Consultancy (Audit of accounts of activities funded by the Education out Loud and implemented by a National Education Coalition)

Education Out Loud

Audit Terms of References

Audit of accounts of activities funded by the Education out Loud and implemented by the National Education Coalition of Liberia (NECOL)

Education Out Loud (EOL) is the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) fund for supporting civil society organisations in their efforts to advocate for improved national public education systems in low-income - and lower-middle income countries with the aim of ensuring that the public national education systems become stronger in producing equality and gender transformative quality education for all, including for marginalized groups. Oxfam-IBIS is the Grant Agent of EOL managed by The Global and Regional Management Units.

EOL aims to enhance civil society capacities to engage in education sector planning, policy dialogue and monitoring and to promote transparency and accountability of national education sector policy. It also seeks to create a stronger global and regional enabling environment for civil society advocacy and transparency efforts in education.

As part of the EOL Operational Component 1, EOL supports 50+ National Education Coalitions (NECs) that gather the voices of organisations of those marginalized groups that tend to be discriminated in the national education systems, such as girls and women, people living with disabilities and people living below the poverty line.

The National Education Coalition of Liberia (NECOL) was founded in 2019 and its main source of funding was the Education Out Loud programme under the grant management of Oxfam IBIS and its Regional Management Unit in Accra representing the region.

In 2019 Oxfam IBIS launched a restricted call for proposal from National Education Coalitions under the component 1 of the EOL Programme.

1. Among the respondents was NECOL whose 2-year project proposal was approved and an agreement for implementation signed with effect from January 2020. In accordance to the agreement the coalition, in March 2020 NECOL received a first tranch of funds for an amount of USD 76 603.

2. Implementation of EOL activities took off immmediately until project suspension in August 2020 as a result of a whistle blown denouncing fraud and misuse of funds.

3. Oxfam Ibis, following the suspension proceeded to investigate the merit of the claim which were found to be true. An amount of about USD 15000 was recorded as having been fraudulently paid by the coalition. No further cooperation has been obtained or would be expected from the leadership of the coalition.

Scope of work

1. The Regional Management Unit of EOL for West and Central Africa based in Accra is seeking the services of an auditor for the following:

2. verification of NECOL’s project expenditures up to July 2020

3. verification of later payments made on behalf of the coalition by the grant agent.

– assessment of the investigation carried out by Oxfam Ibis

1. The auditor must be a chartered accountant or poses a similar education and title in the specific country and must be able to conduct the audit in accordance with national laws and the International Standards on Auditing (ISA).

2. The audit shall take place as soon as the contract is signed.

3. The Regional Management Unit (RMU) will give the auditor access to the grant agreement and all related documents (annexes, reports…) in its possession.

4. The audit of financial transactions will be based on examinations of the quality of voucher material shared by the RMU with a view, among other things, to assessing its significance and risk.

5. At the audit the auditor will verify:

9.1. that the accounts and reconciliations are correct and accurate and do not contain significant errors or omissions

9.2. that the financial provisions (accounting policies) contained in agreements with local regulations and Oxfam have been complied with

9.3. that the transactions comprised by the accounts are in conformity with the conditions and general objectives for the grants as agreed with Oxfam IBIS and the budget.

1. The following are examples of the performance areas that the organisation must practise satisfactorily, and that the auditor will inspect, most likely through random spot checks.

10.1. The procedures and control mechanisms related to approval of vouchers are satisfactory. The approval of a voucher must ensure that the voucher is based on thrift.

10.2. Payroll costs for individual staff are reasonable when compared with relevant comparable organisations, salary statistics, guidelines, or the like.

10.3. Competitive quotations are being obtained in relation to procurement of goods and services.

1. The RMU and GMU will give the auditor any information that may be material to the auditor’s assessment of the accounts and of the organisation’s administration of the grant. Similarly, the two units will give the auditor access to initiating any examination that s/he considers necessary and ensure that the auditor receives the information and assistance needed for performing the audit. The audit will take place from Accra.

2. The audited accounts must carry the auditor’s statement (audit report), stating that the accounts have been audited in accordance with the stipulations and guidelines in the present ToRs. The endorsement must also comprise the auditor’s qualifications in a management letter, if any. These documents must be provided no later than the 11^th of February 2022.

The auditor's statement must be issued in accordance with the ISA 700 or ISA 800.

13. Payment schedule

The payment plan for the assignment will be structured as follows:

1. 25% on signing the contract
2. 75% on submission of final version of the audit report.

How to apply:

14. Required Submissions

In response to the ToR, you are invited to submit the following items as part of your technical proposal:

a. Your interpretation and understanding of the ToR

b. An outline of methodology

c. Financial proposal

d. Legal/registration documents

e. Organisational profile

f. Updated CV of auditor

To be considered for this assignment, you are required to submit the above items on or before 15^th December 2021 by email to: bpo@oxfamibis.dk and addressed to Regional Finance Manager-EOL, West and Central Africa Regional Management Unit, and copied to: edo@oxfamibis.dk.