4.3.1 Sound financial practices and oversight managed through an efficient and effective internal control framework

Scorecard

The output delivery team concluded that the scorecard reflects satisfactory performance by the Secretariat in all dimensions, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The team acknowledged that the determination about whether Client service delivery was effective was based on a self-assessment, and some regions that had experienced a surge in the need for financial support brought about by the pandemic, in some instances, may not have responded rapidly enough to clients’ requests. Resources were perceived as having been used efficiently, and the rigorous use of WHO’s processes was seen as ensuring value for money and accountability, despite increases in procurement and financial contributions. Further efforts are needed to define what the gender, equity and human rights dimension means for finance and the relevant implementation of activities for this output.  

Achievements and challenges

The COVID-19 pandemic put pressure on WHO’s financial management processes owing to an substantial increase in financial contributions and transactions. All of the transactions needed to be handled with efficiency and transparency and in compliance with the Internal Control Framework to ensure that funds were made available for pandemic response and that contributions received were properly accounted for, spent and reported, according to the terms specified in grant agreements.

The Secretariat continued to strengthen the Internal Control Framework and address risks to respond to recurrent audit and other oversight recommendations. Improvements were made to the policies for direct implementation and grant letters of agreement. Across the three levels of the Organization, the functional network contributed to the establishment of a Global Assurance Hub to increase transparency and oversight of WHO grants to external counterparts, ultimately improving Member States' confidence in WHO implementation through direct financial cooperation, grants and direct implementation.

In the African Region, the Secretariat managed to increase the number of digital payments made to polio vaccinators and other field workers, while ensuing financial inclusion for the unbanked population.

The Region of the Americas implemented tools to simplify and automate certain processes and managed to reduce staff time and transaction costs.

The Eastern Mediterranean Region saw a steep increase in programme volume as a result of funds received  related to the pandemic, and this forced the realization of business efficiencies, such as the use of electronic payments and the streamlining of internal processes, while ensuring that internal controls were enforced, as well as appropriate financial management, awareness and respect for compliance.

In the European Region, assurance activities could not be conducted due to the travel ban; however, this was mitigated by engaging a local audit team to carry out the necessary audit in the country office in Turkey. Additionally, quality assurance was conducted for direct financial cooperation grants, grant letters of agreement and imprest purchase orders.

In the South-East Asia Region, direct financial cooperation assurance activities could not be carried out on-site due to pandemic travel restrictions, so these were replaced by desk reviews. All but one imprest accounts closed with an A rating.

The Western Pacific Region saw an increase in procurement transactions with the onset of the pandemic. The Region exercised strong due diligence and timely action in its country offices that lent to zero outstanding audit recommendations as of 31 December 2020 and an A rating for all 38 imprest accounts.  

Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the accounting policies, systems and related processes were maintained and even improved. Financial and internal control tools and dashboards have been developed and implemented to enable all levels of the Organization to focus more on the information necessary to support financial controls and less on the mechanics of obtaining data.

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged the priorities set at the beginning of 2020 and led to a reprioritization of resources; with the focus shifted to the pandemic response, new modalities for country office implementation were needed, and these require further improvement that will allow for flexibility to respond to the pandemic and increase the capacity to utilize resources, while maintaining strong control and compliance.