Government of Rwanda
CAPACITY BUILDING FUND (CBF)
PROCEDURES MANUAL
February 2011
Public Sector Capacity Building Secretariat
CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1
Introduction5
2
Objective and Purpose of the Capacity Building Fund6
3
CBF Strategic Guidelines7
4
Institutional and Implementation Arrangements7
5
CBF Funding11
6
Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) of CBF Funded Activities ()20
7
Financial Management and Accounting Arrangements21
8
Procurement Arrangements
9
Reporting Framework21
10
Appendices21
11
Documents Used in Manual Development25
20
Figures, Text Boxes and Diagrams
Figure 1
The New Management Structure for CBF
7
Diagram 1
CBF Application Procedure Flow Chart
Figure 2
Diagram to show structure of PSCBS
Figure 3
Criteria Used to Assess CBF Applications
14
Figure 5
PSCBS Application Summary Template
15
Text box 1
Conflict of Interest
17
12
7
Appendices
Appendix 1
Application forms for the Fund
21
Appendix 2
Documents used in manual development
25
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CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
ACBF
African Capacity Building Foundation
CBCapacity Building
CBF
Capacity Building Fund
CEO Chief Executive Officer
DPsDevelopment Partners
ES
Executive Secretary PSCBS
ESCBPF Education Sector Capacity Building Pooled Fund
GoR Government of Rwanda
MDA
Ministries, Departments and Agencies
MIFOTRA Ministry of Public Service and Labour
MINAGRI Ministry of Agriculture
MINALOC Ministry of Local Government
MINECOFIN Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning
MINEDUC Ministry of Education
MINISANTE Ministry of Health
PSCBS Public Sector Capacity Building Secretariat
RPPA Rwanda Public Procurement Authority
SCSteering Committee
CBF TC
4
CBF Technical Committee
CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
1.Introduction
1.1. This Manual explains the purpose, functions and management of the Capacity Building
Fund. It is designed to be used by both individuals responsible for the management of
the Fund and by potential applicants.
1.2. The Capacity Building Fund (CBF) is managed by the Public Sector Capacity Building
Secretariat (PSCBS). The PSCBS was established under a Prime Minister’s Order
N°56/03 of 14/8/2009, published in the Official Gazette n°35 of 31/08/2009 . A revised
Prime Minister’s Order that provided for a new governance and structure for PSCBS
was approved by Cabinet in its session of 8 June 2010 to enable the Secretariat deliver
on the expanded mandate of managing CBF as well as coordinating capacity building
activities in the public sector.
1.3. Further details on the history and management of the CBF are given in Sections 2 and
3 of the Manual.
1.4. The strategic functions of the PSCBS are as follows:
• Manage the national Capacity Building Fund (CBF).
• Support public institutions to develop appropriate and harmonized capacity building
tools and templates which include:
• Capacity Needs Assessments; Capacity Building Plans; Capacity Building
Strategies; Capacity Utilization Strategies and Plans; Capacity Retention Strategies
and Plans; Monitoring and Evaluation of Capacity Building; and Assessing Impact
of CB;
• Provide an annual report on the state of capacity in the Public Sector;
• Provide a forum for advocacy and resource mobilisation for capacity building of the
Public Sector;
1.5. This manual will be updated to reflect changes to the Fund’s structure and operations
whenever necessary.
The manual forms part of a process of Fund development and improvement which
is designed to maximise the positive impact on public sector capacity development
needs.
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CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
2. Objective and Purpose of the Capacity Building Fund
2.1. The Capacity Building Fund (CBF) is a Government fund approved by Cabinet in its
session of 11th February 2009. The purpose of the Fund is to finance strategic capacity
building activities in a coordinated, transparent and efficient manner. The advantage of
the Fund is that it has oversight of wide range of public sector capacity building activities,
and can therefore seek to achieve maximum impact through these interventions.
