Streamlining Business Practices E. BAQUERO

1. Streamlining Business Practices • E. BAQUERO

2. SUMMARY OF STREAMLINING BUSINESS PRACTICES ANNOUNCED #1 #2 #3 #4 CO Intranet home page redesigned. All staff has access to the information of all COs. Clearance of the cases of SC for activities that are less than 6 months is hereby delegated to the Head of Office (RR/CD/DRR), while the RBx and the respective HR Business Advisors are to ensure proper oversight and monitoring. Home Leave processed via payroll. This will reduce number of transactions at the CO and GSSU level (authorization transmission, voucher creation, approvals, disbursements). SCs perform the Travel Processor (i.e. new role name for Approver 1 or Certifying) role in Atlas T&E. Launch of New eTendering User Guide. System enhancements, revised user guides, videos for bidders in several languages, comprehensive Helpdesk and troubleshooting sections. The guidance on qualifications for finance personnel has been revised recently, to provide more flexibility by accepting relevant majors in accountancy and finance. • Streamlining the Asset Certification (initial announcement) • COs that have consistently demonstrated a good status for asset certification will only have to carry out the process once a year. The selection of COs will be based upon the material value of the PP&E, complemented by a review of good performance and the volume of their assets. Supplier of Interest (SOI) dashboard launched. Restricted rights given to OMs and Buyers in COs, as well as selected HQ staff, including Bureau OMs. Complements the Atlas Workbench in the cleanup of Duplicate Payees and Duplicate Bank Accounts in Atlas. Below the $300,000 threshold, no HACT micro assessment spot checks are required to be performed unless, at the discretion of the office, it is deemed necessary. Allow to drop the requirement to have to interview at least two candidates after the competitive process provided that the Hiring Unit documents the efforts made to identify other qualified candidates, including re-advertisement. Delivery Acceleration initiatives mainstreamed.

3. SUMMARY OF STREAMLINING BUSINESS PRACTICES ANNOUNCED #5 #6 #7 • Improvements for provisions of IC Contracts. Contract template is now pre-populated through the new Contract Management module. Requirement for P11 form will be removed and a self-certificationon restricted family relationships will be added as part of the revised bidding document. • Streamline the administration of Service Contracts (SCs) • Waiver validity period extended to 24 months for the payment of the 8.33% in lieu of Pension. • Minimum number of required candidates for interview/assessment reduced to two (2) with some exceptions and need to be in line with the staff recruitment policy. • Allow lateral transfer of SC’s from one project to another with similar functions subject to few conditions. • Ability for COs to establish SC Rosters for all levels of SCs, and addition of procedures for COs on how to create and maintain rosters for SC positions. • Aligning and clarifying of conditions for employing former staff in receipt of a UNJSPF benefit under an SC with new thresholds. • Obligation of having SC holders repeat medical examination every two years removed with exceptions. • Allowing the Country Office to request that the SC holder undergo a medical examination in certain circumstances. • Allowing SCs to be initially issued for periods of less than six months in the exceptional situations listed in the guidelines upon approval of the RR, instead of the HR Business Partner. • Removing the percentages related to various charges in POPP as they may subject to being updated. • Launch of the updated HACT platform. • Improved and more user-friendly interface for ease of navigation; • Integration with Atlas Project data including budgets and expenditures by implementing agent; • Daily refresh of HACT performance matrix and monitoring reports etc. • Increase the number of vendor approvers to three (3) staff members in offices whose previous year delivery is above $50 million per year. The ICF will be updated to reflect this change. • Increase in Atlas rights for approvals at level 1 and 2. The ICF will be updated to reflect this change. • New Limits • Level 1:   0 - 10,000 USD • Level 2:   10,000.01   - 50,000 USD • Level 3: 50,000.01 - 999,999,999.99 USD Increase the threshold above which PurchaseOrders and E- requisitions are required from $2,500 to $5,000. There will be exceptions for this threshold, including the current ones (e.g. travel expenditures, assets purchasing, IC’s) and there could be other procurement categories that also require requisitions and purchase orders for any amount. According to our analysis, this change would help Country Offices and other units save thousands of working hours. We will be working during the following month on the details and the corresponding changes in the POPP. Important: This new threshold will come into effect only once it is communicated through the POPP Updates. The piloting of the increased level of delegated authority on cash management has been underway in 30 COs since November 2017, has been extended for two months until 31 August 2018. From an initial review of the survey responses, BMS has taken note of the positive feedback and the control mechanisms being implemented in the pilot COs. Based on the analysis on the actual utilization of the piloted measures, some of the piloted measures will be mainstreamed in the POPP and the relevant policies will be revised and/or changed, as appropriate.

