Fund for Local Cooperation: Guidelines for the partner organisations

What is the Fund for Local Cooperation? The Fund for Local Cooperation (FLC) is an instrument of the Finnish Embassy for supporting smallscale development cooperation with local partner organisations in the Republic of oldova! The support is intended for pro"ects! The FLC cannot provide core funding! Priorities of the Embassy of Finland, Bucharest The FLC program of the Embassy of Finland in #ucharest has two priority areas$ %upport to the strengthening of democratic and accountable society that promotes human rights! %upport to the freedom of e&pression and media diversity

Legal and normati e conte!t The FLC is governed by an administrative norm of the inistry for Foreign 'ffairs ( F') of Finland! The administrative norm sets out the main principles concerning eligibility criteria for partners and uses of the funds( and the minimum re)uirements for the Embassy to manage the pro"ects! The Embassy of Finland sets the priorities and the specific ob"ectives of its FLC programme ta*ing into account the specific needs in the local conte&t! The local partners implementing the FLC pro"ects must abide by the relevant local legislation! 's a rule all pro"ects must be implemented by the local partners themselves( and only small procurements of a ma&imum of +,!--- Euros from e&ternal agents may be allowed! .f any procurement of goods or services for the value of over +,!--- Euros is needed( the procurement shall be carried out in compliance with the Finnish legislation on competitive bidding! Contacting the Embassy: Correspondence The FLC is managed by an FLC coordinator! Correspondence related to the FLC should be sent to the address of the Embassy with the specification /Fund for Local Cooperation/! The address of the Embassy of Finland is$ Embassy of Finland %trada 'tena 0 bis #ucuresti -++120( Romania Email is a valid method of communication with the Embassy! The Embassy handles electronic messages including letters and may archive all correspondence! Email messages should be sent to sanomat!bu*3formin!fi and mai"a!valivaara3formin!fi

4ro"ect proposals need to be signed and( therefore they can only be accepted as letters in electronic form as pdf-attachments where the original signature is readable! The same applies to pro"ect reports! The contract needs to be signed by the Embassy and the partner organisation in the original document! Email correspondence is not applicable to the signing of the contract! Finalising the pro"ect proposal The Embassy reserves the right to demand modifications on the pro"ect proposal if the proposal lac*s relevant information( if the proposal needs improvement to guarantee e&pected results( or if the proposal is not in line with the rules and regulations! 5sually the FLC coordinator chec*s that at least the following issues are in order$ The beneficiaries are well-defined( The e&pected results are concrete and realistic( The implementation plan and6or method is clearly presented( The crosscutting issues li*e gender( 7.86'.9% and environment are considered( where relevant The budget is clear( detailed( and includes all the relevant items (including ade)uate reservations for beneficiaries( audit( contingencies)( The persons conducting the wor* are specified and have ade)uate )ualifications( The unit costs for the personnel are clearly defined and the total costs are acceptable( The allowances are well "ustified based on relevant local norms and the unit costs are acceptable( The commitment of the beneficiaries and the partner organisation is secured( The pro"ect management is clearly described( The partner organisation has proper boo**eeping and concrete evidence on transparency by sharing its recent financial statements( The partner organisation has a good trac* record for pro"ect management and ade)uate capacity to manage the pro"ect! The latest annual report of the organisation as well as references to previous pro"ects of the same si:e are relevant information! .f these are not available( other descriptive information is re)uired! 5sually the Embassy chec*s the following matters$ legal status of the organisation is there a #oard (does it meet regularly( how are roles and responsibilities determined) procurement process (how is procurement initiated( who approves( policy on getting )uotes( setting criteria( deciding etc) payment process (how many transactions per month( who does payment re)uisitions( who approves payments( who signs che)ues( how is documentation filed( how is petty cash handled) asset management (policy and monitoring) The final proposal needs to be signed by an authorised representative of the partner organisation! The financing decision is made by the 7ead of ission( or the person authorised by the 7ead of ission to ma*e the decision! The FLC coordinator does not ma*e financing decisions! Local contributions The partner agency and beneficiaries can ma*e local contributions in cash( in *ind or as wor* contributions! ;or* contributions are encouraged! ;hen pro"ects are selected for financing( a priority is given to pro"ects where the partner agency and beneficiaries show commitment through local contributions!