At inception the Fund was administered by the Capacity Building Committee appointed
by the Prime Minister. The Committee was composed of the following members:
i. The Permanent Secretary of MIFOTRA – Chair
ii. The Permanent Secretary of MINECOFIN – Vice Chair
iii. The Head of the Strategy and Policy Unit in the Office of the President member
iv. The Deputy CEO for Human Capital Development, Rwanda Development Board
- member
v. The Head of the Coordination Unit, Office of the Prime Minister - member
Modifications to the Capacity Building Fund
2.3. Substantial changes were made to the management of the Fund in the Cabinet meeting
of 16th December 2009. The responsibility for management and making funding
decisions has now been transferred from MIFOTRA to the Public Sector Capacity
Building Secretariat.
2.4. Regarding capacity building resources based in the Sectors, after a series of
consultations with key stakeholders in Government and development partners, the
following working arrangement was agreed upon:
Capacity development (CD ) funds from DPs (and allocation mechanisms) remain at
sector level.
PSCBS and Sectors share decisions in planning, M&E and budgeting .
The sector working group will be a forum for decision making & information sharing.
PSCBS to share the relevant CD tools with the sectors.
PSCBS to facilitate needs and impact assessments of CD in the sectors.
An audit firm to track usage of CD funds at sector level (quarterly).
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CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
3. CBF Strategic Guidelines
3.1. The CBF Coordination Team will develop medium term strategic- guidelines (3 years)
that direct the Fund towards specific capacity deficits and strategic focal areas. As
CBF has a limited budget, the most positive impact can be achieved through targeted
interventions. The strategic guidelines will reflect GoR’s capacity development
priorities. 70% of CBF resources will be committed for development priorities defined
by the annual National Leadership Retreat and 30 % will be earmarked for emergent
or unforeseen initiatives. Access to the funding will be through a competitive bidding at
Sector level.
3.2. Detailed arrangements on capacity building planning and the budgeting cycle will be
developed by PSCBS and the stakeholder working group with the aim of encouraging
all institutions in the public sector to focus on capacity building needs in their annual
plans and budgets.
4. Institutional and Implementation Arrangements
PSCBS was established under a Prime Minister’s Order N°56/03 of 14/8/2009,
published in the Official Gazette n°35 of 31/08/2009 . A revised Prime Minister’s Order
that provided for a new governance and structure for PSCBS was approved by Cabinet
in its session of 8 June 2010 to enable the Secretariat deliver on the expanded mandate
of managing CBF as well as coordinating capacity building activities in the public
sector.
4.1. Following the changes made in the Cabinet meeting of the 16th December 2009, a
new management structure was developed for CBF. This is shown in Figure 1 below.
Since, as mentioned above, the precise coordination arrangements for the consolidated
sector funds have not been agreed as yet; the structures below pertain to the CBF and
may be updated in time.
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CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
Figure 1: The New Management Structure for CBF.
Capacity Building Fund / PSCBS Steering Committee
Oversight of decisions, scrutiny of reports and
consultation on unusual (high value) applications
This Steering Committee will also be the Steering
Committee for PSCBS as a whole.
Capacity Building Fund Technical Committee (PSCBS)
Adjudicate on the majority of applications
CBF Coordination Team
Full time support to the Technical Team and Steering
Committee and management of Fund operations
Coordinator of Technical
Services
Pool of Experts/
Professionals
Coordinator of General
Services
Pool of Administration
and Finance Experts/
Professionals
CBF Coordinator
CBF Coordination Team
The experts/ professionals in the Technical and General Services Units provide technical
backstopping for CBF operations.
