Financial Management Technical Assistance for ODA-P PCU

Detailed description of project Back

The International Development Cooperation (IDC) Chief Directorate within the National Treasury established a Programme Coordinating Unit (ODA-P) to assist it with the implementation of its mandate and strategic development plan. The ODA-P is currently responsible for the implementation of the Euros 11.6 million programme with five result areas and was recently audited. The audit findings pointed to some financial management gaps.

Specifically, the objectives were :

• To assist the ODA-P PCU to diagnose the root causes for the issues reported in the recent audit;
• To assess the degree to which those root causes have been remediated; and
• To propose strengthening measures in respect of any financial accounting and management weaknesses identified to be at the root of the issues reported.

Type of services provided

The core services were delivered by a key expert team of 3 Consultants. Core services were:

• A review of the audit report to identify findings that suggest a skills shortage or systems gap;
• Discussion with the ODA-P Finance Manager of the status of those findings, i.e. whether resolved and how;
• A “mini-audit” i.e. a review of recent transactions to assess the degree to which the systems have been remediated or improved with respect to the audit findings;
• For unresolved findings that suggest a skills shortage or systems gap, discussion and agreement on appropriate recommendations. The discussions are to be held with appropriate National Treasury officials including the Chief Director – IDC, Programme Coordinator and Finance Manager of the ODA-P PCU and the National Treasury CFO.