets are held separately from those of the UN and can be used only for the purposes stated in the Fund's Regulations.
For the purposes of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF), special scales, called Pensionable Remuneration (PR), are established as the basis for determining the contribution to be paid by the staff member and by UNDP as well as the pension benefits to which the staff member may become entitled.
All UNDP staff members are accountable to the Administrator for performing their functions and delivery of agreed results based on the highest standards of competence, integrity, ethics, and efficiency, in line with the UN values, Standards of Conduct for the International Civil Service, Secretary-General’s Bulletin on the Status, Basic Rights and Duties of United Nations Staff Members, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, and UNDP policies.
Performance-based payments (PBPs) are a type of agreement between UNDP and a responsible party to provide funding upon the verified achievement of an agreed measurable development result. No advances are provided, rather payments are made only upon the verified achievement of agreed results. This approach gives greater incentive to responsible parties to achieve results.
A Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) is a tool that aims to facilitate the required improvement in the performance of a staff member. It serves to record: (1) identified shortcomings and improvements to be achieved, (2) actions to be taken to fully meet the requirements of the job and performance objectives, (3) timelines; as well as (4) support to be provided, (5) outcomes of periodic check-ins, and (6) the final review of the PIP implementation.
Effective performance management and development of each staff member (PMD) are a shared responsibility of the supervisee and the supervisor. Performance management and development are continuous processes and are anchored in the frequent, two-way, open communication between the supervisor and the supervisee aimed to ensure the achievement of results, staff development, and the provision of timely and appropriate support. Both the supervisor and the supervisee are expected to initiate and engage in such communication.12. The annual performance management and development cycle is from 1 January to 31 December of the year and includes: annual performance planning (mandatory); regular performance discussions, including performance monitoring, feedback and coaching during the performance year; the mid-term review (MTR) (mandatory); and the annual performance review (APR) (mandatory) .
Any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (“data subject”); an identifiable person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identification number or to one or more factors specific to his physical, physiological, mental, economic, cultural or social identity; [EU directive 95/46/EC]
UNDP staff and other persons engaged by UNDP under other contractual arrangements to perform services for UNDP programme activities or for programme support.
PCF is the cash balance kept in the safe in a CO’s main office or a HQ unit to meet small expenses for management projects where the use of cheque or electronic funds transfer (EFT) is inefficient.
“Pipeline” refers to the totality of planned projects, programmes, and initiatives that UNDP is expected to pursue within a foreseeable time in the future.
Plant comprises those assets that are grouped together; held in use for the production or supply of goods or services; used in the implementation of UNDP programmes and administrative operations; and are expected to be used during more than one financial reporting period. Examples of such assets are heavy machinery; furniture and fixtures. The combined cost of such group of assets together should be US$5,000 or more and should meet the capitalization criteria described under “Recognition.”
The definition endorsed by the Organizational Performance Group in 2015 refers to policies as providing an operational, long-term framework for the organization and describe what the organization intends to do. Policies are to be clear and simple statements and should not be overly prescriptive. UNDP’s main policy and procedures repository is the POPP (Programme and Operations Policies and Procedures).1
Under Pooled Fund Management, participating UN organizations pool funds together to one UN organization, called the Managing Agent (MA), chosen jointly by the participating UN organizations in consultation with the (sub-) national partner. The MA will support the (sub-) national partner in managing the programme. This option is likely to be the most effective and efficient approach when participating UN organizations work for common results with a common national or sub-national partner (e.g. Department, provincial office, NGO) and/or in a common geographical area.
A portfolio is a programming delivery instrument, which contributes to one or more country programme outcomes and engages one or more implementing partners to address system level challenges for strategic development results.
Positive pay is a process used to combat cheque fraud. With this service a company transmits a file of issued cheque information to the bank soon after its issuance to the payee. The bank matches cheque serial numbers and amounts of cheques presented for payments against the issue file and pays only those cheques that match. Exceptions are conveyed to the company for disposition. Some positive pay services match against the payee field as well as the serial number and amount, in an effort to detect altered payees.
The Post Adjustment system was designed to equalize purchasing power of United Nations salaries for professionals and higher categories, taking into account the cost of living differences between the base city of the system (New York) and other duty stations. The system aims at ensuring that, no matter where United Nations common system staff work at some 180 locations worldwide, their take-home-pay has a purchasing power equivalent to that at the base of the system. The Post Adjustment System is available at: http://icsc.un.org/secretariat/cold.asp?include=par
Particularly for high value or complex procurement requirements, a solicitation may be limited only to vendors who meet established criteria for capacity and resources, based on a prequalification process. The prequalification process aims to ensure that solicitation documents are extended only to those with adequate capacity and resources to provide the requisite goods, services or perform civil works.
UNDP’s Information Disclosure Policy is guided by openness, with the underlying presumption that any information concerning UNDP programmes and operations enumerated in Chapter III is available to the public, in the absence of a compelling reason for confidentiality in line with the exceptions to the Policy in Chapter IV.
Prima Facie case (of Retaliation) is established when the information available to the Ethics Office indicates that it is more likely than not that a causal connection exists between the Protected Activity (defined below) and the detrimental action that has been taken or threatened against the individual. When the Ethics Office has determined that a prima facie case is established, the matter will be referred to OAI for a full investigation.
The term ‘private sector’ refers to any such entity that could collaborate or collaborates with UNDP. UNDP can work with a private sector group or with an individual company.
