Provision of Services to Administer the UN Financial Disclosure Programme

A. Background The UN Ethics Office (UNEO) was established on 1 January 2006 to assist the Secretary-General of the UN in ensuring the highest standards of integrity within the Organization. As part of its mandate, the UNEO administers the UN Financial Disclosure Programme (FDP), an important component of the Secretary-General’s mission to maintain and enhance public trust in the United Nations. The FDP in its current format was launched in 2006 with the issuance of Secretary-General’s bulletin ST/SGB/2006/6. The United Nations General Assembly has underscored the importance of the FDP as a means of identifying, managing, and mitigating conflict of interest risks in order to strengthen public trust in the integrity of the United Nations while protecting the confidentiality and privacy of personal information of the filing staff members. B. Objectives 1. The United Nations seeks to procure the services of an experienced and widely recognized independent consulting/risk management services firm with demonstrated expertise, preferably with public sector experience, in the administration of financial disclosure and/or declaration of interest programmes. 2. The objective of the FDP is to identify, manage and mitigate conflict-of-interest risks arising from the personal holdings, outside interests, activities and affiliations of FDP filers, their spouses and dependent children. The risks are identified taking into account the FDP filer’s official duties and responsibilities, particularly discretionary authority and information to which s/he may have access by virtue of his or her position. 3. In accordance with General Assembly resolution 66/234, the review of Statements submitted under the UN FDP will continue to be outsourced to an external party. The external party shall also randomly select five per cent of the filer population for the verification process. This requires that selected filers provide third party documentation in support of the disclosures contained in their Statements (the “Verification Process”). C. Responsibilities The service provider shall have the following main responsibilities: 1. Conduct the review of financial disclosure and declaration of interest statements using an established methodology approved by the UNEO to identify possible and actual conflicts of interest; 2. Familiarize itself with United Nations staff regulations, rules and other administrative issuances applicable to the FDP; 3. Provide advice and recommend action to be taken by filers in order to resolve and mitigate identified conflicts of interest; 4. Consult and seek guidance from the UNEO regarding possible and actual conflicts of interest before issuing recommendations to filers; 5. Act as a point of contact and support for filers with technical and/or substantive questions regarding the FDP; 6. Provide timely responses to queries from filers or referrals on both technical and substantive matters arising under the FDP or direct queries to the appropriate responsible party; 7. Establish, monitor and maintain a dedicated FDP phone line (9 am to 5 pm EST). 8. Use and monitor the Financial Disclosure System (FDS) for any written communications with FDP filers. Access to and the right to use the FDS shall be granted for the sole purpose of facilitating the service provider’s review of submitted Statements. 9. Regularly meet with and provide periodic and on-demand reports and updates to the UN Ethics Office, including monthly status reports and a detailed annual report at the end of each filing cycle; 10. Provide all information regarding the review process to designated UNEO personnel, and brief other designated United Nations staff as needed on the review process; 11. Be available for monthly meetings with the UNEO and other meetings, in person in New York or virtually as requested by the UNEO; 12. Maintain an adequately sized and experienced team to deal with any issues arising under the FDP, including, but not limited to, issues arising under the FDS, especially during peaks periods; 13. Participate in providing training to FDP filers, including through updating training materials (in both English and French) and/or participating in filer training sessions; 14. Use its best efforts to update and improve practices and procedures concerning the FDP as may be required by the United Nations according to lessons learned throughout the engagement period and feedback provided by the UNEO; and 15. Ensure the security, integrity and strict confidentiality of all UN data related to the FDP, in accordance with the relevant procedures and requirements of the UN for the treatment of confidential information.