Project Starting Date: 16 March 2015

Project End Date: 15 March 2017

Project Budget: € 165.235,14

Contractor: AECOM

Final Beneficiaries:   Employment Service Agency of the Republic of Macedonia (ESARM)

Global objective

To integrate young people, long-term unemployed and women in the labour market by improving the efficiency, effectiveness and transparency of the work of the Employment Service Agency.

Specific objective

To improve the effectiveness of the internal control and financial management system in the Employment Service Agency, thus contributing to proper, ethical, economical, effective and efficient management of public funds for employment programmes and services in line with applicable regulation.

Project activities

The project has provided overall technical guidance and support to ESA to strengthen its capacities for financial management, internal control and audit. The project will be carried out in parallel to the implementation of the EU co-financed grant “Support to the Employment of Young People, Long-term Unemployed and Women II” and will also focus on ensuring proper management of EU funds for ALMM following sound accounting, budgeting, financial control and audit procedures.

The Framework contractor shall provide the following activities:

• Carry out risks assessment and identify gaps in controls in the present financial management and internalcontrol system of ESA;
• Prepare an Action plan for mitigation of the identified risks;
• Develop methodology of internal audit role in risk management and control mechanisms;
• Implement internal audit awareness trainings;
• Establish internal control procedures in ESA;
• Design appropriate audit procedures and audit strategy as well as audit plan for ESA;
• Implement trainings to the relevant ESA staff for carrying out audit function and controls (desk reviews, monitoring and on-the- spot verifications);
• Coach ESA for annual financial report preparation and verifications;
• Disseminate project’s results in a workshop organised in cooperation with CFCD, NAO, National audit authority, MLSP IPA units.

Project outputs

• Report on the conducted risk assessment and identified internal controls gaps developed
• Action plan for mitigation of the identified risks and for establishing control procedures with clear implementation timeframe covering the project duration prepared
• Methodology of Internal Audit role in risk management and control mechanisms elaborated
• Internal audit awareness trainings, every six month for the project duration targeting indicatively 100 ESA’s employees organised
• Manual of internal control procedures developed
• Appropriate audit procedures designed and audit strategy as well as audit plan for ESA developed
• Trainings for ESA’s employees in carrying out audit function and controls (desk reviews, monitoring and on-the- spot verifications) implemented
• Coaching sessions of relevant ESA’s staff for annual financial report preparation and verifications organized
• A workshop in cooperation with CFCD, NAO, National audit authority, MLSP IPA units to disseminate project’s results held