Glossary | United Nations Development Programme

The purpose of the safe driving bonus (SDB) is to financially compensate drivers with an additional one week’s net salary at the end of each year for performing accident-free and safe driving functions on a regular basis, subject to the following conditions: a) The driver has worked for the UNDP office since 1 January of that year; b) The driver has not been involved in any automobile accident considered to be his/her fault during the entire year; c) The driver has not been convicted of any traffic violation, such as reckless driving or going through a red traffic light, during the year. At the discretion of the Resident Representative, fines for improper parking need not be considered as a traffic violation for this purpose.

Source: Safe Driving Bonus (SDB)

The purpose of a within-grade salary increment from one step to the next higher step within the established salary scale is to award a staff member an increase in salary for satisfactory performance and conduct during a qualifying period. The qualifying period is one year, except for movement to longevity steps as specified in the respective salary scale. For staff at or above P-2 step 12, P-3 step 14, P-4 step 13, P-5 step 11, D-1 step 5, and all steps at D-2, the qualifying period is two years. Award of the increment is subject to confirmation of the staff member’s satisfactory performance in his/ her assignments and conduct as evaluated by his/her supervisor(s) and documented in UNDP’s performance evaluation mechanism; and to the existence of a higher step within the staff member’s current grade in the respective salary scale.

Source: Salary Increments

Scheduled audit: These refer to systematic and independent examination of data, statements, records, operations and performances of a partner. A scheduled audit is either an internal control audit which is conducted for Partners which are rated “Low” risk and “Medium” risk or a financial audit which should be conducted for all other Partners including non-assessed Partners.

Source: Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers (HACT)

Secondment: Movement of a staff member from one organization to another for a fixed period, normally not exceeding two years, during which the staff member will normally be paid by and be subject to the staff regulations and rules of the receiving organization, but will retain his or her rights of employment in the releasing organization. The period of secondment may be extended for a further fixed period by agreement among all the parties concerned. Secondments are generally granted with a general lien to the organization.

Source: Career Transitions

It is mandatory for United Nations system personnel and eligible family members to obtain security clearance for all official travel, regardless of location, and they cannot commence official travel without obtaining it except in compelling cases, where insufficient time is available such as during periods requiring immediate medical evacuation or other life-threatening situation. For the purpose of this policy, official travel includes official home leave or other entitlement travel where the cost of travel is borne by organizations of the United Nations system. This applies regardless of whether official travel is undertaken by air, sea, land, or any combination thereof.

Source: Security Clearance

The senior most UNDP staff member at the country level (typically the RR) will represent UNDP at the Security Management Team (SMT). The next most senior UNDP staff member should be appointed as an alternate SMT member for periods when the RR is performing the functions of Designated Official (DO)6 ad interim or away on leave. Members of the SMT are responsible for supporting the DO in discharging their mandate related to the safety and security of all UN personnel, premises and assets.

Source: Framework of Accountability for Security

Segregation of duties is anchored in UNDP financial regulation 20.02 and is a keystone control that helps UNDP safeguard its assets and mitigate the risk of fraud and error. Segregation of duties is based on ensuring that no one staff member can: (i) have custody of assets; (ii) authorize and approve the use of assets; and (iii) record and report assets.

Source: Internal Control Framework

UNDP selects one implementing partner for each project in consultation with the government coordinating agency. This is also the case for project portfolios; one implementing partner is selected for each project within the portfolio, while more than one implementing partner can be part of a portfolio (directly and nationally implemented projects may be part of the same portfolio). In multi-country and South-South projects, one implementing partner can be selected per country.

Source: Select Implementing Partners

For UN Agencies who do not use Quantum (the “non-Quantum Agencies”), a dedicated Service Clearing Account (SCA) is established for each Agency. Through the SCA, all global prefunding received from UN Agencies are recorded, and all services provided by UNDP Offices to these UN Agencies are recorded. A dedicated Service Clearing Account is not applicable to Quantum Agencies (UNFPA, UN Women, UNU, UNCDF, UNV, UNITAR).

Source: UN Agency Services

The service contract (SC) is a modality for hiring individuals under a non-staff contract. The SC is a decentralized contracting instrument, which is cost effective and flexible for use only by UNDP country offices and regional centres outside of Headquarters. The SC is not for use in HQ duty stations and Liaison Offices e.g. New York, Geneva, London, Madrid, Montreal, Paris, Rome, Vienna, Brussels, Copenhagen, Geneva, Tokyo and Washington. Payment under the SC is based on services satisfactorily provided in accordance with the terms of reference under the SC. The payment terms can be based on (i) all-inclusive lump-sum monthly payments, where cash payments are included for pre-existing social security as described in the Section on Social Security Arrangements below or (ii) monthly remuneration with provision of a local social security scheme where applicable and legally feasible.

