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Call for tender contract audit mission

Audit of UNITAID Financing Contracts - ATLAS PROJECT

Grantee name: Solthis

Grant title: ATLAS Solthis is accepting proposals from audit firms to conduct a project audit pursuant to the Grant Agreement for a Unitaid funded grant. We invite your firm to participate and to submit a proposal that will comply with the below terms of references.

ORGANIZATIONAL AND PROJECT BACKGROUND About the grantee Solthis is an international solidarity NGO whose goal is to improve prevention and access to quality care by strengthening health systems and services in the countries where it operates. Founded in 2003 by medical researchers at hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, Solthis is committed to a sustainable development approach in order to face long-term public health challenges in resource-limited countries.

About Unitaid Unitaid is an international organisation that invests in innovations to prevent, diagnose and treat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria more quickly, affordably and effectively. Unitaid also work to improve access to diagnostics and treatment for HIV co-infections such as hepatitis C and human papillomavirus (HPV). Unitaid is a hosted partnership of the World Health Organization (WHO).

About the Project Globally, an estimated 36.7 million people are living with HIV1. The two regions home to the greatest

number of PLHIV are Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) (with 19.4 million) and WCA (with 6.1 million).

1 UNAIDS Data book 2017, UNAIDS Data 2016

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WCA has historically received less attention than eastern and southern Africa2 and, according to

UNAIDS estimates from 2017, gaps in the HIV response are more pronounced: only 42% of PLHIV were

aware of their status, 35% were on treatment, and 25% were virally suppressed, versus 76%, 60%, and

50%, respectively, in ESA3. HIV epidemics in WCA are mixed, with a prevalence of between 0.5% and

5% in the general adult population and concentration in specific subgroups including key populations

(FSW, MSM, and PWuID). Working in the WCA region to reach those not yet tested is therefore critical

if the United Nations 90-90-90 global HIV targets are to be met. The recent WHO/UNAIDS led meeting

that took place in Dakar in November 2017 highlighted the urgency in focusing on accelerating HIV

testing progress in the WCA sub-region given its significant lag. The meeting highlighted the

importance of adopting differentiated approaches to testing, and the need to adopt well targeted

approaches to reach those currently not accessing testing services. ATLAS was designed to respond to

this specific gap.

In 2016, WHO published the first global HIV self-testing recommendations and guidelines as a supplement to the Consolidated Guidelines on HIV Testing Services. Self-testing is recommended as a complementary approach to existing screening services to achieve 90-90-90 goals. The overall goal of the project in public health terms is to reduce HIV and AIDS related morbidity and mortality. It aims to do this through its Outcome level objective of increasing access to self-testing for HIV (HIVST) among target populations, promote linkage to prevention, care and treatment, thereby reducing the number of HIV infections, HIV related deaths, and disability adjusted life years. The ATLAS project is implemented by a consortium composed of Solthis (Lead Partner) and the Research Institute for Development (IRD), itself working with other partners in the implementation of operational research and evaluation. Solthis is in charge of the overall coordination, is the link with the national authorities and implementing partners. The ATLAS project is implemented in 3 West African countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and Senegal. ATLAS is a medium-scale implementation project (not a pilot project) with an important research and evaluation component to inform future political and strategic choices in the region. The total project budget is US $ 15,716,863. The project anticipates distributing approximately 500,000 HIVST kits (80% oral and 20% blood-based) during the project period (3.5 years: June 2018-November 2021) across all three countries. ATLAS will target each of the above-mentioned high risk groups, specifically: MSM (including young and hidden MSM); FSW (including young and occasional FSW), FSW clients and partners; PWuID and their partners, young people (aged 16-24); partners of PLHIV, and STI patients and their partners.

2 The Lancet HIV. Initiatives to fill the gaps in Africa's AIDS response. Lancet HIV. 2017; 4: e321 3 UNAIDS. Ending AIDS, progress towards the 90-90-90 targets: global AIDS update 2017. UNAIDS, Geneva; 2017

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Budget Overview (in USD)

Audit services Unitaid funded projects are subject to annual audit by an external audit firm. In the case of the Project, the following audit services are required:

- Audit of the Financial Report(s) under the International Standards on Auditing – with special consideration to ISA 805. PAGE 34 /36 FINANCIAL GUIDELINES FOR UNITAID GRANTEES

- Agreed-Upon Procedures (“AUPs”) under the International Standard on Related Services 4400.

Detailed requirements for execution of services are described in the following sections.

AUDIT OF THE FINANCIAL REPORT Objectives Unitaid requests that the grant auditor issues a fair-presentation audit opinion attesting that:

i. Grant financial information as reported in the grant financial report, has in all material respect, been reported in compliance with Unitaid’s financial reporting requirements as established in the Grant Financial Reporting Guidelines.

ii. Underlying transactions have been accounted for in compliance with both the terms and conditions of the grant agreement, and applicable accounting standards and local laws.

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Auditing standards The grant audit shall be performed in accordance with the International Standards on Auditing (ISA) as published by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB), with special considerations of ISA 805 “special considerations—audits of single financial statements and specific elements, accounts or items of a financial statement”.

Financial report(s) subject to audit The following financial reports shall be subject to the audits:

Event Date Conditions

2018 Annual Report Audit report due 31 August 2019 Covering June 2018 – December 2018.

2019 Annual Report Audit report due 31 August 2020 Covering January 2019 – December 2019

2020 Annual Report Audit report due 31 August 2021 Covering January 2020 – December 2020

Final Project Report

Audit report due May 2022

(which is also end of project

audit)

Covering January 2021 to November

2021

Audit deliverables The auditor is expected to issue the following documents:

- An audit report in which the audit opinion shall be reported,

- A management letter. The management letter shall explicitly capture:

- A summary of finding and adjustments in which ineligible expenses noted in the course of the audit should be highlighted,

- Responses collected from the grantee and action timelines. Should a grantee reject an audit finding or if the Auditor disagrees with the adequacy of the response received, the management letter should acknowledge that disagreement,

- Any matters that have come to the auditor’s attention during the audit and which may have a significant impact on the implementation and-or sustainability of the project.

