Consulting services for the development and operation of a Management Unit for the Syria Recovery Trust Fund (SRTF)

Project details
Country: 
Syrian Arab Republic
Beneficiary: 
Until 31.08.14: The United Arab Emirates - Since 01.09.2014: SRTF
Donor organisation: 
Governments of 12 donor countries
KfW Development Bank
Department: 
Architecture & Urban Development
Project volume: 
13,347,019 €
Currency: 
€
Value of services: 
13,347,019 €
Partners: 
Companies of the GOPA Consulting Group as subcontractors
Start of project: 
September, 2013
End of project: 
December, 2019
Project background: 

Institutional setup

The Syria Recovery Trust Fund (SRTF) is a multi-donor trust fund that was established by the group of “Friends of Syria” in September 2013 to finance recovery and rehabilitation activities aimed at alleviating the suffering of the Syrian people affected by the conflict. Trustee is KfW.

The governance structure of the Fund consists of a Steering Board (SB) that defines overall Fund strategic direction and policies, a Management Committee (MC) that decide on funding proposals on a quarterly base, and a Management Unit (MU). Syria Recovery Trust Fund Management A. Ş. (SRTF, A.Ş.) is the legal entity established to manage the SRTF operations, including entering into legal agreements with Implementing Entities for individual projects financed through the SRTF. SRTF, A.Ş. is the sole member of the Management Unit, and is represented by a Director General (DG).

The Trust Fund is intended to operate for at least four years. Contributions and commitments from 12 donor countries to the Trust Fund sum up to 168.2 Mio. EUR by December 2016.

The donor countries: Germany, UAE, USA, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Japan, UK, Kuwait, France, Italy, The Netherlands. Turkey as host country is also represented in the governmental bodies of the fund.

Overall project value: 24,869,123 EUR (Technical assistance)
Until 31.12.2017:        13,347,019 EUR
Fund value:                 171,9 mio. EUR

 

Service description: 

Set-up and organisation of the SRTF Management Unit

  • Establishment of the eligibility and a roster of local implementing partners
  • Preparation of base-line peace and conflict assessment
  • Identification of eligibility and minimum size for projects as well as areas of intervention
  • Conduction of a needs-assessment
  • Design of the project cycle and monitoring of progress of projects
  • Definition of procedures for procurement, done by implementing partners, to ensure transparent procurement, to apply EU- and UN-embargo decisions as well as to prevent and combat fraud and corruption
  • Set up of all necessary systems, in particular: financing & budgeting, communication, compliance & vetting, reporting & documentation, M&E, security routine, outreach
  • Formulation of guidelines and manuals for approval by the MC, e.g. Operations Manual, Finance Manual, Procurement Guidelines, Compliance Guidelines, Communication Strategy and other key documents
  • Development of procedures and templates for effective communication between the SRTF management and its governance entities

Operation of the Fund

  • Identification of recovery and reconstruction projects in the focus areas of the fund
  • Support local implementing entities (IEs) in project preparation and management of the project cycle, including:
  1. Development and improvement of project proposals for approval
  2. Procurement of goods and services
  3. Support to project implementation
  4. Monitoring of project implementation, reporting
  • Financial management of the fund
  • Reporting to the SRTF governmental bodies

Capacity building to local implementing entities (IEs)

Via a Project Development Facility, IEs are provided with trainings in project cycle management and other topics based on actual needs.

Objectives: 

Objectives and main activities

Major objective of SRTF is securing the provision of essential services to the Syrian population, such as water supply, energy generation and distribution, basic health care & urgent environmental infrastructure, food production & security, including the supply of commodities and equipment, emergency infrastructure repair, as well as measures to ensure the on-going operation of public institutions and utilities.

In September 2013, GOPA's Infrastructure Development (ID) Department (now: GOPA Infra GmbH) has been assigned with the provision of consulting services for the operation of the SRTF-Management Unit (MU).

The MU is responsible for running of the Fund from initiation, vetting and submission of project proposals, procurement on behalf of some Syrian Implementing Entities, to subsequent monitoring of progress and reporting of results and outcomes. The MU supports local civil institutions and NGOs in Syria in the planning and implementation of reconstruction projects.

Emphasis of MU work is on day-to-day-management of the project cycle. At the same time, the MU provides the inputs required to keep fund stakeholders, governance entities and civil society at large properly and timely informed on physical and financial progress of the SRTF, and review and update procedures and data bases established during start-up on a regular basis.

Currently, the MU team comprises of approximately 30 long-term staff, supported by a pool of short term experts. Backstopping services are provided by GOPA Infra headquarters and by GOPA Danismanlik, a branch company located in Ankara, Turkey.

For detailed information on SRTF please kindly refer to the official website: 14TUwww.srtfund.orgU14T

Currency: 
€