Policy, institutional and capacity-building activities promoting the growth of local small and medium enterprises, and also including support for the provision of micro-finance.
Activities undertaken in collaboration with companies to develop solutions, mobilize resources, and advocate for change in order to support poverty reduction and the achievement of the SDGs.
UNDP may issue contracts equivalent to those for individual consultants to professionals who are financially supported by a third-party for up to two years. If the financial support is provided by a private sector company, UNDP’s rules for due diligence apply.
Procedures serve as a blueprint for policy implementation and as step-by-step instructions on how to implement a policy and states who will implement it.
Limited international competition is conducted by narrowing the competitive field to a short list of prospective offerors. This is pre-determined through a non-discriminatory evaluation of qualifications. Such a process may involve various sourcing methods, such as: a. Use of existing rosters; b. Shortlisting from previous rounds of prequalification or expressions of interest from another selection process, assuming similar goods or services; c. Previous vendors of known satisfactory performance; d. Referrals of vendors from other UN entities; e. Publicly accessible trade books and online databases; f. Advertised call for expressions of interest; g. Conventional business directories
In accordance with UNDP procurement policies and procedures, this should be a competitive bidding process. The responsibility for the award of a contract to a bank for the provision of banking services has been delegated by the Administrator to the Treasurer under UNDP Financial Regulations and Rules, Rule 125.01. Only the Treasurer can approve the recommendation made by the Resident Representative (RR), or the Head of Office following the RFP exercise. This
Procurement Review Committees render independent written advice and recommendations on a procurement action and the proposed commitment of funds to the person approving the procurement action. The review committees have been established at three levels. Contracts, Assets and Procurement Committee (CAP); Regional Advisory Committee on Procurement (RACP); Advisory Committee on Procurement (ACP).
Implementing a programme or a project requires ensuring all outputs in planning documents are delivered and contribute to achieving outcomes in the UNDP Strategic Plan and relevant country or regional programme document.
This is the modality by which a programme country government allocates some of its own resources (which may include the proceeds of a loan from an International Financial Institution and from other sources ) towards a UNDP programme or project. In this context, the government can be the national government as well as any of its branches at the central or local level duly authorized to enter into agreements with UNDP.
Activities related to overall managerial responsibility and accountability for achieving UNDP’s role in supporting programme countries in achieving development results; ensuring continuous and simultaneous alignment (or re-alignment) of Country Programme results with national planning goals and UNDP Strategic Plan results, including responding to emerging needs mid-cycle; UNDP leadership role(s) in the UNCT programming processes and UNCT strategic meetings; strategic partnership management; and overall partnering and positioning of the programmatic work of the organization within the country.
The document approved by the Executive Board that describes the framework for UNDP programme activities, and indicates the proposed UNDP resources to achieve results during a specified period. Programme documents are prepared at the country level in cooperation with the Government of that country, as well as at regional and global levels.
The purpose of appraisal is to review the quality and feasibility of the programme or project and advise on its readiness for approval. Appraisal applies to UNDP programmes (country and regional) as well as all development projects. It does not apply to institutional effectiveness projects, development effectiveness projects, the engagement facility or development services.
The Project Budget Balance is a report used to monitor and manage budgetary availability for a particular project (and its associated outputs) for a single year. The report shows approved budgets, commitments, and expense plus the full asset cost for a particular project. It shows outstanding NEX advances for current and prior years. It shows budget balances and budget utilization rate of the project. Any user can use this report when monitoring the financial movements of all projects.
If the problems have not been resolved in a reasonable time, the project must be cancelled. Unspent funds defined as a target resource assignment from the core that result from a cancelled project may be reprogrammed, considering the outstanding obligations of the cancelled project. Third-party contributions may be reprogrammed subject to approval by the donor (unspent funds must be returned to vertical funds such as the GEF or GCF). The implementing partner proceeds with the steps required for financial completion as described in project closure. If cancellation means significant changes in the approved country programme document, an amendment may be needed.
PCA is a one-time advance issued to a PCA Custodian for a specific one-time project activity. Typically the one-time project activity includes workshops, training seminars or conferences relating to certain projects that take place in remote locations. The duration for such activities ranges from 2 days to 2 weeks.
PCH is a perpetual cash advance to DIM project office/site that is in remote region with project disbursement needs that cannot be met by the CO’s main office through cheque or EFT, nor by PPCF or any supplementary banking arrangements. A DIM project office that meets certain criteria and has monthly project cash requirement beyond $2,500, may elect PCH arrangement.
PPCF is a perpetual petty cash balance kept in the safe in a DIM project office/site to meet the disbursement requirement. Typically, such arrangement is for the DIM project office(s) that are located away from the CO’s main office and the banking services are not accessible in the areas where these project office(s) are located.
Suspension. A project is cancelled after a period of suspension. During this period, the parties consult and try to resolve the problems by corrective measures. If the problems are resolved, the project activities may be resumed. The programme manager/Resident Representative confirms to the parties the date for resuming the activities. In an emergency situation, it is often clear that corrective measures cannot be taken. If so, UNDP proceeds directly with cancellation.
The Project Transaction Detail report is used to provide the lowest level of transactional details supporting commitments, expense, and full cost of asset amounts shown on the project budget balance report. The report shows transactions at the project/, work breakdown structure, tasks /Chart of Accounts(Distribution) level, including invoice/purchase order IDs, vendor ID and name, and line descriptions. Any user who needs to have more detailed information about project transactions can run this report for monitoring the financial movements of all projects.