8
Technical Services Unit
- Coordinator (1)
- Human Resource development Specialist (1)
- Institutional Capacity Development Specialist
(1)
- Planning and M&E Specialist (1)
- CBF M&E Officer (1)
- Statistician (1)
- IEC Specialist (1)
- Knowledge Management Expert (1)
- Capacity Building Liaison Experts (3)
Office of the Executive Secretary
- Executive Secretary (1)
- Internal Auditors (2)
- Procurement Management Specialist (1)
- Procurement Officer (1)
- Legal officer (1)
- Administrative Assistant (1)
General Services Unit
- Coordinator (1)
- Financial Management Specialist (1)
- Chief Accountant (1)
- CBF Accountant (1)
- Capacity Building Projects Accountant (1)
- Budget Officer (1)
- Logistics Officer (1)
- Secretary (2)
- IT Officer (1)
Public Sector Capacity Building
Stakeholders Forum
FIGURE 2: Organisational Chart for the Public Sector Capacity Building Secretariat (PSCBS)
CBF Coordination Unit
- CBF Fund Coordinator (1)
- CBF Fund Program Officer (1)
- CBF Cluster Specialists (3)
Steering Committee
Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning
ORGANISATIONAL CHART FOR THE PUBLIC SECTOR CAPACITY BUILDING SECRETARIAT (PSCBS)
CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
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CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
4.2 PSCBS Steering Committee
Membership of this Steering Committee is as follows:
• Permanent Secretary in the Ministry in charge of Economic Planning (Chairperson);
• Permanent Secretary in the Ministry in charge of Public Service and Labour (Vice
Chairperson);
• Permanent Secretary in the Ministry in charge of Education;
• Permanent Secretary in the Ministry in charge of Local Government;
• Executive Secretary, Higher Education Council;
• Director General, Coordination Unit, Office of the Prime Minister;
• Executive Director, Institute of Policy Analysis and Research
• Executive Secretary of PSCBS as Secretary of the Committee
4.2.1. The purpose of the Committee is to provide strategic guidance and
implementation oversight to the operations of the Fund. The CBF receives
applications for funding for capacity building activities and applications for
no objection to capacity building activities that are being funded by others
(government and development partners).
• The Steering Committee shall meet once every quarter and any other time deemed
necessary.
• The Steering Committee meetings shall be convened upon attendance of at least
2/3 of its members.
• Notice of a meeting shall be submitted in writing to the Steering Committee members
at least seven (7) days before the meeting is held. However, an extra ordinary
meeting shall be convened in writing at least three (3) days before the meeting is
held.
• Resolutions of the meeting of the Steering Committee shall be signed by its
members present and a copy shall be sent to the Minister in charge of Planning in
a period not exceeding seven (7) days from the date of the meeting.
• The Steering Committee acts as a “Board” that shall have oversight as well as
Coordination responsibilities.
Over and above other responsibilities, with specific regard to CBF, the
Committee shall:
• Offer strategic guidance on the use of the CBF;
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CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
• Make policy decisions relating to the operations of the CBF;
• Examine monitoring and evaluation reports for funded interventions;
• Oversee the implementation of the CBF Strategy;
• Examine funding decisions made by the Technical Committee ensuring
consistency with CBF strategic priorities;
• Examine and approve CBF financial accounts and annual audit report
findings;
• Consider whether to approve extraordinary or very high value applications
( for example an amount above 500 million RWF);
• Decide on action to be taken with recipients who do not comply with the
funding agreements;
4.2.2 . Relevant documents and administrative support for the Committee will be
provided by the CBF Coordination Team. On specific matters concerning CBF
the CBF Coordinator shall:
- attend the Steering Committee meeting when the Steering Committee
meets for CBF purposes (rather than for wider PSCBS purposes) and will
be responsible for providing all reporting information.
- produce minutes within 7 working days of the meeting.
The Committee can be convened for ad hoc meetings if and when necessary.
The Executive Secretary will always attend the Steering Committee
meetings.
4.3. Capacity Building Fund Technical Committee
4.3.1. The Technical Committee has responsibility for deciding on applications to
the Fund and providing a no-objection to capacity building activities being
funded outside the CBF. The Technical Committee meets on a weekly basis
to review applications and make recommendations. The Technical Committee
is appointed by PSCBS Management and it currently consists of the following
members:
• Chair – Institutional Capacity Development Specialist,
• Vice Chair – Human Resource Development Specialist,
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CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
• CBF Coordinator- member/Secretary to the Committee,
• Coordinator, General Services, member,
• Coordinator, Technical Services, member and,
•
Planning, M&E Specialist, member.
• Procurement Specialist
4.3.2. Decisions will be made in accordance with the strategic priorities for the Fund
and the procedures set out in this manual. Once the Technical Committee has
made a decision, a letter with supporting documents, is drafted to be signed
by the Executive Secretary informing the applicant of the outcome. In case
of the ES absence, the person mandated acting in that role shall sign. The
administrative work for CBF is the responsibility of the CBF Coordinator
4.3.3 Role of the PSCBS Executive Secretary
The Executive Secretary shall have the ultimate financial responsibility for the
CBF. He/She approves funding or no objection decisions that are submitted
by the Technical Committee. No payment shall be made from the CBF
account without a written authorisation from the ES PSCBS (or nominated
person acting in his/her capacity.).
