1.     About Plan International Zambia

Plan International is a rights-based development and humanitarian organization working for better lives for all children. We are independent of government and have no political or religious affiliation. Our purpose is to strive for a just world that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We have been building powerful partnerships for children for more than 80 years and are now active globally in more than 75 countries.

We work alongside children, young people, our supporters and partners to tackle the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood and enable children to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity as we strive to advance children’s rights and equality for girls all over the world. As We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

Plan International has worked in Zambia since 1996 and currently working in over 46 communities. It has its Country Office in Lusaka and Program Area Offices (PAs) in Central, Luapula and Eastern Provinces. The organization is guided by a Country Strategy (CS) 2022 – 2026, which outlines Plan International Zambia’s programmatic ambitions with a specific focus on SOYEE, IQE, SRHR and ECD. Gender, child protection, influencing, and climate change remain cross cutting issues. The CS has a specific focus vulnerable and excluded children particularly adolescent girls, as they are often the most marginalized and most often left behind.

2.     Funds Background

Plan International Zambia is implementing “Sustainable Food Security and Nutrition Enhancement Project ” (Zambia SFN Enhancement Project) implemented in the Eastern Province of Zambia, funded by Germany National Office, with a total budget of €335,000 The audit will cover the period from 15 August 2023 to 30 December 2024. The auditor will carry out the review such statements of application of funds in accordance with the following Terms of References.

3.     Audit Objectives and Scope

The objective and scope of the agreed upon procedures is to evaluate whether amounts shown on the accompanying financial statements are in accordance with the terms and conditions specified in the Funding and Agreement Document, approved internal procedures, and are supported with adequate documentation required Plan International policies.

4.     Responsibilities

Auditors:

Must be independent from the country office and partners, it must not have been involved in preparing the financial statements under audit and provision of advice on the transactions under review.

a)     Must carry out the engagement in compliance with these terms and conditions.

b)     Must adhere to the Compulsory report format.

c)     Must perform the engagement with an appropriate level of professional scepticism.

d)     Must ensure the report is based on sufficient and appropriate audit evidence collected.

e)     Must ensure competent staff with appropriate levels of experience in performing audits in the NGO sector are assigned to carry out the engagement.

f)      Must ensure there is effective two-way communication between the audit team and the auditee and accepts to follow the audit process laid down in the Audit process section and Appendix 2

5.     Applicable Standards

The Auditor must comply with these Terms of Reference and with:

a)     The International Standard on Related Services (‘ISRS’) 4400 (Revised) Engagements to perform Agreed-upon Procedures regarding Financial Information as issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB).

b)     Relevant international standards on auditing.

c)     International Standard on Quality Control (ISQC) 1, Quality Control for Firms that Perform Audits and Reviews of Financial Statements, and Other Assurance and Related Services Engagements

d)     The Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants issued by the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA). Although ISRS 4400 (Revised) states that independence is not a requirement for engagements to carry out agreed-upon procedures, Plan International Germany requires that the Auditor also complies with the Code’s independence requirements.

6.     Deliverables

The auditors shall deliver the following during and at the end of the audit engagement

a)     A debrief memo presented at the exit meeting

b)     Report of factual findings and the related annexes

7.     Timetable

The audit firm will complete and submit the audit report for the following deadline:

Due date
Inception/preparatory meeting
3 February 2025

Field Work
17February, 2025

Closing meeting
25 February, 2025

Draft Audit Report
25 February, 2025

Pre-Final Audit report
28 February, 2025

Final Audit Report
5 March, 2025

8.     Requirements for the Audit Firm.

8.1 Qualifications and Experience.

The Audit Firm will employ staff with appropriate professional qualifications and suitable experience with IFAC standards and with experience in verifying financial information of entities comparable in size and complexity to the Country Office. In addition, the verification team as whole should have: Experience with programmes and projects funded by national and/or international donors and institutions. It is desirable that the team leader and, where applicable, the fieldwork team, i.e., either the audit manager (category 2) or the senior auditor (category 3) has experience with audits of privately funded projects.

• Experience with audits/verifications in Zambia
• Sufficient knowledge of relevant laws, regulations and rules in the country concerned. This includes but is not limited to taxation, social security and labour regulations, accounting, and reporting.]
• Fluency in English
• A good knowledge of NGO operation environment

8.2 Team Composition

The team of auditors required for this engagement will be composed of a category 1 auditor who has the ultimate responsibility for the expenditure verification and a team which is composed of an appropriate mix of category 2 – 4 auditors.

Categories of staff/experts
Category 1 – (Audit Partner)
A Category 1 expert (audit partner) should be a partner or another person in a position like that of a partner and be a highly qualified expert with relevant professional qualifications who assumes or has assumed senior and managerial responsibilities in public audit practice.

He/she should be a member of Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA). He/she must have at least 12 years of professional experience as a professional auditor or accountant in public audit practice. Experience with audit related services in beneficiary countries will particularly be considered for the evaluation at the level of specific contracts.

The audit partner will be the person who will be responsible for the specific contract and its performance as well as for the report that is issued on behalf of the firm. He/she has the appropriate authority from a professional, legal, or regulatory body and is authorized to certify accounts by the laws of the country in which the audit firm is registered.

Category 2 – (Audit Manager)
Audit managers should be qualified experts with a relevant university degree or professional qualification. They should have at least 6 years of experience as a professional auditor or accountant in public audit practice including relevant managerial experience of leading audit teams.

He/she should be a member of ZICA.

Category 3 – (Senior Auditor)
Senior auditors should be qualified experts with a relevant university degree or professional qualification and at least 3 years professional experience as a professional auditor or accountant in public audit practice.

He/she should be a member of ZICA.

Category 4 – (Assistant Auditor)
Assistant auditors should have a relevant university degree or professional qualification and at least 1-year professional experience as a professional auditor or accountant in public audit practice.

Curricula Vitae (CVs)
The Audit Firm will provide the Country Office with CVs of the staff/experts involved in the expenditure verification. The CVs will include appropriate details for the purpose of the evaluation of the offer on the relevant specific experience for this expenditure verification and the qualifying work carried out in the past.

How to Apply

All submissions should be sent to planzamtenders@plan-international.org by 17:00hrs on 15th January 2025 local time and any bids received after this time and date will not be accepted.