Local contributions are reported separately in the progress reports and the final report! Procurement 4rocurement is usually made on the basis of local legislation! The procurement of goods and services the value of which e&ceeds +,!--- < needs to be made based on competitive bidding( as defined in the Finnish legislation! 7owever( FLC pro"ects very seldom call for procurement this e&pensive! Core financing The FLC pro"ects are( as a rule( not meant to cover the core e&penditure of the partner organisation! #he administrati e costs =rgani:ation can use ma& +- > for administration! 'dministration should have own budget line so that it is clear for both what costs can be included to administration! The pro"ect budget may include e&penditure on financial management and reporting which are mar*ed as tas*s for specific persons! #he employment of personnel %ince FLC financing is pro"ect financing( hiring a person for the purpose of performing a specific tas* can be done on a temporary employment contract only! The partner organisation is e&pected to be able to name core persons already in the pro"ect plan! The e&pertise and e&perience of the core persons is the *ey element for successful implementation! The core persons need to be available for the tas*! 9epending on the scope of the wor*( the payments related to core persons is counted in wor*ing days( wor*ing wee*s or wor*ing months! .f there is not an employee to whom a given tas* could be assigned( one could be hired temporarily for the purposes of the pro"ect! .n such a case( the pro"ect proposal6plan should include a description on how the procurement is done! ?ormally( the price range is given in advance and the Embassy approves the final decision! Cofinancing The Embassy of Finland is allowed to cofinance a pro"ect with another agency if this is specifically suitable in the partner country conte&t! Cofinancing arrangements need to fulfil specific re)uirements related to the transparency of pro"ect planning( reporting and auditing! Cofinancing arrangements are tailored case by case! The Embassy of Finland is not allowed to sign a contract with a Fund which then allocates financing onwards to other organisations! $igning the contract The F' uses a specific model agreement for the contract! The language of the contract is English!

The contract describes the responsibilities of both parties! The contract (including the signed pro"ect proposal6Terms of Reference) is a binding document and legal action can be ta*en if the partner does not follow the contract or misuses the funds! The contract needs to be signed by the Embassy and the partner organisation in the original form in two copies( one for each party! =n behalf of the Embassy( the contract is signed by the 7ead of ission( or the person entitled by the 7ead of ission to sign! =n behalf of the partner organisation( the signatory must have the authorisation for signing on behalf of the organisation he6she represents! The contract is made out in Euros (<)! Payments to the partner organisation The Embassy ma*es the payments on the ban* account of the partner organisation! 4ayments are never made in cash( or on a private ban* account! The payment schedule is defined in the contract! The Embassy can ma*e advance payments if so has been decided! .f the pro"ect implementation ta*es more than a calendar year( the payments are divided into several instalments (ma& 0 per year)! The new payments are made after acceptable reporting on the previous instalment! The reporting schedule is usually made so that the report is e&pected some two months before the ne&t payment! The progress report then covers the actual disbursements at the time of preparing the report! The following progress report is e&pected to cover the balance plus the utilisation of the second payment! The final report includes the e&isting balance but also the report on the total payments during the programme! Calendar Reporting 4ayments ' & @ @ ' % = ? & 9 @ & F ' & & @ @ '

Progress reports The contract defines how often the partner organisation needs to provide a report! 4rogress reports are signed by an authorised representative of the partner organisation! Reporting is related to payments! .f the partner organisation has provided a certified audit report as a demonstration of the soundness of its boo**eeping( it does not need to include the original receipts! 7owever( the report should include a detailed list of costs( compared against the final pro"ect proposal6plan! ' model6format for the minimum reporting re)uirement is available from the Embassy! These reporting re)uirements can be ad"usted ta*ing into consideration the capacity of the organisation and the scope of the pro"ect! Final report The partner organisation is e&pected to prepare a final report describing the whole pro"ect( including resources utilised( results and lessons learned!

' model6format for the minimum reporting re)uirement is available from the Embassy! These reporting re)uirements can be ad"usted ta*ing into consideration the capacity of the organisation and the scope of the pro"ect! 's a general rule( the final payment can be made only against an acceptable final report and the final audit! %nnual audit 'n annual audit is e&pected to be conducted on all pro"ects which receive annual payments e&ceeding 0-!--- <! The partner organisation may commission a pro"ect audit as a part of its full audit! .f this does not ta*e place( or if the Embassy perceives the auditing as unsatisfactory( the Embassy may commission an audit on its own! .n the contract( the Embassy reserves the right to conduct an audit on any pro"ect it deems necessary! Corruption pre ention The Embassy monitors the pro"ect through reports( visits and audits! .f there are signs of possible corruption( the Embassy may terminate financing and launch a legal procedure for clarifying the matter! The policy against corruption is very strict! Corruption prevention can be included into the pro"ect layout from the outset! Corruption prevention activities( including improvements in financial management capacities and procedures( are useful elements of a pro"ect!