Outcome IND_O_4

Improved management of financial and human resources in pursuit of results

The year 2021 was the second year of the pandemic and continuity of work from home modality for major part of the year. Despite the challenges of the pandemic and severe second wave (April-Jul), the office was able to achieve overall delivery of $3.68m (87%), & utilisation of $4.31m (100%) against the October budget & core delivery of %0.56m (69%) & utilisation of $ 0.74m (100%). The 2021 Management ratio was 16. Weekly SMT & delivery meeting helped in scaling up the delivery & reduction in partner advance & nil aging advance . Cost recovery was ensured to the tune of $ 0.12m. Office expenses are maintained at the same level as 2020 at $0.14m.The duty of care function was fully enforced in 2021 with the rising cases of staff infected with COVID. HR concluded 4 surge recruitments to provide additional support to India Office. The office also coordinated the procurement of 110 Oxygen Concentrators which were then returned owing to non-compliance with the medical standards. Medical staff was hired to serve & counsel staff & ambulance services were also provided given the scarcity in availability of medical facilities. The funds received from $34,358 national committees for covid response were applied and utilised. HR staff was entrusted with the staff safety & wellbeing aspects. The recruitment of 1FT,15SC & 34 SSAs completed. India office achieved 98% in completion of the mandatory courses. 4 RFQs were raised in e-procurement to hotels/companies/vendors for goods relating to IT,arranging conferences/meetings & advocacy & 4 RFPs were raised to hire technical support agency for various events of the office. 1 staff successfully completed the CIPS certification. Payments amounting to $ 2.60mn processed through 733 vouchers. 144 POs raised for a total value of USD 1.2M. . There is nil project closure compliance for India office. Business continuity ensured during work from home through provision of smooth & uninterrupted IT services. Security Compliance Survey (SCS) for India completed Business Continuity& Crisis Management Application (BCCMA) rolled out &Business Continuity App for India office activated. Small-scale exercise & testing of this new App have been done for India off in Oct2021. All the corporate deadlines are met by India office. Along with successful organization of retreat during 22-24 November, the operations team also organized the Constitution Day on 26 Nov with high profile dignitaries, coordinated logistics of several high profile events like Sanvidhan Se Sangram tak, Delhi Metro wrapping, Donors meet along with FLIGHT Flag-off Event and Joint UNMPTF event.

Improved management of financial and human resources in pursuit of results

The office recorded an overall delivery of USD 3.90 million in 2022 resulting in a delivery percentage of 94% (of 31 October budgets of $4.02m). The delivery of core resources is 70% with an amount of 0.60m. Non-core delivery and utilization touched 100% -$2.63m. The 2022 Management ratio was 16. Weekly SMT & delivery meeting helped in scaling up the delivery & reduction in partner advance & nil aging advance. Cost recovery was ensured to the tune of $ 0.16m. Office expenses are reduced by 3% compared to 2021 with an amount of $0.13m. India Country Office is supporting the implementation of ADB TA 9735-IND ‘Advancing Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) in Select States’ with challenging timelines and difficult conditions under the Service Agreement with the Asian Development Bank (the Donor). This Project is being directly implemented by UN Women India CO. The SMT has regularly monitored the progress under the Project and provided continuous guidance and necessary intervention for efficient and effective implementation of the Project. India CO decided to renovate the existing space occupied by three agencies- UN Women, UNAIDS, UNOICT and UNDP. The renovation is towards re-designing the existing space to align with the renovations carried out by UNDP in other area of the premises. UN Women Operations Manager took the lead and coordinated in finalizing the contract, funding and other aspects of the renovation which will be carried out in due course. The operations staff fully supported the programme team for successful implementation of programs/events even with unrealistic timelines identified in the Service Agreement. Procurement were successfully completed to conduct a study on laws on GE in corporate sector, communication assets for SCE India, impact assessment of Tejaswini Rural Employment Programme for Madhya Pradesh, Communications and media agency for Generation Equality Campaign 2022, short films on Response and Recovery on EVAW and Covid-19, Radio campaign for prevention of VAW & Covid-19, short films on response and recovery for EVAW in Assam, etc.; In 2022, the office procured an electrical vehicle to ensure reduced carbon emissions and sustainability. The recruitment of 3FT,3SC & 73 SSAs. India office achieved 94.12% in completion of the mandatory courses. 23 RFQs were raised in e-procurement to hotels/companies/vendors for goods relating to IT,arranging conferences/meetings & advocacy & 4 RFPs were raised to hire technical support agency for various events of the office. 1 staff successfully completed the CIPS certification. Payments amounting to $ 2.96mn processed through 1335 vouchers. 440 POs raised for a total value of USD 1.95M. In 2022, the office procured an electrical vehicle to ensure reduced carbon emissions and sustainability. There is nil project closure compliance for India office. Business continuity ensured during work from home through provision of smooth & uninterrupted IT services. Security Compliance Survey (SCS) for India completed Business Continuity& Crisis Management Application (BCCMA) rolled out. All the corporate deadlines are met by India office. One staff completed the CIPS -3 training in 2022. Procurement team member was also involved the UAT Ph2 Testing for Quantum ERP from Mar 2022 to Sep 2022. Training provided by the India staff for new joinees on Procurement Policy, processes, and guidelines as part of Induction training. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed almost everything. With the advance of vaccination, the return to normality is getting closer and organizations are taking the opportunity to rethink their office model. Among the most widely adopted options is hot-desking, which consists of creating shared and on-demand workspaces that are more flexible, more economical, and more oriented towards fostering collaboration among employees. Over the last few years, the number of staff has been increasing and it requires better planning for seating arrangement. Given the space constraints and limitations of available workstations, the office decided to renovate the existing space occupied by three agencies- UN Women, UNAIDS, UNOICT and UNDP. The renovation is towards re-designing the existing space to align with the renovations carried out by UNDP in other area of the premises. The main purpose of this work is to have better lighting facility, cubicle workspace, Orthopaedical chairs etc in the basement area which is currently occupied by the four agencies. UN Women- Operations Manager took the lead and coordinated in finalizing the contract, funding and other aspects of the renovation which will be carried out in due course. The UN Premises is occupied by UN Women, UNAIDS, UNOICT and UNDP. The India CO maintained consistency in organising All Staff meeting to learn from various thematic teams and operational teams on programmatic interventions, management skills, operational policies and guidelines, for effective delivery of the organisatuional commitment on GEWE. The Office also leveraged local opportunities to organise trainings on Wellness and Work-life balance, Prevention of Sexual Exploutation and Abuse, Ways of Joint p[rogramming etc. Further, the office leveraged regional opportunities to build capacities of various relevant staff members on Programme Management; Operations including new procurement systems; UN Coordination on GEWE; Corporate Policies etc. A fitting example of this is the Office's strong capacity to swiftly migrate onto Quantum, identifying early challenges and gaps, for quick solutions with ROAP and HQ. On the Human Resources front, the Office has grown strong in HR Strength, with retention of key technical capacities within the senior and mid-level staff members. 1. Prog. Assistant - Prog. Analyst 2. RM Consultant - FT 3. Comms consultant - SC