4. SUMMARY OF STREAMLINING BUSINESS PRACTICES ANNOUNCED #8 #9 • As part of the delivery acceleration measures, a proposal to modify cash management arrangements has been approved and is effective as of 1 September (details are in slide 11). Regional Bureau may decide to exercise the options to grant the revised cash arrangement limits on a selective basis to the Country Offices based on performance and risk criteria established at the cost center level. • Universal Price List (UPL) updated to reflect the latest pro-forma salary costs for each applicable country office, reflecting an average increase of 10%-14% over the last UPL. Additionally, the UPL now includes two Travel Management services: • Travel Management (simple) - when travel request involves only one destination, • Travel Management (complex) - when the travel request, requires multi-destinations/multi-city at different dates. • 3. Travel refunds processed through the Travel and Expense (T&E) module are now integrated to payroll and processed as a onetime payroll deduction, upon request, for staff and service contractor holders (if part of Atlas HR payroll), eliminating the need for manual intervention when funds are due to the organization. • 4. Some changes have been made to the IC Policy: • the requirement for the P11 has been removed and replaced, • an updated Offerors’ Letter is now included; • updates on reference checks, and • change of the age for medical examination to 65 from 62. • 5. OIMT Global Service Desk/Management Support Center unit has launched a series of web-based training/discussions on specific areas of interests, to enhance Atlas usage and understanding. These short webinars are recorded and can be found in the MSC Yammer Page. • 6. Home Leave and Family Visit travel for staff will be centralized with Global Service Unit (GSSU)-HR Benefits & Entitlements Services in Copenhagen as of 1 September 2018. Transactions will be processed via payroll reducing workload and making the process more efficient. • As part of UNDP’s digital transformation journey, Atlas will be upgraded by the end of 2019 including general functionality improvements and several enhancements on specific modules. The team is currently in the planning phase. • POPP Chapters, Procedures and the Internal Control Framework (ICF) now reflects the decision to increase the threshold to prepare E-requisitions and Purchase Orders (from $2,500 to $5,000). For clarity, E-requisition and purchase orders are: • Mandatory for all purchases of assets valued above US $1,500, • Mandatory for all purchase of goods, services and small works valued above USD $5,000 (use of a PO below the threshold is optional), • Mandatory for IC’s regardless the amount. • 3.POPP now reflects decision to streamline 9 major business practices for Service Contracts. • SC Roster Procedures • Updated Contract Type Matrix Annex • Cigna HR Manual 2018 (English, Spanish and French) • 4.POPP now reflects certain thresholds in the Procurement Method can be up to $10K if approved by the Regional Bureaus. • 5. Direct contracting template for Individual Contractors updated on the threshold of no-competition for ICs can be increased to $10,000 if approved by the Bureaus (for Selection of Individual Contractors in Section 69 and the Direct Contracting provision in Section 112). • 6. ICF now reflects the approved decision to increase the number of vendor approvers to three (3) staff members in offices whose previous year delivery is above $50 million per year. • 7. BMS continues the progress on the translation project as well as organization of POPP prescriptive content. To-date 97 documents already have Spanish and French versions (out of a total of 116 selected initially for the project). Some of the documents are being validated by policy owners to be uploaded.

5. SUMMARY OF CLARIFICATIONS ANNOUNCED #2 #3 #4 #5 Executive Snapshot is updated on a daily basis, from the Atlas data warehouse. On use of internal electronic documentation, in line with UNDP FRR and POPP on records management, the head of office must ensure that adequate supporting documentation is maintained. This supporting documentation may be maintained in an electronic format, but only in compliance with the UNDP e-document management policy and digitization guidelines on document scanning. PSU has specialized units in Copenhagen who support the Vertical Funds. The Regional Procurement Specialists have also been assigned and are able to support with Vertical Fund Portfolios. Intranet: Project Report is a tool to generate frequently used Atlas reports especially related to financial reports, detailed expenditure reports and transactional information. Encourage staff to use Yammer for information on updated practices and to improve knowledge sharing and platform for discussion. On procurement threshold, Level 1, CAP within the CO or Business Unit has a DPA with a threshold $150,000 (standard) and $200,000 if BU systematically uses e-Tendering. Head of CO/BU can authorize provision for direct contracting or sole sourcing up to $5,000. Micro purchasing is allowed up to $5,000 as per POPP. At the discretion of the RBx, it can be increased to $10,000. POPP states that ICs can be contracted up to $5,000 directly with no competitive process and a desk review of CVs is sufficient for up to $100,000. Memo 2Oct2015 clarified what are the key control roles that only staff members should exercise and it does not mention the buyer role. Hence, each Head of the Office (RR/CD) can delegate “buyer” rights (no approval function) to SC holders. POPP states either RB Director or the delegated authority, i.e. the RR’s approval is required for ICs over 24 months. If the RR approves, a copy of the approval needs to be submitted to the RB Director. Each entity does not have to meet all evaluation criteria, however, as stated in POPP, all entities that comprise the joint ventures shall be subject to the eligibility and qualification assessment by UNDP. Use of Private vehicles for Official business is allowed under the circumstances described in POPP. In a recruitment process, it was clarified that resources/funds have to be received before CO formalize any commitment at the stage of offer and not at the stage of advertising. Regards to vehicle clocking 100 000km, there is no mandatory requirement to dispose once 100 000km is clocked. POPP calls for assessment if the vehicle is still in good condition or not. Ongoing project to translate Policies and Procedures in POPP into Spanish and French. 77 policies translated. 147 remaining policies yet to be translated. There are available MoU template for private sector entities (i.e. for non-financial equal partnering) and a pro bono template for the provision of inputs by any partner, private sector or otherwise. Innovation Challenge Policy is being utilized by COs to an extent matching contributions and milestone-based contracts. To accelerate market innovation, deliver social impact and spur business development. LTAs for engineering services (for construction projects etc.) are available on the LTA repository (under Professional Service). Policy for direct contracting [FRR 121.05 Condition (i)] is applicable to Individual Contractors. However, the approving officers must exercise due diligence in ensuring transparency and fairness when engaging the same consultants over time or when extending contracts. LTAs should be established for recurring requirements.