4.4. CBF Coordination Team
PSCBS has developed a new structure which includes a CBF Coordinator, Experts
and Professional Staff. The Coordinator is responsible for the overall management of
the fund and supervision of the CBF Coordination Team.
5. CBF Funding
A. Accessing CBF funding
5.1. According to the Government of Rwanda, capacity building activities within the public
sector can be undertaken at three different levels – individual, organisational and
institutional. The Capacity Building Fund will only fund activities that are designed to
develop capacity in the public sector.
5.2. The CBF receives annual capacity building plans and budgets from public institutions.
Applications for funding will be received quarterly and processed in accordance with
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CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
the agreed annual capacity building plans.
B. Request for No Objection For Non CBF funded CD activities
5.3. PSCBS also receives applications, on a quarterly basis, for No Objection to capacity
building activities that are to be funded from other sources. Exceptions may be allowed
for emergency or genuine unforeseen cases.
5.4. General Application Requirements for both CBF funds and for No Objection:
i.
Annual action plans and budgets should have been sent to PSCBS during the
budgeting cycle for MDAs; Any review of the plans should be undertaken at the
time of the budget review.
ii.
To facilitate planning and budgeting for the CBF, proposed applications for use of
funds from the CBF should be made at the time of preparing the budget. These
applications should indicate the amount of resources required and the need to be
addressed (relating to the CBF baseline data). This will allow for the development
of a realistic budget but does not imply automatic acceptance of any request.
Requests will later be assessed in accordance with strategic priorities and
approved by PSCBS during the budget implementation period. The applications
submitted should also be in line with the CBF strategic guidelines. Contingency
funds will be available for emergent issues.
iii.
Capacity Needs Assessment;
iv.
Quarterly applications for CBF funding should be supported by the following:
a)
Application form/s completed and submitted with a covering letter from the
Head of the Institution through the Chairman of the relevant Sector Working
Group;
N.B. Applicants for funding must use the standard application form. This is attached as
Appendix 1. Applicants should not seek funding from the CBF for contracts that have
already been awarded. CBF will not fund applications where a proper procurement
process has not been followed. It is the responsibility of the implementing institution
to follow government rules on procurement and financial management.
b)
TOR in case the funding request is for consultancies and T.As. The TOR
should also indicate the Skills Transfer arrangements to the local staff and
Phasing out Mechanism, plus a clear budget breakdown and corresponding
time frame for each activity.
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CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
(c)
In case of application for contract extensions, an approved evaluation report of the previous assignment and clear justification for
the extension should be provided.
(d) In case of applications for training, training plans in line with the annual
action plan and the capacity needs assessment, estimated budget, official
request from the public institution, original admission letter from the Training
Institution.
5.5. All applicants seeking CBF funding and for No objection must seek approval in principle,
from PSCBS before going ahead and contract a provider.
5.6. A copy of the contract issued must be submitted to PSCBS for follow up and future
reference.
5.7. Application Process:
i.
An application letter (letter head) requesting for CBF funding or seeking No
objection should be addressed to the PSCBS Executive Secretary through
the Chairman of the Sector Working Group accompanied with all necessary
attachments as stipulated in 5.4 above. Until the sector working groups are fully
functioning, requests can be chanelled to PSCBS through the line ministries.
ii.
The letter should be signed by the Head of the Institution or by a senior officer
acting on his/her behalf and should bear an official stamp of the Institution.
iii. The letter should also have a reference number and indicate the date of submission/
signature with a telephone contact as well as an official email.
5.8. Assessment Process:
14
i.
The applications letters and supporting documents (TOR, Contracts, admission
letters for training requests, total budgets, project/evaluation reports, completed
application forms, completed application summary templates, etc) will be
forwarded to PSCBS by the Head of Institution through the Chairman of the
respective Sector Working Group or the line ministry.
ii.
