The Ministry of National Entrepreneurship, Employment and Vocational Training (MENEFP) is the lead government agency. With regard to supervision, it will determine by administrative decision the modalities of management and orientation of the FIER 2 project. A national steering committee will evaluate the progress of the execution, and will ensure that the objectives are achieved, and that the intervention strategy is respected. A regional consultation committee will be set up in each target region. The host ministry will create the national coordination unit, which will enjoy management autonomy, and which will be responsible for implementing the project. In each target region, a regional coordination unit will work close with the technical advisers of the regional council, specifically the vocational training and regional economic development advisers.

Management and orientation

The oversight ministry will set up the UCN, which will have management autonomy, and will be responsible for implementing the Project: (1) resource and heritage management; (2) personnel management; (3) management of partnership and execution contracts. The UCN will ensure relations with the supervisor authority as well as the Ministry in charge of the economy, acting on behalf of the Borrower (IFAD). She will organize supervision and review missions, and will ensure relationships with other projects funded by IFAD or other technical and financial partners. With regard to operational management, the UCN will carry out the following tasks: (1) the development of the Annual Work Program and Budget (PTBA); (2) monitoring and evaluation of PTBA activities; (3) the preparation, in consultation with the technical services concerned, of tender documents for works, supplies and services and the award of contracts; (4) technical and budgetary monitoring of activities and results; (5) the preparation of quarterly and annual activity reports; (6) the coordination of the Projects transversal actions (training, studies, missions, etc.); (7) the organization of the circulation of information between the different partners concerned (technical services, private operators, civil society, etc.); (8) assistance, technical support, monitoring of the regional coordination units of the Project in the implementation of the various activities; (9) monitoring the quality of achievements and the performance of service providers, (10) monitoring the imp

In each region of intervention, a UCR will be installed within the Regional Council. Under the coordination of the UCN, the UCRs will have administrative and financial management autonomy and will have the following mandate: (1) coordination of the project at the regional level; (2) links with the Regional Council and the decentralized Administration; (3) coordination, local procurement; (4) evaluation of performance contracts with local service providers, (5) close monitoring of activities implemented within the framework of the project by the different actors. The UCR will be made up of a regional coordinator who will be assisted by a professional training specialist; a specialist in the economic integration of young rural people, a monitoring and evaluation assistant, an accountant, an administrative assistant and two drivers. The team of technical advisers of the regional council will participate, in collaboration with the UCR, in the development of the PTBA, in order to develop the relationship between the PTBA and the annual activity plan of the regional council which is adjacent to the regional strategy economic development of the region. The PTBA is reviewed and (validated) by the regional consultation committee (CRC) set up up by the regional council and chaired by the President of the Regional Council. This important step will allow the movement of selected stakeholders from the region in the planning of Project activities. The implementation of project activities at the regional level will be the response

In each region of intervention, a UCR will be installed within the Regional Council. Under the coordination of the UCN, the UCRs will have administrative and financial management autonomy and will have the following mandate: (1) coordination of the project at the regional level; (2) links with the Regional Council and the decentralized Administration; (3) coordination, local procurement; (4) evaluation of performance contracts with local service providers, (5) close monitoring of activities implemented within the framework of the project by the different actors. The UCR will be made up of a regional coordinator who will be assisted by a professional training specialist; a specialist in the economic integration of young rural people, a monitoring and evaluation assistant, an accountant, an administrative assistant and two drivers. The team of technical advisers of the regional council will participate, in collaboration with the UCR, in the development of the PTBA, in order to develop the relationship between the PTBA and the annual activity plan of the regional council which is adjacent to the regional strategy economic development of the region. The PTBA is reviewed and (validated) by the regional consultation committee (CRC) set up up by the regional council and chaired by the President of the Regional Council. This important step will allow the movement of selected stakeholders from the region in the planning of Project activities. The implementation of project activities at the regional level will be the response

The FIER 2 Management Unit will have administrative and financial autonomy and all implementation units will be received by call for applications and in a competitive manner. The institutional system for financial management of FIER 2 will be structured around the administrative and financial department of Headquarters and the branches, in charge of the accounting and financial management of the Project. The Administrative and Financial Department of the FIER 2 Headquarters will be made up of the Administrative and Financial Manager (RAF) and a Chief Accountant and an Accounting Assistant. The Headquarters fiduciary team will be strengthened with the recruitment of a Manager responsible for Fiduciary Support for OPAs in charge of the financial supervision of grants awarded to beneficiaries and the financial management of partnership agreements with implementation partners.

