Financial Management Consultant World Bank 0409

Background
The region of Papua occupies a special place in Indonesia. It is the country’s easternmost, largest and most sparsely populated region. Indonesia’s decentralization laws, and particularly the 2001 Law on Special Autonomy for Papua, have ensured it receives significant fiscal resources. In revenue terms Tanah Papua is one of the wealthiest regions in Indonesia, yet it also suffers from the highest rates of per capita poverty in the country – with over 40 per cent of households living below the poverty line (well over double the national average).

Much of this poverty is concentrated in remote rural areas. Provision of basic services at the district and sub-district levels remains very poor. One third of Papuan children do not go to school. Nine out of ten villages do not have a health centre, doctor or midwife. Infant mortality is significantly higher than the national average and the province has the highest per capita rate of HIV/AIDS infection in Indonesia.

In response to these challenges, the first directly-elected governors of Papua and West Papua provinces launched a village development strategy, RESPEK, to spur development in the focal areas of: (i) food and nutrition; (ii) basic education; (iii) primary health care; (iv) livelihoods; and (v) village infrastructure.

In 2008, RESPEK was merged with the World Bank-supported national community empowerment program, PNPM Mandiri. The provincial governments provide block grants of 100 million Rupiah to each of the provinces’ 3,923 villages and to the 388 sub-district governments to support its implementation, while the national Home Affairs Ministry supports over 1,000 community facilitators through PNPM Mandiri.

World Bank staff and consultants provided technical assistance for the initial design of the RESPEK policy framework and facilitator training, and continue to provide operational support and supervision to the program. Given the large scale of PNPM-RESPEK, and the relatively low level of experience of many of the newly-recruited program facilitators, special attention is required to monitor and strengthen the facilitators’ and communities’ capacity in financial management of village projects, and ensure transparency and accountability.

In 2009 PNPM Mandiri will be placing additional specialized financial management consultants in every district (kabupaten) to provide oversight and to strengthen the capacity of project village and sub-district implementation teams. In order to maximize the effectiveness of these additional consultants, the overall framework for fiduciary controls must be strengthened and World Bank supervision stepped-up.

The World Bank has engaged a Senior Financial Management Advisor to conduct a comprehensive review of the overall fiduciary control framework for PNPM Mandiri (with a focus on the special regions of Papua/West Papua), and devise specific measures to strengthen financial management and reporting systems. The Financial Management Consultants in Papua and West Papua will contribute to the assessment of fiduciary controls in PNPM-RESPEK, and work closely with provincial project consultants and government agencies to implement the recommendations for system strengthening.

Scope of Work
The World Bank is seeking committed individuals to fill the following:

General Responsibilities:
The Financial Management Consultants will provide technical oversight of the financial management aspects of the program through oversight of provincial management and intensive field supervision of sub-district and village financial management and reporting in PNPM. Principal objectives are to:

• assess the capacity of actors in the financial management of PNPM RESPEK, identifying problems and weaknesses and recommending concrete actions to address them;
• contribute to a comprehensive diagnostic report on strengthening financial management systems in PNPM, and ensure satisfactory implementation of the report’s final recommendations;
• oversee and contribute to the design and implementation of targeted “on the job” and structured training sessions by program consultants at monthly coordination meetings, in order to address the weaknesses identified during field supervision.
• conduct systematic, pre-announced audits of project financial management and ensure that PNPM-RESPEK provincial management consultants promptly follow up audit findings. Where appropriate, work with local media to publicize the audits results.

Specific Responsibilities

Field Monitoring
Conduct regular field supervision missions to ensure that project facilitators are fulfilling their financial monitoring responsibilities, including:

• Monthly bank reconciliations, and investigation and resolution of any inconsistencies;
• compliance with project accountability mechanisms at all stages of the program cycle including participatory decision-making, transparent and cost effective procurement, accurate and timely book keeping with filing of adequate support documentation, , availability of financial reports, posting of project financial information on community notice boards and community access to financial information at village accountability meetings following the disbursement of each tranche of funds;
• systematic monitoring and reporting of disbursement of community block grants (BLM, Bantuan Langsung Masyarakat) and project operational funds (DOK, Dana Operasional Kegiatan) to ensure accuracy, completeness and timeliness;
• checking that physical outputs are in line with project plans and disbursements; and
• ensuring that complaints are handled promptly and effectively and followed up by provincial management consultants.