The Sector Working Group or line ministry will make funding recommendations
to PSCBS on the basis of a competitive bid system in line with the National
Leadership Retreat Development Priorities, EDPRS and Vision 2020. It is to be
noted that 70% of the CBF funds will be committed to the national leadership
retreat development priorities and the remaining 30% earmarked for emergent
genuine interventions.
CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
iii.
Upon receipt of the applications, the PSCBS Executive Secretary will transmit
them to the CBF Coordinator for the necessary background work before convening
the CBF Technical Committee;
iv
The CBF Coordination Team then produces a summary of all applications that meet the criteria, for the Committee using a standard form (appendix 10)
v. Applications that do not meet the criteria will be requested to submit additional documents or information before submitting them to the CBF Committee meeting.
Submission of CBF
proposal is made
during the budget
development period
Applications for
funding made to CBF
Improvements made
to application
Budget proposal made
to MINICOFIN and
allocation received
Aplication assessed
against criteria
Rejected
Passed
More information
received
Alternative source of
funding identified
Approve in
principle without
funding
Applicant under takes procurement
process. M&E plan developed with
help from the M&E Officer
Partial/ lump sum
funding released
Monitoring and
evaluation report
submitted
Activity completed
and final M&E report
submitted to CBF
Application considered
by the Technical Team
Quarterly review of
funding decisions
Accepted with full
or limited funding
Rejected
Quarterly review of
financial reports
M&E report considered
by Technical Team
Remainder of funding
released if necessary
Application in excess
of RWF 500 million
referred to the CBF
Committee
Quarterly review of
M&E reports
Accepted
Rejected
Corrective action
process considered
Alternative source of
funding identified
No corrective action
process, funding
discontinued
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CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
vi. The CBF Coordinator then requests the Chairman of the CBF TC to convene a meeting to examine the requests;
vii The CBF TC meeting seats once every week (Monday afternoon) to consider applications.
Figure 3: Diagram to show CBF Funding Application Procedure Flow Chart
Fund Recipient
CBF Coordinator
CBF Technical
CBF Steering
Team Committee Committee
5.9. Evaluation Criteria
5.9.1. The CBF Coordination Team sifts applications, using the criteria in Figure 4
below. Applications not meeting 3 out of 5 of these criteria will be recommended
for rejection. All applications must meet criteria no.1. Applicants who have
provided insufficient information may be asked by the Coordination Team,
in writing or otherwise, to provide further information before the assessment
based on the criteria is done. A Score Sheet will be used to award marks (out
of 100) for each criteria.
Figure 4: Criteria Used to Assess CBF Funding Applications
Criteria
Alignment to strategic priorities
These are considered to be the strategic priorities identified in Vision 2020,
EDPRS, and those decided upon during the Annual National Leadership
Retreat.
Value for money
The cost is competitive when compared with other similar quality activities –
Increases capacity of individuals
Based on the capacity needs assessment and training plans.
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CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
Strengthens relevant organisation/institution
Based on the capacity needs assessment and capacity building plans.
Evidence base to support this particular capacity building approach
Explanation of why this approach has been chosen over others
Recommendation
5.9.2
The Technical Committee will provide advice to the Prime Minister’s Office on
the kind of applications which should be made for no objection and will ask
for them to communicate this to all public agencies. This is to avoid approval
being sought for non capacity building activities such as surveys of wetlands
etc.
5.10. Technical Committee Meeting
i.
The Technical Committee must have a quorum (namely two thirds of the membership)
in order to proceed with a meeting. No funding decisions can be made by any individual
member of the Technical Committee outside of the official meetings.
ii.
At the beginning of each Technical Committee meeting the CBF Coordinator will inform
all members of the funds still available. This is the total Fund minus actual expenditure
and committed expenditure. This will prevent overspending from the Fund.
iii.
