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Functional Areas
- Audit and Investigations
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Capacity development and transition, strengthening systems for health
- A Strategic Approach to Capacity Development
- Capacity Development and Transition - Lessons Learned
- Capacity development and Transition Planning Process
- Capacity Development and Transition
- Capacity Development Objectives and Transition Milestones
- Capacity Development Results - Evidence From Country Experiences
- Functional Capacities
- Interim Principal Recipient of Global Fund Grants
- Legal and Policy Enabling Environment
- Overview
- Resilience and Sustainability
- Transition
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Financial Management
- CCM Funding
- Grant Closure
- Grant Implementation
- Grant-Making and Signing
- Grant Reporting
- Import duties and VAT / sales tax
- Overview
- Sub-recipient Management
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Grant closure
- Overview
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Steps of Grant Closure Process
- 1. Global Fund Notification Letter 'Guidance on Grant Closure'
- 2. Preparation and Submission of Grant Close-Out Plan and Budget
- 3. Global Fund Approval of Grant Close-Out Plan
- 4. Implementation of Close-Out Plan and Completion of Final Global Fund Requirements (Grant Closure Period)
- 5. Operational Closure of Project
- 6. Financial Closure of Project
- 7. Documentation of Grant Closure with Global Fund Grant Closure Letter
- Terminology and Scenarios for Grant Closure Process
- Human resources
- Human rights, key populations and gender
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Legal Framework
- Agreements with Sub-recipients
- Agreements with Sub-sub-recipients
- Amending Legal Agreements
- Implementation Letters and Performance Letters
- Language of the Grant Agreement and other Legal Instruments
- Legal Framework for Other UNDP Support Roles
- Other Legal and Implementation Considerations
- Overview
- Project Document
- Signing Legal Agreements and Requests for Disbursement
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The Grant Agreement
- Grant Confirmation: Conditions Precedent (CP)
- Grant Confirmation: Conditions
- Grant Confirmation: Face Sheet
- Grant Confirmation: Schedule 1, Integrated Grant Description
- Grant Confirmation: Schedule 1, Performance Framework
- Grant Confirmation: Schedule 1, Summary Budget
- Grant Confirmation: Special Conditions (SCs)
- Grant Confirmation
- UNDP-Global Fund Grant Regulations
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Monitoring and Evaluation
- Differentiation Approach
- Monitoring and Evaluation Components of Funding Request
- M&E Components of Grant Implementation
- Monitoring and Evaluation Components of Grant Making
- Overview
- Principal Recipient Start-Up
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Health Product Management
- Compliance with the Global Fund requirements
- Distribution
- Inspection and Receipt
- International freight, transit requirements and use of INCOTERMS
- Inventory Management
- Overview - Health Product Management
- Pharmacovigilance
- Product Selection
- Quality monitoring of health products
- Quantification and Forecasting
- Rational use
- Risk Management for PSM of health products
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Sourcing and regulatory aspects
- Development of List of Health Products
- Development of the Health Procurement Action Plan (HPAP)
- Global Health Procurement Center (GHPC)
- Guidance on donations of health products
- Health Procurement Architecture
- Local Procurement of health products
- Other Elements of the UNDP Procurement Architecture
- Procurement of non-pharmaceutical Health Products
- Procurement of Pharmaceutical Products
- Submission of GHPC CO Procurement Request Form
- Storage
- Supply Planning of Health Products
- UNDP Health PSM Roster
- Waste management
- Grant Reporting
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Risk Management
- Introduction to Risk Management
- Overview
- Risk management in crisis settings
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Risk Management in the Global Fund
- Additional Safeguard Policy
- Challenging Operating Environment (COE) Policy
- Global Fund Review of Risk Management During Grant Implementation
- Global Fund Risk Management Framework
- Global Fund Risk Management Requirements During Funding Request
- Global Fund Risk Management Requirements for PRs
- Local Fund Agent
- Risk management in UNDP
- Risk Management in UNDP-managed Global Fund projects
- UNDP Risk Management Process
- Sub-Recipient Management
Sub-recipient Management
This section of the Manual focuses on financial and operational management of Sub-recipients (SRs), particularly regarding cash transfer modalities. Programmatic, legal and substantive guidance relating to SR management is detailed throughout the Manual but particularly in the following sections: SR management, Legal framework, Health product management (HPM), Monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and Audit and investigations.
