Job Vacancy @ Save the Children – National Financial Systems Analysis Consultant

Terms of Reference 

National Financial Systems Analysis Consultant for Save the Children Green Climate Fund Proposal Development in Sierra Leone

Background and requirements:

Sierra Leone is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change primarily due to its extreme exposure to natural hazards and its limited adaptive capacity. Communities suffer an existing ‘adaptation deficit’ – often lacking the capacity to manage current climate variability and extremes. This undermines their resilience to the impacts of climate change. The Sierra Leone Coastal Resilience Project (SLCRP) will be a community-based climate change adaptation project focused on building the adaptive capacity of communities across coastal areas of Sierra Leone. The SLCRP is being developed by Save the Children Sierra Leone, along with Save the Children teams in the UK and Australia, technical consultants, and the Sierra Leone government (the Environmental Protection Agency – EPA).

The interventions of the project will support a paradigm shift through: capacity building at community and institutional levels; strengthening of local policies, plans and participatory governance structures; identifying new partnerships and innovations for resilient local economies; adopting climate resilient agricultural and fishery practices; and restoring and conserving mangrove ecosystems for shoreline protection and sustainable resource use.




This goal will be achieved via three interlinked and mutually reinforcing objectives, each operationalized through a corresponding project component:

• Governance and decision-making: Adaptive capacity of coastal communities increased through participatory governance and planning, innovative partnerships with NGOs and CBOs, and increased adaptation leadership by women and youth.

• Food and water security enhancements for improved health and nutrition:  Capacity building for farmers and fishers and providing best practice and proven techniques and small-scale technologies to support climate resilient agricultural and fishery practices, aimed at addressing food and water insecurity to improve nutrition, wellbeing and income generation, as well as reduce food losses. There will also be a strong health and nutrition training program for women and youth, which will link with a ‘resilient schools program’ to strengthen the ability of schools to deal with the impacts of climate change.
• Conservation of natural resources (ecosystems-based adaptation – EbA): EbA will be employed by the coastal communities through an adaptive participatory governance model, to improve 1,500 ha of coastal mangrove forest, including a mix of restoration and conservation activities to protect the coastline and allow for sustainable harvest of vital resources for livelihoods. The project will be implemented jointly with the support of Government of Sierra Leone as one of the Executing Entities and other sub national providers.

A consultancy has been initiated to undertake a financial analysis of the Government Ministries of Sierra Leone to determine whether their financial management capacity and capability is adequate to enable these ministries to implement the project outputs and meet the requirements of GCF as an Executing Entity.

Primary Objectives of the Consultancy

Save the Children requires a qualified consultant to provide recommendations on how best to establish a project financial management system by undertaking an analysis of the ability of the Sierra Leone Government’s financial management systems to meet the financial compliance requirement for the Green Climate Fund.

The work will include but not be limited to a financial analysis of the Government Ministries of the Government of Sierra Leone to identify and analyze the following:

• The mechanisms in place for cash management within the government and how monies flow to sub national provinces including but not limited a review of the following:
  • Banking arrangements including opening and closing of bank accounts and maintenance of signatories
  • Bank reconciliations process
  • Cash handling practices
  • Petty cash management
  • Project petty cash and cash advances

• The capacity and capability of the financial management systems in place and assess their suitability with GCF requirements including:
  • Accounting system in place
  • Policy and procedure documents for procurement and expense management
  • Purchase orders and receipting of goods and services processes
  • Prepayments process
  • Accounts payable maintenance
  • Finance team structure
• Identification of which government ministry involved in the SLCRP project has the most robust systems and processes; and
• Understand and document the systems in place for the Ministry of Climate Change.

Detailed Tasks

The consultant is expected to undertake the following tasks:

• Meet with key design team members (Design project manager and Save the Children staff in Sierra Leone) to provide an overview of the assessment criteria and data requirements and agree on support needs and responsibilities.
• Meet with the Environmental Protection Agency to understand their preferred mechanism for project financial management.
• Meet with Ministry of Finance staff to understand processes and legalization governing the use of foreign aid.
• Undertake the initial financial analysis.
• Present initial findings for consultation with key project partners and stakeholders to refine.
• Prepare a report with findings and recommendations on capacity and capability of financial systems in place and cash management processes.
• Prepare a cash management flow diagram outlining how monies flow through the government and sub national provinces.

Deliverables:

The key deliverables are:

The Consultant

The successful consultant should have the following skills:

• At least ten years’ experience in understanding and reviewing financial management frameworks, accounting systems, cash management and internal controls in the context of international development.
• Experience in West Africa and knowledge of the Sierra Leone government systems and sub national structures is preferable.
• Experience in reviewing government systems and processes.
• Clear understanding of GCF processes, policies, and requirements including the financial management compliance assessment tool.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.

Timeframe

Management and logistics




Save the Children International Sierra Leone will be responsible for contracting the consultant(s) who will report to Save the Children Sierra Leone’s GCF Design project manager. There is no travel associated with this consultancy.

Confidentiality

All data collected during this exercise will become the property of Save the Children and will not be shared with third parties without the express permission of Save the Children.

Insurance

Any external consultants involved in this study will be required to have in place insurance arrangements appropriate to provision of the requirements in this Terms of Reference.

Other

Save the Children is committed to ensuring a safe environment and culture for all children with whom we come in contact during the course of our work. The consultant(s) will be required to comply with Save the Children’s Child Safeguarding Policy and sign the Code of Conduct.

ALL BIDS ARE TO BE SUBMITTED PHYSICALY AND ELECTRONICALLY, ON OR BEFORE THE 26TH AUGUST 2022, AT THE SAVE THE CHILDREN OFFICE AT 71 SIR SAMUEL LEWIS ROAD, ABERDEEN, FREETOWN AND VIA EMAIL TO:

quotations.sierraleone@savethechildren.org