In the case of CBF funding applications, Technical Committee members may decide to:
a)either:
b)Decline
c)Approve
d)
Approve in Principle and Offer a Lower Amount of Funding
e)
Approve in Principle and Offer No Payment
f)
Ask for more Information from Applicants
In the case of applications for No Objection, Technical Team members may decide to
either:
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CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
a)Approve
b)Decline
c)
Approve conditionally (e.g. suggest that less money is spent on the intervention)
d)
Ask for more Information from Applicants (either in writing, convening the Head of
Institution or otherwise).
iv. When an application for funding is approved the applicant will be informed of the
approval and any financial limit that has been imposed. The applicant will then have
to procure the required services. When this process is complete they may write to the
PSCBS to request for the funding to be released in part. The release of the balance of
funds will be dependent on the submission of a satisfactory M&E report. In the case of
No Objection, where approval is given, the applicant can then go ahead and implement
the proposed activity without further application to the Technical Team.
v.
The Technical Committee takes decisions on consensus of members present at the
meeting.
vi. The CBF Coordinator will identify someone to provide support to the Technical
Committee within these meetings. The CBF Coordinator is responsible for taking the
minutes of the meeting and ensuring that documents for reference are provided (e.g.
letters from applicants) if required.
vii. The Chair of the Technical Committee may on occasion invite non members of the
Technical Committee to attend meetings if necessary. These attendees will have no
decision making power in the meeting and should not be present when the funding
decisions are made. This may happen where there is a technical application which is
not easily understood by members of the Technical Committee.. Non-members may be
asked to attend to provide explanatory information.
viii. No member of the Technical Committee may send a non-member to represent or
replace them. Members of the Technical Committee attend as disinterested parties.
Matters discussed in the Technical Committee meetings are to be kept confidential.
Applications must be considered on their technical merit alone. (See text box on conflict
of interest).
ix.
18
Decisions on funding applications for amounts of money in excess of 500 million Rwf will
be referred to the PSCBS Steering Committee for ratification. An emergency meeting
of the PSCBS Steering Committee can be called to consider such applications.
CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
Text box 1: Conflict of Interest
Conflict of Interest
“A conflict of interest (COI) occurs when an individual or organization is involved
in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act
in the other.”
All Technical Team and CBF Steering Committee members are reminded that they
sit in meetings as neutral parties - not as representatives of certain agencies. For
reasons of fairness, no member of the meeting is allowed to advocate on behalf of
their parent organization.
All members of the Technical Committee or CBF Steering Committee should leave
the room when applications from the agency by which they are paid are being
discussed.
No personal information or speculative information should be used in the Technical
Committee meeting or in the CBF Steering Committee as this introduces bias. All
members must declare any conflict of interest in advance.
x.
The CBF Coordinator should ensure that response letters are written to the applicants
within 7 working days of the Technical Committee meeting. The CBF response letters
should be sent to the Executive Secretary PSCBS for signing. There is one nominated
person who receives all correspondence and is responsible for writing all response
letters. This is to avoid confusion or duplication in the management of correspondence.
It will be the role of the CBF Coordinator to perform this task or to nominate someone
to perform it. The Executive Secretary will only sign letters where decisions to write
them are recorded in the minutes signed by all members of the Technical Committee.
xi.
The CBF Coordinator should prepare minutes for the meeting within 2 working days of
the meeting and send them to Technical Committee members for review. All Technical
Committee members will be required to sign the final version of the minutes.
5.11. Disbursement Process:
i. After approval by the Technical Committee for CB funds, the beneficiary institution
will be invited to sign an Agreement.
ii. The Agreement will indicate, inter alia, the disbursement modalities, the procurement
requirements, when the invoice should be submitted, the various reports and
documents needed before funds are released, etc.
iii.The disbursement will have, in general, to comply with the Manual of Government
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CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
Policies and procedures (Financial Management & Accounting – Volume 3&4)
published by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning-November,2006.
iv.The process will also be in line with the internal Financial /Accounting Regulations
& Procedures Manual (POM of March 2005) being updated by PSBS.
6. Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) of CBF Funded Activities
6.1. A significant barrier to the success of capacity building interventions internationally has
been the lack of learning from best practice and from mistakes. It is important that we
learn what has been effective amongst the interventions which have been funded by
CBF. This information can then be used to develop further the decision-making criteria
and to make higher quality decisions in future.
