Tender Notice for Final Indepth Audit At Sign of Hope

Type of Contract – Short-term consultancy

Type of Audit – In depth Final Audit

Location – Home-based with field mission travel to Jinka Southern region Ethiopia.

Languages Required – English and Amharic

Application Deadline – 30.08.2024 23:59 EAT

Starting Date – 21.10.2024

Auditing Period – From 01.10.2021 to 30.09.2024

Project Title – Strengthening resiliency of Bane and Tsemay communities in southwestern Ethiopia to adapt to climate challenges and enhance their food security through climate adaptive agriculture and sustainable water management

Total Project Budget – € 428,130.00

Annual Project Budget – € 56,618.00

Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. (SoH) is announcing an open tender procedure for external independent financial audit services in Ethiopia.

Background and Organisational Setting

Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. (SoH) is a Christian motivated organisation for Human Rights, Humanitarian Assistance and Development Cooperation. From its base in Constance, Germany, SoH is committed to helping those in distress and exploited people worldwide.

This final evaluation is commissioned under the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) budget for development projects run by private organizations.

SoH is the private German executing agency and the contracting party, while the Ethiopian Catholic Church Social and Development Commission Soddo (ECC-SDCO Soddo) is the local implementing partner. ECCSDCO-Soddo has existed in the area of South Omo since 1965. The program deals in particular with pastoralist and agropastoral communities who are food insecure and vulnerable to the effect of climate change.

Ethiopian Catholic Church Social and Development Commission Soddo (ECC-SDCO Soddo) which is a local implement partner and Sign of Hope, the private German executing agency and the contracting party, are currently carrying out the project “Strengthening resiliency of Bane and Tsemay communities in southwestern Ethiopia to adapt to climate challenges and enhance their food security through climate adaptive agriculture and sustainable water management” since October 2021. The German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is co-funding 90% of the project.

The main goal of the project is to contribute to climate change adaptive capacity and resilience building of Agro-pastoralist and pastoralist communities and ecosystem regeneration in BenaTsemay Woreda with an overall objective of 285 climate change highly exposed households utilize climate change adaptation approaches and strategies, apply appropriate household farming methods and make efficient use of the rehabilitated rangeland to reduce the negative effects of climate change.

Through the results areas and activities, 285 households among which 145 households will be female headed households. Additional 4,480 households will benefit from the project indirectly.

Audit Objectives

The purpose of the in-depth audit is to provide SoH with a sound basis for its accountability, transparency and accuracy in the financial disclosure towards the funding agency BMZ. The tasks of this recruitment relate to:

FINAL AUDIT:

• An annual audit, with a detailed examination of all the supporting documents for 01.01.2024 – 30.09.2024;
• A conclusive examination of the complete project duration (01.10.2021 – 30.09.2024). Thereby, the auditor can refer to the last annual audit reports to be available at that time.

This in-depth audit will verify the compliance with standards of the funding agency BMZ, SoH, national regulations and the international accounting standards (ISA).

The auditor will review the project’s financial documents, receipts lists, records of transactions, all vouchers and receipts disbursed, and relevant project documents in order to come up with a professional, independent opinion on the financial accounting of the project Strengthening resiliency of Bane and Tsemay communities in southwestern Ethiopia to adapt to climate challenges and enhance their food security through climate adaptive agriculture and sustainable water management for all funds received and expended by Ethiopian Catholic Church Social and Development Commission Soddo (ECC-SDCO Soddo) from 01.10.2021 to 30.09.2024.

Additionally, the audit shall give recommendations on strengths, weaknesses, and required improvement in the project-related financial and human resources management systems of Ethiopian Catholic Church Social and Development Commission Soddo (ECC-SDCO Soddo).

The audit will support the project quality assurance measures implemented by SoH and contribute to the decision-making process with regard to the project management and monitoring of finances by SoH and Ethiopian Catholic Church Social and Development Commission Soddo (ECC-SDCO Soddo).

Expected Deliverables

The auditor is expected to produce an audit report, an audit certificate and a management letter, which will comprise the following:

1. Presentation of the scope and mandate of the audit, as well as the list of documents that formed the evidence for the audit,
2. An opinion whether financial statements (statement of accounts for the year being audited and the complete project duration) are issued in accordance with the financial reporting framework of the project, BMZ requirements and an internationally recognized accounting standard,
3. Recommendations on identified shortcomings, and, if applicable, comments on the follow-up of audit observations and recommendations from previous years.
4. A checked, signed and stamped list of all project costs receipts, sorted by BMZ budget lines (list is provided by the local implementing partner).

Audit documents shall be issued in English.

Scope of the Audit

The audit should focus on the following:

• The correctness and completeness of the accounting records,
• The financial report, showing all project related income and expenditure structured by budget lines,
• Deviations of expenditure by budget lines. The expenditure, which exceeds or falls below the budget appropriations by more than 30 %, shall be explained separately, if the approval of the BMZ has not previously been obtained,
• That receipts and relevant supporting documents are available for all project related income and expenditures,
• The management of the funds made available, which includes the transfer of project funds, all interest earned from the project funds during the reporting period and further income generated by the project,
• Reviewing the appropriate use of funds according to the project objectives,
• Evaluation of the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the usage of funds,
• Budget adherence through the comparison between budgeted and actual costs in the currency in which the expenditure was incurred. The audit report will not convert the examined amounts into the Euro amounts,
• Reviewing if personnel costs and social security contributions conform to the regulations in the project country and are locally comparable,
• The economical use of the project equipment and assets,
• The inventory and the use of capital items, their whereabouts and their purposive usage,
• Compliance with the legal framework of the project (project agreements and annexes, contracts, etc.) and the donor requirements,
• Compliance with the policies of the local implementing partner regarding procurement, financial administration, human resources management and travel.

Procedures and Communication

The auditor will be given access to all necessary documents in the project offices through the local implementing partner Ethiopian Catholic Church Social and Development Commission Soddo (ECC-SDCO Soddo) as well as relevant donor documents through SoH.

The auditor will be responsible to set up a schedule in agreement with the local implementing partner Ethiopian Catholic Church Social and Development Commission Soddo (ECC-SDCO Soddo). Any expenses for field trips, postal and translation services and other expenses shall be included in the auditor’s proposed budget. Ethiopian Catholic Church Social and Development Commission Soddo (ECC-SDCO Soddo) will support the auditor with logistics and arrangements, however, all payments of the contract will be made directly by SoH.

Qualifications and Experience

• Necessary qualification to serve as a recognized independent auditing authority,
• Minimum of five (5) years of experience conducting external independent audits of projects funded by international institutional donors in Ethiopia,
• Experience in conducting audits for BMZ-funded projects is beneficial.