6. SUMMARY OF CLARIFICATIONS ANNOUNCED #6 #7 • The $500k threshold provision for Direct Review (issued on April 2018 after piloting) was based on an analysis to look at reducing review committee burden (for low value) and leaving (higher value) cases with higher risks for committee review. Direct Review (DR) provisions in POPP also allow for exigencies (irrespective of the value that only needs prior discussion with R/ACP Chairpersons or RCPOs). Future opportunities to lighten and streamline oversight review further. This would be after improvements to the actual processes (E-tendering, etc.) • As part of the Programme and Project Management (PPM) Re-write, there were lengthy discussions on “capacity assessments” given there were many concerns about duplication and whether any of the current UNDP assessment tools were fit for purpose. To address “fit for purpose assessments”, BPPS and BMS have engaged a capacity assessment advisor with a view to enhance the performance of UNDP’s programming while reducing unnecessary administrative burden. The idea is to explore a differentiated approach to conducting project capacity assessments. • The POPP lists 4 minimum conditions that must be met for us to re-engage an IC that has been competitively obtained within the past 12 months. Minimum condition (a) of the 4 in POPP is that the IC "Requirements are identical." • The relevant skills set, qualifications, previous experiences as well as the scope, nature and price of the requirements for a consultancy are to be considered to determine if they are identical with another consultancy. • There is a clear statement in POPP on ‘Prohibition on the Engagement of UN/UNDP Staff on IC contracts’, however, it is not clear whether an individual could have a valid SC and be selected for an IC contract at the same time. • Outside employment of the SC holder on IC contract is possible only if the IC is with a different UN Agency or non-UN entity. • In accordance with Section 4 of the SC User Guide and the provisions of the SC contract, SC holders should not be engaged in any activity or professional employment that is incompatible with the independence and the impartiality expected of persons affiliated with the UN. SC holders are engaged by UNDP to perform specific functions under a project that must have a work plan with specific terms of reference and functions. An SC holder must notify the office of any outside activity including employment during the course of the contract. Also, the Resident Representative/Head of office must be satisfied that the assignment (professional employment/outside activity) is compatible with the work schedule and deliverables expected from the UNDP SC holder and that there is no conflict of interest, apparent or otherwise. Approval of an SC holder’s request to engage in professional employment rests with the Resident Representative/Head of office. • Should the office need guidance on assessing potential areas of conflict of interest, it may contact the Ethics Office for advice. In addition, the SC holder may refer to the standards of conduct in ST/SGB/2002/9.