6.2. All Fund recipients are required to propose a monitoring and evaluation plan as part
of their application for funds. This will be approved in principle by the CBF Technical
Committee but it is the responsibility of the recipient in conjunction with the Monitoring
and Evaluation Officer to develop the plan in detail and to ensure that this is delivered.
This plan should include baseline data, where applicable, on which the applicant
intends to make an impact. In some cases, the recipient organisation will be required
to arrange for an independent evaluation of their work.
6.3. Submission of monitoring and evaluation plan will be agreed upon at the time of
approval by the Technical Committee. Corresponding reports shall be submitted as
agreed in the M & E plans...The M&E officer shall assist the beneficiary institutions in
developing log frames and other monitoring tools, e.g. output and outcome indicators
for their projects.
6.4. It will then be at the discretion of the PSCBS Steering Committee whether or not to
allow the recipient to undertake corrective necessary action. Fund recipients who fail to
submit monitoring and evaluation reports or whose performance is unsatisfactory will
have their funding suspended .The Technical Committee shall provide guidelines on
the content and format of the corrective action report if necessary.
6.5. All interventions will be subject to a final evaluation by the Monitoring and Evaluation
Officer. In most cases this will be a desk-based review of the M&E reports submitted.
However, in 20% of cases, which will be selected at random, the M&E Officer will make
a site visit to the recipient organisation in order to conduct a more detailed review of the
impact of the intervention.
6.6. The cluster specialists in collaboration with the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer will
provide a monitoring and evaluation report to the CBF Steering Committee at each of
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CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
the quarterly meetings.
6.7. A number of templates will be developed by the CBF Unit at PSCBS in cooperation with
the pool of experts at PSCBS. These templates shall include but not limited to:
1.Capacity Needs Assessment (CNA)Template;
2.Capacity Building Plan (CBP) Template;
3. M&E plan template;
4. Terms of Reference template (TOR)
5. Financial Reporting template;
6. Agreement template;
7. Payment Request form
6.8. Monitoring and evaluation are considered as important activities by the PSCBS in
general and essential to the delivery of high quality and timely capacity building
interventions. Therefore CBF will use tools and best practice promoted by the wider
organisation to ensure a consistent and effective approach to M&E.
7. Financial Management and Accounting Arrangements
7.1 A bank account will be established at PSCBS and the CBF funds will be transferred
to this account. It will be the responsibility of the PSCBS Financial Management
Specialist to manage the disbursement of these funds and to provide financial reports
to the PSCBS Steering Committee on a quarterly basis. Management of the CBF
will be done in accordance with the Government of Rwanda financial management
procedures.
7.2 No funding will be released from the CBF account unless minutes from the CBF meeting
which approved the expenditure and the letter of approval from the ES PSCBS are
presented in support of the claim, along with other relevant documentation.
7.3 Any changes in financial arrangements related to the sector funds shall be defined with
individual sector working groups.
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CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
8. Procurement Arrangements
8.1. Once permission has been given by the Technical Committee to go ahead and contract
a supplier for the activities to be undertaken (where appropriate), the applicant should
procure the necessary services in accordance with Rwandan Public Procurement
Legislation.
8.2. For information on these procedures visit the website of the Rwanda Public Procurement
Authority:
http://www.rppa.gov.rw/
8.3. Funding shall not be provided to organisations which do not comply with procurement
legislation and regulations. However, PSCBS will demand accountability for the
utilisation of CB resources. .
8.4 The M&E Officer will liaise with CBF recipient organisations to ensure that procurement
of services is taking place. Where there are delays, the M&E Officer will report these to
the CBF Coordinator and the Technical Committee. Applicants who fail to invoice the
Fund within three months of receiving approval without convincing reasons will forfeit
their funding completely (unless alternative arrangements have been made in writing
at the time of the approval being given). However, if adequate evidence of mitigating
circumstances and the ability to invoice in the immediate future is produced to the
satisfaction of the CBF Coordinator and the Executive Secretary of the PSCBS, this
rule may be waived at their discretion.
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CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
9. Reporting Framework
9.1. Financial reports will be presented by the FMS to the Steering Committee at each of
their quarterly meetings, having been reviewed in advance by the CBF Coordinator.
The Executive Secretary of the Public Sector Capacity Building Secretariat is the
Chief Accounting Officer for the Capacity Building Fund and has ultimate financial
accountability.