Capacity Building
Provide oversight and technical support to ensure that Provincial Financial Management and Training Specialists design and implement appropriate, relevant training packages to address specific weaknesses identified during field supervision missions. These trainings should include:

• Structured training sessions for PNPM-RESPEK facilitators, particularly the pendamping keuangan kabupaten, to be delivered at monthly provincial and kabupaten coordination meetings, timed to anticipate problems and weaknesses throughout the project cycle. These trainings should include tools for the facilitators to build the capacity of sub-district and village implementation teams and, where appropriate, community microfinance groups and villagers implementing other economic activities under the program.
• Targeted formal and on the job training for sub-district and village implementation teams (TPKD and TPKK) to strengthen their capacity to maintain simple financial management records and tools for sub-district and village level transparency. This might include facilitating cross-visits between TPKDs and TPKKs and other community representative bodies to promote cross-learning and support.
• Targeted formal and on the job training for kabupaten and sub-district level government officers (e.g. PJOK) to enable them to better understand the financial ‘rules of the game’ and to enable them to better monitor the community financial management of the project.

Analysis and refinement of the policy and regulatory framework

• Review the regulations, mechanisms and procedures outlined in the provincial government’s Handbook on Disbursement, Management and Accounting of Funds for PNPM-RESPEK, and other project documents (the Operations Manual and Gubernatorial Decision 74/2008), supplemented with knowledge from field supervision, to assess :
• The adequacy of the built-in safeguards, identifying potential weaknesses and loopholes;
• Whether project procedures and mechanisms could be simplified without increasing fiduciary risk.
• the adequacy of the reporting requirements to enable sufficient monitoring by provincial and national government agencies and World Bank staff.
• The Consultant should devise specific recommendations to address these issues, drawing on both the review of project documents and the results of field monitoring, and then work with the RMU and provincial governments to improve the procedures and regulations accordingly.

Outputs

• ‘Back to Office’ reports should be provided to the (World Bank) Task Team Leader and shared with provincial and kabupaten level program management consultants, following each field visit or other program-related activity (e.g. training). The reports should contain an action matrix, summarizing findings (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and problems encountered), and outlining concrete, practical recommendations to address them.
• Financial management teams (two to three World Bank consultants will be stationed in each province) to compile joint monthly reports summarizing provincial policy and operational issues and findings from field missions. These monthly reports should contain a matrix summarizing planned and recommended follow-up actions, with clear timelines and assignments of responsibility.

Selection Criteria
The position requires the following qualifications and attributes:

• Master’s in Economics, Finance/Accounting or Social Sciences plus 2 years relevant experience or equivalent combination of education and experience;
• Experience in financial management aspects of community development programs in Indonesia is desirable; experience with PNPM or KDP highly desirable;
• Understanding of the particular development challenges in indigenous Papuan communities;
• Strong organizational capacity and a demonstrated ability to anticipate and resolve operational problems in the field;
• Ability to build and maintain effective working relationships, with local and national governments, project consultants and other development partners;
• Fluency in Indonesian language, English language desirable;
• Willingness to travel frequently to remote, rural areas of Papua and West Papua.

Length of Contract
The Consultant will be hired on an STC contract for a maximum period of 50 working days from 1 May to 30 June 2009, with a likely extension of 150 days from 1 July 2009.

Reporting to
The Consultant will report to PNPM Task Team Leader, with day-today supervision and coordination provided by Senior Financial Management Advisor, and Operations Officer (Papua/West Papua). The Finance Management Consultant will work closely with other World Bank consultants, and with members of the PNPM team in Jayapura, Manokwari and Jakarta.

How to Apply

• This is a local hired position, open for Indonesian nationals only.
• Please only submit your cover letter, CV, and references (at least three names with full contact details) to: jobsindonesia@worldbank.org.
• Do not forget to state your name and position applied in the e-mail subject.
• Deadline of application is 27 April 2009. Late submission will not be considered; hard copy applications and phone inquiries will not be accepted.