Local Fund Agent
The Local Fund Agent (LFA) is an entity contracted by the Global Fund for a particular country to undertake an objective examination and provide independent professional advice and information relating to grants and Principal Recipients (PRs). Within the Global Fund’s risk management framework, the LFA provides an independent in-country verification and oversight mechanism in addition to Principal Recipient’s assurance. The Global Fund expects LFAs to proactively identify and alert it to any issues that may prevent activities and funding from reaching the intended beneficiaries in the quantity, time, and quality intended, and the Global Fund programmes from reaching their objectives. Based on the Global Fund Country Team’s risk assessment of the particular portfolio, the LFA’s scope of work is tailored to the specific circumstances of the grant.
Although in some cases the LFA is UNOPS, this is usually a private consulting firm, competitively selected (see list of LFAs ). As a third-party and following the ‘single audit’ principle governing UNDP, the LFA does not have access to UNDP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) (Quantum), contracts, selection processes, and other critical information. Therefore, the LFA does not replace standard UNDP internal control systems and is not mandated to assess compliance with UNDP policies. As stated in the UNDP-GF Framework Agreement (Dec 2024), UNDP as PR will implement or oversee the implementation of the Program in accordance with UNDP regulations, rules, policies and procedures, thus standard risk management mechanisms apply, in addition to GF specific oversight requirements.
Practice
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Resources
Functional Area: Risk Management Project Stage: Grant Making and Signing; Grant Implementation; Reporting Author: The Global Fund Language: English Type: Policies, Procedures and guidance Topic: Local Fund Agent, LFA Resource File Format: PDF Resource Accessibility: Publicly accessible