9.2. Financial planning is crucial to the effectiveness of the Capacity Building Fund. A
forecast of annual expenditure will be produced at the beginning of every budget year
and this will be used to control expenditure during the budget period.
9.3. The CBF budget is subject to review at the time of the national budget review period in
December.
9.4. A separate reporting procedure exists for monitoring and evaluation information.
9.5.
Every Institution is requested to appoint a contact/focal point for capacity building
activities and communicate the name officially to PSCBS (this should preferably be the
Director of Planning or a senior officer of the same rank).
9.6. Each Sector is also requested to appoint a contact/focal point to work closely with the
PSCBS and the Institutions and communicate the names accordingly.
10.Appendix
1. Application Form for Capacity Building Fund
Summary information- to be completed by all applicants
Application for funding or for no
objection?
Applicant Organization (e.g.
MIFOTRA)
EDPRS Sector (e.g. Governance)
Proposed Beneficiary (consultancy
firm, training college etc)
Total Budget estimate/ Requested
for
Source of Funds
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CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
Date of application
Date of proposed commencement
of work/ training
Have you applied to the CBF
before in relation to this work?
a. Training Courses
Complete this section if you are applying for ‘no objection’ or funding to attend a training
course
The CBF will not normally be used to fund training courses outside of the country. In the rare
cases where this is done, applicants must produce evidence of the need for the course and
evidence that this cannot be undertaken in Rwanda.
Name and job title of person
proposed to attend training
Name of training provider
(institution)
Is this course accredited
internationally? If so, by whom?
What is the benefit of this course to
the trainees’ professional role?
Is this course available at RIAM?
Is this course available in Rwanda?
If applying to CBF for funding, have
you tried other sources of funds?
If yes, which of the following have been approached? Tick
BTCJICA
SFAR
ACBF
Other
Please state which………………………………………………………….
What is the anticipated impact of the
training?
What evidence will be produced in
support of this?
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CAPACITY BUILDING FUND DRAFT PROCEDURES MANUAL
What financial help is your
institution willing to offer for example
accommodation fee, per diem etc?
Total amount of Funds Requested for
Period of Training
For how long has the trainee been
working with the institution?
b. Consultancies or Technical Assistance
Complete this section if you are applying for ‘no objection’ or funding for a consultancy or
Technical Assistance
What are aims and objectives of this
consultancy?
Present the evidence base for the approach
to be taken
List the anticipated outputs
What measures have been taken to ensure
that the impact of the consultancy is
sustained (i.e. skills transfer and phasing out
arrangements)
Has the consultant already been contracted?
If yes, you are applying to CBF, was approval
for funding sought before contracting the
consultant? If not, why?
What are the alternative sources of funding?
What is the duration of the consultancy?
What is the cost of the consultancy?
Will you be seeking renewal of the contract?
If so, what will be your source of funding?
Have you attached TOR?
c. Other Applications
Complete this section if you are applying for an activity other than training or consultancy/
technical assistance.
Activity to be undertaken
25
Evidence base to support this
Aims and objectives of undertaking
List the anticipated outputs
Funding required (if any)
Duration of the activity
Supporting evidence must be supplied with the application form. Incomplete forms will be
returned to t.he applicant.
The information contained in this application is to the best of my knowledge true and correct.
Date ……………………………………………..
Signature of Applicant ……………………………………………..
Signature of Line Manager (if applicable) ................................................................
Signature of Head of Organization ..........………………………………………………
11. Documents Used in Manual Development
• Letter from Prime Minister, no. 318/03.0 dated 13.02.09
• Letter from former PS MIFOTRA no. 5211919 dated 13.02.09
• Draft Prime Minister’s Order Establishing the Committee in Charge of Capacity Building
Fund
• Cabinet Paper on the Procedure for the Use of Capacity Building Fund
• Proposed Improvements to the Management of the Capacity Building Fund and
Committee Presentation (and comments from stakeholders)
Public Sector Capacity Building Secretariat
P.O. Box 7367, Kigali - Rwanda
Email:info@pscbs.gov.rw
www.pscbs.gov.rw