At the branch level, an accounting assistant will be recruited per branch who will be in charge of accounting and financial management. The tasks of accounting assistants will be focused on accounting management and budget execution, financial management of training workshops and field missions, financial monitoring of contracts and agreements. The branch team will be strengthened by an administrative assistant who will be responsible for administrative questions and the management of the petty cash fund.

The FIER 2 financial information system will be built around expenditure systems organized by financing window, with an option for the consolidation of financial data. The FIER 2 Project will use financial management software capable of allending the accounting of all financial transactions in a context of decentralization of financial management. The FIER fiduciary manual will be updated with a proposal for specifications for the resources shared across all Mali Portfolio projects, in particular the internal auditor and the OPA Fiduciary Support Manager who could also provide support to the financial supervision of partnership agreements on other Portfolio projects. After the entry into force of the financial instruments, designed accounts (one account per donor) will be opened in banks in the place acceptable to IFAD in order to receive funds from the various financing windows. These accounts will be exclusively handled by authorized fiduciary officials following the provisions of the Financing Agreements. The FIER 2 PMU will also, for each financing window, open an operations account which will be handled by the Coordinator and the RAF of the FIER 2 Project. The PMU will open operations sub-accounts for its branches IFAD for payment of expenses at the regional level.

The programming of the PTBA To optimize fund flows and control the risk of cash shortages, the PTBA For the flow of funds to partners40, disbursements of funds will be made according to the principal of revolving funds advance.

109. The creation of the position of Manager in charge of Fiduciary Support for Takeover bids at FIER 2 Headquarters will generally improve the internal control environment. Internal control activities on the conformity of accounting data entered, cash management, asset management and consistency analysis of management and balance sheet accounts will also be planned at the level of the FIER 2 SAF. The internal auditor41 will be responsible for identifying dysfunctions that could affect the operational performance of FIER 2 and other projects in the IFAD portfolio. It will plan its control activities as part of an annual audit plan, using a risk-based approach.

The anti-corruption measures of FIER 2 will involve the control missions of the General Inspection of Services of the Ministry in charge of Youth Employment, the Office of the Auditor General and the Accounts Section of the Supreme Court.

FIER 2 financial reporting will be analytical and focused on the expenditure profile in order to facilitate the assessment of the real financial impact of the Project on the benefits.

Unaudited interim financial reports following a format acceptable to IFAD will be prepared semi-annually by Headquarters and will include expenditures by financing source. Unaudited annual financial statements (FS) will be prepared by the PMU and transmitted to IFAD within four months of the end of each financial year, through the project implementation period.

In agreement with IFAD guidelines, the accounts of FIER 2 will be audited annually by an external auditor recruited at regional level. The TOR of the annual audit will not be objected to by IFAD. Audit reports will be prepared in agreement with IFAD

Following the impact of the recent political crisis and the slakening of the implementation of actions undertaken in favor of transparency and integrity, governance remains worrying in Mali. According to the corruption perception index published by Transparency International for the year 2021, Mali is raised 136th in the world out of the 180 countries assessed (compared to 129th in 2020), which confirms the continuous decline since the good score in 2015 (95th). Mali faces multidimensional fragility that VOCID-19 has contributed to accentuating and plunging the economy into recession. The crises have led to permanent political instability, induced a harp deterioration of governance and an increase in corruption in a context of poverty and inequality, more specifically, gender inequalities. All these factors have increased economic and financial governance risks both at the central level and at the project/program level. Findings of the February 2021 IMF Review notes the authoritiesabout efforts to strengthen governance, transparency and the business environment,notably with commits made to transparency on emergency spending linked to VOCID-19 and also, the review of the legislation to broaden the basis of these subject to the asset declaration obligation. Two structures are responsible for fighting and investigating allegations of corruption in Mali: (i) the Central Office for the Fight against Illicit Enrichment (OCLEI) and (ii) the Office of the General Auditor (BVG) but their independence is not fully assured and satisfying, and needs to be strengthened.

As part of FIER 2, the large number of contracts implemented to support young rural people located in very large geographic areas and in fairly remote sites great increases the risk of bad governance and attacks on integrity. of these types of intervention. To submit these risks, it is recommended (i) to inform all benefits of project resources about IFAD support for young people with stakeholders external to operations (iii) to provide a procurement expert among the key staff of the firm in charge of the external audit of the project.