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Specific areas of audit focus - The auditor must ensure that the audited parts of the financial report agree and reconcile with

the grantees’ books of account which provide the basis for preparation of the grant financial report.

- The auditor must ensure that accruals balances are reviewed for reasonableness, existence and completeness.

- For any audited expenses incurred on the grant, the auditor is expected to validate that: o Such expenses are eligible under the grant agreement. An eligible expense is an

expense supporting an approved programmatic activity as defined in the approved project plan and budget of the grant agreement. Expense eligibility is defined in the Unitaid Funding Principles of these guidelines.

o Such expenses are not charged against another funding source. o Such expenses, including accruals, are supported with adequate and approved

documentation; this includes, but does not limit to, approved purchase orders (approved quality, time and price terms), delivery documents and invoices.

o Staff related expenses correspond to actual time spent and level of deployment on the project (through reconciliations with reports from the grantee’s timekeeping system or equivalent) and have been approved in compliance with the grantee’s internal policy and-or relevant local regulations (including the level of remuneration and related benefits).

o Adequate tax exemptions for the procurement and delivery of commodities have been secured; alternatively, it should be properly documented when tax exemptions were not granted by relevant tax authorities.

- For any audited project income, the auditor must ensure that income generated has been properly identified, recorded and reported in accordance with the provisions of the grant agreement.

- The auditor should assess the reasonableness of the foreign exchange rates applied to grant expenses and financial positions reported in functional currencies other than the US dollar currency.

- The auditor is expected to ascertain that reported transactions comply in all material respects with applicable legislations. Particular attention should be laid upon payroll and staff related expenses.

AGREED-UPON PROCEDURES Objectives The auditor is expected to perform Agreed-Upon Procedures (“AUPs”). These AUPs will consist in delivering complementary audit and risk assessment services in order to further assess and strengthen both the Project’s and Grantee’s system of internal controls.

Auditing standards The auditor may be required to perform the Agreed-Upon Procedures in compliance with the IAASB’s International Standard on Related Services 4400.

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Selected Agreed-Upon Procedures Unitaid will communicate on the list of agreed procedures following the review of the annual report.

AUPs deliverables The auditor is expected to issue a report of factual findings. This report shall at least capture the following:

A statement that the procedures performed were those agreed upon with the recipient; A statement that the engagement was performed in accordance with the International

Standard on Related Services applicable to agreed-upon procedures engagements, or with relevant national standards or practices;

A description of the auditor’s factual findings including sufficient details of errors and exceptions found;

A statement that had the auditor performed additional procedures, an audit or a review, other matters might have come to light that would have been reported.

PLACE AND DESIRED TIMEFRAME The audit will be coordinated from the regional office of Solthis (36 - Rue OKM 31, Cité Mamelles, Ouakam - Dakar _ Senegal) with field visits in Mali & Ivory coast (1 field visit per year). The focal point will be Sambacor KA / Administrative and Financial Manager of ATLAS. The timeframe is as follows, for each year : Audit start date: from May 2nd to June 15 latest

Draft deliverables: from July 1 to July 31 latest

Final deliverables: August 14 latest]

TERMS OF SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS The proposal is expected to contain the following elements:

The technical offer The technical offer for carrying out the audit must contain the following elements:

- reformulation of the problematic of the present specifications

- The conceptual approach and the proposed methodology for the execution of the work;

- Number of days envisaged for the mission as well as the detailed timetable including contractual deliverables

- A detail on the composition of the proposed team (CV) with a description of the tasks to be assigned to each member

- the team experience in auditing projects / programs funded by international donors;

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- The coordinates of referring legal persons who have benefited from the provider's expertise

- The contact of the person in charge of the follow-up of the file

The financial offer The financial offer is presented in detail with a summary table, and must be containing the details of the budget (fees + travelling cost) for the entire mission in CFA Francs, excluding taxes and all taxes included. The proposal will be accompanied by a letter of transmission precising the duration of the validity of the offer.

Timetable of the call for tender

Step Date

ToR publication 12/10/2018

Start date of Q&A* period 12/10/2018

End date of Q&A period 07/11/2018

Application end date 09/11/2018

Interviews of the candidates Between 12/11/2018 and 30/11/2018

Date of the selection 30/11/2018

Contract Signature 15/12/2018

The proposal will be sent to the following persons electronically:

- Mr Sambacor KA, Administration and Finance Manager of the ATLAS project: raf.atlas@solthis.org

- Mrs. Alexandra LEVY, Administrative and Financial Director of Solthis: alexandra.levy@solthis.org

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Selection of the auditor The following criteria will be applied to select the audit firm :

Criteria Note sur

Experience and expertise 60

The CV of the team leader fulfills the criteria below 20

Formation 5

Professional experiences 10

Expertise 5

CVs of team members meet the criteria below 20

Formation 5

Professional experiences 10

Expertise 5

Similar experiences and recommendations of the consultant (companies / NGOs) 20

Methodology 30

Strategy for implementing the objectives of the mission 15

Chronogramme 15

Financial proposal 10

TOTAL 100

Minimum technical score: 70.

Financial proposals with technical proposals rated below 70 will not be considered.

Attached :

- Financial Guidelines Unitaid