UNDP, as interim Principal Recipient (PR) for Global Fund grants assumes the role of Implementing Partner (IP) through Direct Implementation (DIM). DIM is the modality whereby UNDP as IP takes on full responsibility and accountability for the effective use of UNDP resources and the delivery of outputs, as set forth in the project document. UNDP may identify a Responsible Party (RP) to carry out activities within a DIM project, which for Global Fund grants are called Sub Recipients (SR). In few instances, such as Cuba, UNDP can assume the PR role through the National Implementation Modality (NIM) modality.
A SR is defined as an entity selected to act on behalf of UNDP based on a written agreement or contract to purchase goods or provide services using the project budget. In addition, the SR may manage the use of these goods and services to carry out project activities and produce outputs. All RPs are directly accountable to UNDP in accordance with the terms of their agreement or contract with UNDP.
The SR may follow its own procedures only to the extent that they do not contravene the principles of the UNDP Financial Regulations and Rules. Where the financial governance of the RP does not provide the required guidance to ensure best value for money, fairness, integrity, transparency, and effective international competition, that of UNDP shall apply. Please refer to the UNDP Programme and Operations Policies and Procedures (POPP) on Direct Implementation.
The SR is contracted by the PR of the grant to assist in implementing programme activities. The PR is responsible for the oversight of implementation by the SR. SRs often play a pivotal role in the implementation of programme activities, the management of grant resources and the timely achievement of grant results. The SR’s specific role in performance-based funding is that, for periodic disbursements, the SR provides the PR with progress updates on the implementation of those activities for which it is responsible. For recording purposes, SRs, which as said above serve as RPs, use the ‘Responsible Partner’ code in Quantum for the UNDP project/budget.
It is important to distinguish between SRs and other entities that provide services for a project. The Global Fund provides the following guidance on this issue: An SR is a recipient of grant funds that performs any programme activities that would otherwise be expected to be directly undertaken by the PR within the scope of its responsibilities as implementer of the programme. Entities contracted by the PR to serve as manufacturers, procurement agents for certain tasks, or certain service providers, should not be treated as SRs.
UNDP’s SR agreements set out three modalities for financing SR activities:
- Advance disbursement (Direct Cash Transfers) - used when an SR has sufficient capacity to manage funds;
- Reimbursement - used when an SR has sufficient resources to pre-finance activities; and
- Direct payment - used when an SR has little capacity to manage funds or country-specific banking regulations prevent or complicate any other modality—in which case, UNDP pays directly to SR vendors and SR personnel.
In addition to being a stand-alone financing modality, direct payment on behalf of SRs is also built into the advance disbursements and cost reimbursement modalities. This gives the Country Office (CO) the flexibility to decide whether a portion of funding should be advanced and a portion directly paid to SR vendors and SR personnel. Such flexibility allows UNDP to manage the risk accompanying advance disbursements while building SR capacity to manage funds.
The work plan must detail the financing modality that will be used to fund the SR activities.
UNDP has a responsibility to accept appropriate cash advance requests, reported expenses or direct payments that are consistent with the annual work plan (AWP) and UNDP’s FRRs and, therefore, to reject improper advance requests, expenses, or requests for direct payments. If subsequent information becomes available that questions the appropriateness of expenses recorded or direct payments already made, the expenditures should be rejected.
UNDP has determined that direct procurement by Sub-recipients (SRs) constitutes significant organizational and operational risks to UNDP, for a number of reasons, including the process itself, the amount of money involved, the risk of procuring sub-standard products, value for money considerations, and the potential for fraud. As a result, UNDP does not permit SRs to procure health products for their activities. Procurement within the framework of SR agreements should be limited to minor office supplies and other similar items of limited value, as well as services. Capital assets should be procured by the CO. In no instance should the SR be authorized to procure for more than 10% of the SR agreement’s amount or US$100,000 (whichever is less) on procurement.
Sub-sub-recipients (SSRs) are SRs of SRs. Engagement of SSRs carries high risks for UNDP, primarily because UNDP remains as fully accountable to the Global Fund for SSR activities as it is for SR activities, while having less control and oversight over them. To minimize these risks, it is recommended that grant implementation of activities is carried out, where possible, directly by SRs or by UNDP.