Government Entities and Civil Society Organizations 

The UNDP Country Office (CO) must conduct a formal capacity assessment of governmental entities and civil society organizations (CSOs) identified as potential Sub-recipients (SRs), in addition to any assessment undertaken by the Global Fund through the Local Fund Agent (LFA). A positive capacity assessment should be part of the documentation submitted for UNDP internal review, prior to signing the SR agreement. A positive capacity assessment is also part of the documentation submitted for the ‘value for money’ (VfM) assessment of CSOs which means that capacity assessment of CSOs should be undertaken prior to development and submission of the VfM assessment in case the CSO is selected through direct programmatic engagement. When the selection process is based on a competitive process, the capacity assessment is embedded in the process and is part of the evaluation process.  

Practice Pointer

As part of the minimum requirements of Global Fund, all SRs (and Sub-sub-recipients (SSRs)) are required to maintain a dedicated bank account for each grant. Since some government entities may require specific approvals from the Ministry of Finance and/or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is helpful if UNDP informs all potential SRs of this specific requirement at an early stage.

United Nations Agencies 

Capacity assessment of UN agencies intended to be SRs (the so-called ‘light capacity assessment’) is not a formal assessment, since it is assumed that UN agencies have the capacity required to act as SRs and the need to respect the UN Single Audit Principle. It is, instead, an exercise to identify any specific issues that may need consideration, given the agency’s intended role.  

Assessments of UN agencies as SRs should focus primarily on an examination of the additional and specific local resources – particularly human resources – that may be required for the SR to carry out its activities and meet its obligations under the SR agreement. Where UN agencies are contracted to implement activities related to in-country supply management of health products, the capacity of the agency to implement the specific activities outsourced to the agency should be documented, while respecting the UN Single Audit Principle.,