Source: Service Contract

The purpose of the settling-in grant is to provide eligible staff members reasonable financial support for relocation on initial appointment or reassignment to a new duty station. It is the total compensation payable by the Organization towards costs incurred by the eligible staff member and his or her family members as a result of an appointment or reassignment involving relocation, as well as any pre-departure expenses that the staff member may incur as a result. The settling-in grant enters into force on 1 July 2016, and replaces the former Assignment Grant which is discontinued as of that date. 3. The grant consists of two elements: a) a Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) portion; b) a lump-sum portion

Source: Settling-In Grant

For the purposes of the present bulletin, the term “sexual exploitation” means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another.

Source: Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation (ST/SGB/2003/13 )

Sexual Harassment is a form of harassment and is any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favour, verbal or physical conduct or gesture of a sexual nature, or any other behaviour of a sexual nature that has or that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offense or humiliation. Sexual harassment may result in an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment or is made a condition of employment. Sexual harassment normally implies a series of incidents. However, a one-time incident could fall within the definition of sexual harassment if it has an unambiguously offensive sexual character. Staff members with any gender identity can be either the injured party or the offender.

Source: Harassment, Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, and Abuse of Authority

Staff members who are unable to perform their duties due to illness or injury, or whose attendance is prevented by public health requirements, may be granted sick leave under United Nations Staff Rule 6.2 and in accordance with the provisions of this policy document. For sick leave specifically related to injury or illness that is considered to be attributable to the performance of official duties on behalf of UNDP, in addition to the relevant provision of the Sick Leave policy document, Appendix D of the UN Staff Rules applies. Staff members are responsible for informing their supervisors and HR focal points/leave monitors promptly of absence due to injury or illness to enable timely entry into the UNALL HR e-Services module. Certified sick leave will be granted only on the basis of a medical certificate or report from a medical practitioner licensed to practice where the certificate or report is issued, except in cases of uncertified sick leave as detailed in paragraphs 6 and 7.

Source: Sick Leave

The signatory is a person who can be uniquely identified and linked to an electronic signature and who has the sole control over the password-authentication key related to the electronic signature. An electronic signature can only be attributed to the person that owns and places the electronic signature in a record and is not attached to the function occupied by the signatory at the time of the placing of the signature. Since the electronic signature is personal, it cannot be shared.

Source: Electronic Signatures Policy

We can define significant purchases as those that are of high relative expenditure and/or for which supply is difficult to secure. The relative expenditure of goods and services is defined as their cost relative to the total purchasing expenditure of the business unit or agency. For UNDP, a transaction of 100,000 USD or more is considered a significant purchase.

Source: Transactional Procurement Strategies and Procurement Planning

UNDP programmes and projects adhere to the objectives and requirements of the Social and Environmental Standards (SES). The SES objectives are to: (a) strengthen the quality of programming by ensuring a principled approach; (b) maximize social and environmental opportunities and benefits; (c) avoid adverse impacts to people and the environment; (d) minimize, mitigate, and manage adverse impacts where avoidance is not possible; (e) strengthen UNDP and partner capacities for managing social and environmental risks; and (f) ensure full and effective stakeholder engagement, including through a mechanism to respond to complaints from project-affected people.

Source: Social and Environmental Standards

A staff member (other than a TA) who is temporarily (i.e. for a period not exceeding one year) assigned to a higher level post, or is temporarily required to perform higher level functions while remaining on his/her current post may be granted a non-pensionable Special Post Allowance (SPA) after completion of 3 months of continuous service at the higher level functions, subject to confirmation in writing by the supervisor that the staff member is indeed performing at the higher level. The reason for the three-month grace period is that, from time to time and as part of their normal duties, staff may be expected to temporarily assume higher level functions (during periods of absence, for instance). However, (i) when a staff member is temporarily assigned to a post more than one level above their personal grade or to a different category or (ii) when the temporary assignment is in a D or E hardship category, SPA may be granted by the supervisor with immediate effect and will not have to wait three months provided that the supervisor confirms that the staff member is performing all the responsibilities attached to the higher position.

Source: Rank-in-Post

Periodic on-site reviews (spot checks) are performed to assess the accuracy of the financial records for cash transfers to the IP and the status of programme implementation (through a review of financial information), and to determine whether there have been any significant changes to internal controls. The spot check is not an audit hence, the extent of expenditure testing is generally lower than what would be undertaken during an audit. Spot checks should be completed prior to the operational and financial closure of the project to ensure supporting documents are still available for review and any adjustments required in Quantum are made.