7. SUMMARY OF CLARIFICATIONS ANNOUNCED #8 #9 • In the UNDP financial regulations (Regulation 5.07), Offices do not have the authority to enter into commitments in the absence of available cash. Nevertheless, if special circumstances in a particular office that may justify short-term deficits, the Head of Office is responsible for defining a budget override policy as per the Risk Management Guidelines which permits the commitment of resources even though 100% of the contributions have not yet been received, as long as prior approval is sought from the Comptroller. Refer policy under which circumstances a budget override is acceptable and who is authorized to override the budget exception and monitoring usage of overrides. • The head of office is responsible for ensuring that funds are received within 30 days, unless special conditions are agreed with the donor. However, such special conditions must be pre-approved by the Comptroller. If funds are not received within 30 days unless otherwise noted above, this matter must be communicated to the head of the respective regional bureau as well as to the Comptroller/Chief Financial Officer. • Use local rosters adding s/m who have been separated and have good performance. Former staff members can be recruited quicker without compromising the principle of competitive process. Breaks in service can be reduced where there is a genuine emergency, however, Country Offices are reminded that they must make proper use of the existing contractual modalities and that TAs and SCs are not suited for long term continuous functions. • How to harmonize benefits between contract types (leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage for dependents). Legal basis and philosophy between staff and non-staff contracts is different as is their intended use. As such, the compensation package and the conditions of service differ, for SC holders, being linked to the prevailing conditions in the local market. Rather, offices should use the contractual modality best adapted to the function envisaged and budget accordingly (even if more expensive or take longer to recruit). • While a probationary period for FTAs may have advantages from a staff management perspective, they are not provided for under the Staff Regulations and Rules. Furthermore, there is a real dissuasive effect to probationary periods for professionals (IP/NO) and they cannot be justified when the initial contract (FTA) is only for one year. Also, the probationary period needs to sufficiently long for a staff member to be able to demonstrate they can do the job, staff on international deployments usually require longer periods. • New PPM includes the Development Services chapter which compromise development assistance provided to development partners as recipients of services by UNDP in its role as an implementing partner. The standard Development Service agreement as stated in the policy is available by request through the relevant regional hub/BPPS Directorate during the pilot period. • For management and support services, such as procurement and other operational services, the Memorandum for the Provision of Services (MPS) enables UNDP to provide management and support services that contribute to a governments programme. This modality cannot be used to deliver development results that UNDP is accountable to achieve under UNDP's programme. MPS Atlas setup: • One Atlas Project per signed MPS • Project Type: Management Project (MGMT) • Fund: 16510 • GMS and DPC fully applicable, minimum GMS 4% • Revenue recording should follow same procedure as GSSU/DMS • 2. Time limitations and the ability to convert a Temporary Appointment are provided for in the UN Staff Rules. Staff Rule 4.12 limits the continuous use of a TA to two years minus one day, or 729 days. The TA is a standalone appointment as per Staff Rule 4.12 (c), does not carry any expectancy of renewal and cannot be converted to another type of appointment. • If a recruiting unit is thinking of “converting” a TA to an FTA, it means that there is a continuous and long-term need for the functions, then FTA is the proper modality to use. Encouraged use of the FTA over the TA when the position is intended to last for two or more years. • 3.Video interviewing: Hiring Manager determines the best assessment method(s) identifying most suitable candidate(s). Document the assessment approach and rating methodology to be pursued before commencing the recruitment process. Video interviews, are permissible under the Recruitment and Selection policy, however out of courtesy for the candidates, they should be informed in advance that the interviews will be recorded. BMS/OHR is working on the details to include “pre-recorded” video interviews, in the context of a new Talent Management Strategy that will be launched in early 2019.

8. MAINSTREAMED CASH ARRANGEMENT MEASURES PCA (16108) PCF (16105) PCH (16107) PPCF (16106) Limit increased from current $1,000 to $2,500 Qualifying expense limit increased from current $100 per payment to $250 per payment RR only (not to be further delegated) can approve a single payment exceeding $250 – Authority to RR to approve a single payment exceeding $250 will remain to be approved on exceptional basis upon request to the Treasury. RR only (not to be further delegated) can approve PCA limit up to $50,000 – The existing policy will remain with the limit up to $25,000. RR only (not to be further delegated) can appoint Service Contract holder as custodian up to $10,000 only – To be mainstreamed with limit of $5,000 only. PCA liquidation deadline increased from current 1 week to 1 month after the completion of each activity and reconcile monthly Limit increased from current $2,500 to $5,000 RR only (not to be further delegated) can approve PCH limit up to $25,000 – Existing policy RR only (not to be further delegated) can appoint Service Contract holder as custodian up to $2,500 only Limit increased from current $1,000 to $2,500 RR only (not to be further delegated) can appoint Service Contract holder as custodian Qualifying expense limit increased from current $100 per payment to $250 per payment RR only (not to be further delegated) can approve a single payment exceeding $250 – Authority to RR to approve a single payment exceeding $250 will remain to be approved on exceptional basis upon request to the Treasury. • The Treasurer may suspend the new mainstream cash arrangement limits for a Country Office that has • a ‘red dashboard’ for cash exception(s), for three consecutive months, or • an audit observation related to a cash arrangement • Either event will cause suspension. The suspension will last for one-year and then be re-assessed, after the one-year, for inclusion back to the mainstream amounts.” Legend: Refers to measures that will be mainstreamed