Glossary | United Nations Development Programme

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.

Source: Parallel Fund Management

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.

Source: Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers (HACT)

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.

Source: Managing Partnerships

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.

Source: Revenue Management for Joint Programming

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.

Source: Pension Fund

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.

Source: Performance Management and Development

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.

Source: Performance Based Payments

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.

Source: Performance Management and Development

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) .

Source: Performance Management and Development

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]

Source: Information Classification and Handling

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.”

Source: Property, Plant and Equipment

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).

Source: Managing Prescriptive Content

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.

Source: Pooled Fund Management

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.

Source: Disbursing Funds (Making Payments)

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

Source: Post Adjustment

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.

Source: Sourcing and Market Research

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.

Source: Protection against Retaliation

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

Source: Procurement Methods

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

Source: Procurement of Banking Services

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).

Source: Procurement Oversight and Procurement Review Committees

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.

Source: Non-Core Contributions

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.

Source: Cost Recovery from Other Resources - GMS

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.

Source: UNDP Financial Regulations and Rules

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.

Source: Appraise and Approve

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.

Source: Direct Implementation (DIM) Modality

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.

Source: Manage Change

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.

Source: Project Cash on Hand for DIM Projects (PCH)

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.

Source: Project Petty Cash Fund (PPCF)

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.

Source: Manage Change

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.

Source: Direct Implementation (DIM) Modality

UNDP Financial Regulations and Rules document defines 'property, plant and equipment' as tangible assets held for use in the activities of UNDP or for administrative purposes and expected to be used during more than one financial period. The Property, Plant and Equipment (PP&E) policy document provides further details of the term 'property, plant and equipment' as a tangible or physically verifiable item that meets ALL the following five criteria:

a) Provides future economic or service benefits to UNDP – i.e. the PP&E item is held for use in the implementation of UNDP Programmes or for administrative purposes;

b) Is expected to be used during more than one reporting period, which, is 12 months;

c) Has a value of US$5,000 (US$5,000 for UNCDF too) or more (New Capitalization Threshold effective as of 01.01.2020);

d) Is used and controlled by UNDP; and e) Has a cost that can be reliably determined.

Source: UNDP Financial Regulations and Rules, Property, Plant and Equipment

Based on the approved workplan, UNDP provides the required financial resources to the implementing partner to carry out project activities. Under the Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers, four cash transfer modalities are available, based on operational agreements described in the project document: a. Direct cash transfers to implementing partners and responsible parties; b. Direct payments to vendors and other third parties for obligations incurred by implementing partners and responsible parties; c. Reimbursement to implementing partners and responsible parties; d. Direct agency implementation through which a UN agency makes obligations and incurs expenditure in support of activities.

Source: Deliver Results

A legal obligation arising from a contract, agreement, or other form of undertaking by UNDP or based on a liability recognized by UNDP. Such obligations are represented in Quantum by Purchase Orders (PO).

All POs must be supported by legally binding obligations and contracts, entered into with third parties, within the relevant period, for goods and services required by UNDP. All supporting documents should be available for review by internal and external auditors. Purchase orders should reflect budget periods in which the goods and services are expected to be received.

Source: Purchase Orders (Obligations, Maintenance and Closure)

Policy Areas

Programme and Project Management

Crisis Response

Financial Resources Management

Human Resources Management

Procurement

Partnerships

Administrative Services

Accountability

Information and Communications Technology

Security

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