Source: Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers (HACT)

In order to avoid inequalities in the level of taxation between staff members of different nationalities, a uniform amount of tax (i.e., staff assessment) is levied by the United Nations and only the resulting net amount is paid to the staff member. Like most national income tax scales, the scale of staff assessment is progressive, i.e., the higher the salary, the higher the percentage rate of assessment. The amount of the staff assessment is credited to the Tax Equalization Fund. 3. Those Member States that do not impose income tax on UN earnings receive a portion of the Tax Equalization Fund as an offset against their assessments for the UN regular budget, peacekeeping, and tribunal budgets. When staff members have to pay national income taxes on their UN earnings, they are reimbursed from the Tax Equalization Fund irrespective of the total amount of staff assessment deducted from their salaries.

Source: Staff Assessment

Unified and approved approach to achieve highest integration with overall UNDP IT infrastructure and services. UNDP will consider standards as the most commonly used solution across the organization and therefore all future solutions will be aligned and based on standard configurations. It is strongly recommended that all offices use these standards as the base for their IT infrastructure and services.

Source: UNDP ICT Standards

The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for immediate crisis response provides a corporate institutional and operational framework so that critical decisions and actions can be taken quickly in response to crisis situations. The SOP focuses on the relatively brief period between the onset or identification of an imminent crisis and the point when a Country Office has in place the resources to implement recovery and resilience initiatives. The SOP outlines the relationships, responsibilities and communication between Country Office, Regional Hub and Headquarters, during the crisis response.

Source: Standard Operating Procedure for Crisis Response and Recovery

Standard services are those that are provided in the same way each time they are requested, and following the standard procedures in more or less the same fashion across UNDP offices. A list of standard services is included in the Universal Price List (Annex 2 - UPL). All costs are computed using the existing guiding costing methodology (Annex 1). If a UNDP office assesses that the UPL does not fully cover the total costs for providing services, they can establish locally negotiated prices using transparent, prevailing market rates. These rates should be communicated to the UN entities prior to implementation.

Source: UN Agency Services

The Statistical Annex reflects the financial situation of UNDP both at the aggregate and detailed levels, presented in the form of statistical tables. It contains the following information:

a. 10 year-trend of UNDP Programme expenditure

b. Overall Revenue, Expenses and Accumulated Surpluses, by resource categories

c. Total Expenses by cost classification, region and expense category

d. Programme expenses by executing entity/implementing partners, responsible party; by country, region or territory; by expense category; by trust fund, territory and country

Source: Executive Board Papers

In collaboration with BERA, the Structured Funding Dialogue is prepared in response to Executive Board decision 2018/16, which requested that UNDP review the format and content of the annual report on contributions and revenue projections for future years to improve the quality of the Structured Funding Dialogue, including by providing an overview of the funding in relation to funding requirement for the implementation of the current UNDP Strategic Plan and the resource estimates for the next Strategic Plan. BMS/OFM inputs focus on the financial situation which is detailed in annex I and the section relating to Working with United Nations system assets where feedback is sought from relevant areas such as UNV, UNCDF.

Source: Executive Board Papers

Substantive revisions are changes to the project design, approach, implementing partner, theory of change or results framework made in response to changes in the development context or new evidence and learning. Revisions may be made any time in response to monitoring, evaluation and review activities. When there is a substantive change in the design, the inputs and the budget will normally also need to be changed.

Source: Manage Change

Supplemental Information to the ITB/RFP – a written communication issued by UNDP to prospective Offerors/Proposers containing clarifications, responses to queries received from prospective Offerors/Proposers, or changes to be made in the ITB/RFP, at any time after the release of the ITB/RFP but before the deadline for the submission of Offer/Proposal.

Source: Solicitation

UNDP may provide support services for any implementing partner, called Country Office Support (COS). These can include delivering specified outputs, implementing select project activities, contracting a responsible party on behalf of the implementing partner, or providing procurement, recruitment, payment or other services. COS is specified and agreed between UNDP and the implementing partner through a signed letter of agreement.

Source: Select Responsible Parties and Grantees

A country programme may be suspended by UNDP when the situation in the country makes it impossible to achieve programme outcomes. The relevant Regional Bureau Director decides on suspension in consultation and agreement with the Associate Administrator. The Executive Board will be notified of programmes that have been suspended at the next practical session.

Source: Manage Change

These are series of cheques automatically produced by Quantum in the pay cycle batch process. Cheque numbers are assigned automatically. The starting number is increased by one unit each time a cheque is generated for a particular bank account. The user downloads the payment file generated during the pay cycle for cheque printing. Offices can use the cheque-writer software developed specifically for use with the System Check format to customize cheque formats and add special characters.

Source: Disbursing Funds (Making Payments)

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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