STATEMENT OF WORK
Strengthen State Audit Institution Public Procurement Auditing skills
BACKGROUND
The Improving Public Procurement project (the Project), implemented by Deloitte Consulting LLP, is a five-year United States Agency for International Development-funded project initiated in July 2022 with the overall objective to strengthen institutional capacities for management and oversight of a fair, open, non-discriminatory and transparent public procurement process at the national and local levels. The Project is structured around four components focused on 1) improving local procurement planning, 2) improving procurement procedures across the entire procurement lifecycle in accordance with international standards, 3) improving capacities for effective legal enforcement, and 4) increasing the effectiveness of public procurement oversight. The Project counterparts include local self-governments (LSGs), the Public Procurement Office, the Commission for Protection of Bidders’ Rights, public prosecutors’ offices, Administrative Courts, Misdemeanor Courts, the Ministry of Finance, State Audit Institution (SAI), civil society organizations, and investigative journalists.
The Project’s strategy is to enhance the implementation of existing laws, policies, and procedures and to support the alignment of the public procurement ecosystem to international standards and good practices. The Project will facilitate the identification of locally led solutions that cut across government, business, and civil society, to create space for stakeholders to collaborate across institutional boundaries. Emphasis will be placed on professionalization of the procurement function through trainings, development of tools, and identification of leading practices for adaptation by institutions. Collaboration and information exchange among institutions will be supported with the objective to increase oversight, improve identification of procurement irregularities for prosecution and adjudication, legislative engagement to resolve identified weaknesses in the law, and capacity building of civil society organizations to contribute to oversight and communication to the public.
The State Audit Institution is the supreme state authority for auditing public finances in the Republic of Serbia. SAI is an independent institution subject to supervision by the National Assembly. SAI provides the National Assembly, citizens, and other stakeholders at all levels of government with information on how public funds are managed and used and contributes to improvement of financial management, as well as accountability, transparency, and integrity of public officers. The Institution performs financial, compliance, and performance audits of Government spending by multiple auditees, including ministries, LSGs, and public utilities. SAI recognized public procurement as a high-risk area in their Strategic Plan and subsequently devoted significant resources to oversight of government spending and performance in the area. In order to further build SAI’s internal capacities for auditing public procurements in line with the best Euroean and international practices and standards, the Project will work with SAI to adapt and implement recently adopted Public Procurement Audit Guidelines developed by the International Organization of State Audit Institution (INTOSAI).
With this SOW, the Project will support training in Serbia for SAI leadership and senior auditors -on public procurement auditing standards covering the public procurement life cycle and corruption risks as recognized in European audit practices, as well as INTOSAI Public Procurement Guidelines. Training materials developed should include audit planning, collection and analysis of audit evidence and audit documentation, based on internationally recognized practices in this area.
Implementation of improvements in oversight of public procurement is an EU Commission provision related to negotiating Chapters 5 (Public Procurement) and 32 (Financial Control).
SCOPE OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
The short-term technical assistance should be provided in the following areas:
1) Prepare training materials (Power-point presentations with examples and exercises) for a two-day training course to introduce public procurement auditing standards covering the public procurement life cycle and corruption risks recognized in INTOSAI Public Procurement Guidelines, inclusive of the best risk-based audit practices.
2) Delivery of two, two-day training courses for SAI leadership and auditors on Public Procurement oversight and recognized risks and red flags throughout the procurement process, based on the training materials developed under task 1) above.
3) Delivery of a report, within 10 calendar days, following departure from Serbia, provide a written report, not exceeding five pages, exclusive of annexes with the training materials, that describes, but is not limited to, the following: the purpose of consultancy, progress made, and any other notable observations; issues and/or problems encountered; expected follow-on interventions, as well as actions to be performed by counterparts.
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Instructions to Applicants
Applicants must:
Submit a curriculum vitae(s) of each consultant or team member describing direct relevant experience with references, indicating assignments similar to this scope of work.
Ø Submit a financial offer for the assignment (in US dollars) presented per deliverable (Use the Financial Offer Template presented below in the SOW document. Full document is available for download at the bottom of Devex ad).
Ø The application should reflect the contracting party – entity or individual; The subcontract will be signed with the entity/individual indicated in the application. Contracting Country Nationals (Serbia) must apply and will be contracted as legal entities (businesses).
Ø Offers should be submitted via email to IPP Project Office in Belgrade, Serbia, to the email address: office@boljenabavke.com, no later than 5pm CET on June 21, 2024.
NOTE: Submission of a CV(s) alone IS NOT considered a complete application. An application MUST include a Financial Offer in a format provided within the Scope of Work. Failure to provide the required information will result in your not being considered for this assignment. Requests for clarifications may be sent to office@boljenabavke.com by 5pm. CET on June 17, 2024. The clarifications for all questions received will be circulated to all interested parties via email no later than 5pm. CET on June 18, 2024.
Financial Offer[1]: ____________ $
Must be completed by the applicant.
When calculating the financial offer, the applicant should include all anticipated costs for the assignment such as labor, travel, accommodation, associated taxes, etc. Any airfares should be for the lowest cost economy class and/or Fly America compliant.
Subcontractor Pricing Template
Subcontractor Name
Project
Agreement Type
Firm Fixed Price (Deliverables)
Submission Date
Deloitte Pricing Instructions
Enter your fully loaded fixed daily rates by labor category in green entry cells.
Enter the estimate number of days to support the tasks in Column D in green entry cells.
All daily rates must be rounded to the nearest two decimal places.
Enter any important notes in the pricing notes block
Pricing Notes
DELIVERABLES
LABOR COST
OTHER DIRECT COSTS (ODC)
Total Firm Fixed Price plus ODCs
Resource/Consultant Name
LOE in Days
Fully Burdened Fixed Daily Rate
Labor Total
Other Direct Cost
Unit Cost
Quantity
ODC Total
DELIVERABLE 1:
$ -
Delivery of training materials (Power-point presentation with examples and exercises) for two-day training course to introduce public procurement auditing standards covering the entire public procurement life cycle and recognized corruption risks in INTOSAI Public Procurement Guidelines, inclusive of audit risks and best practices in the area.
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
TOTAL
$ -
DELIVERABLE 2:
$ -
Delivery of two, two-day trainings for SAI leadership and auditors on Public Procurement Guidelines based on the training materials.
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
TOTAL
$ -
$ -
Within ten calendar days following departure from Serbia, provide a written report, not exceeding five pages, exclusive of annexes with the training materials, describing purpose of consultancy, progress made, issues encountered, and expected follow-on interventions.
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
$ -
TOTAL
$ -
Total Firm Fixed Price plus ODCs
GRAND TOTAL
$ -
Place:______________________
Date:_________________________
Signature:_________________________
[1] When calculating your financial offer, the applicant should include all anticipated costs for the assignment such as labor, travel, accommodation,. Any airfares must be Fly America compliant. We base estimates for a reasonable cost on economy class airfare and daily fees not exceeding the USAID maximum rate.
About Deloitte:
For more than 25 years, Deloitte’s International Development Organization (IDO) practice has worked with governments, development agencies, NGOs, and private firms in over 60 countries to build the institutions, legal framework, and policies required for effective public and private sector growth.
Deloitte is a leading provider of innovative development solutions to development agencies, foundations, governments, and Fortune 500 companies. Our dedicated IDO team is the vanguard for the delivery of profound impact in the global development space in alignment to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. With more than 1000 development experts around the world, Deloitte has implemented over 150 donor projects worth a total of more than $3 billion in more than 70 countries.
