Terms of Reference of Oversight Committee

1. Purpose

Oversight is one of the key functions of the Country Coordinating Mechanisms. According to Requirement 3 of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) guidelines for CCMs, each CCM must have an oversight plan and follow this plan. To implement its oversight plan, the CCC needs to have an oversight body in place. CCC established the Oversight Committee as a permanent CCC committee to perform this task.

The Oversight Committee is responsible for contributing to effective oversight of all Global Fund financed programs and related processes in Cambodia, in accordance with the functions delegated to it by the Cambodia Country Coordinating Committee for the Global Fund (“the CCC”) as defined in the CCC Governance Manual and these Terms of Reference. The Committee assists the CCC to fulfill its responsibility to hold Principal Recipients accountable for resources given to the country: “CCMs are required to put in place and maintain a transparent, documented process to … oversee program implementation”.[1]

2. Membership

The Oversight Committee shall consist of two Co-Chairs and up to fifteen Ordinary Members, endorsed by the CCC and divided in three disease subgroups. Membership of the CCC is not a prerequisite for membership of the Oversight Committee but at least one of the Co-Chairs must be the CCC member. Members of the oversight committee shall not be representatives of Principal Recipients. Sub-recipients or sub-sub-recipients maybe invited to select OC meetings to provide input on technical matters, however to mitigate COI they should not be involved in any discussion or decision directly related to their institution/organization/agency.

The CCC shall invite and endorse members of the Oversight Committee, based on propositions made by the Oversight Committee. Candidates who are non-CCC members will be required to complete the same conflict of interest declarations prepared by all CCC members. The CCC will determine whether, based on the non-CCC candidate’s declaration, he/she meets the standard for conflict of interest required for members of the Oversight Committee. Oversight Committee members are appointed under the same terms and conditions as regular CCC members.

The Global Fund minimum standards require that “the OC should have access to skills in the following: disease-specific skills, program management, financial management and procurement and supply management. In addition, ideally there should be representation of KAP and PLWD”. Thus the CCC Oversight Committee will ensure that a broad set of skills are represented among members. A such, the following expertise is encouraged:

Implementation of public and private sector interventions in HIV-AIDS, TB, malaria or health systems strengthening (HSS) programs at the national and/or provincial levels.
Finance or accounting in medium / large public or private sector organizations.
Experience working with advocacy organizations representing people living with or affected by the diseases.
Members should have substantial experience (e.g., 8-10 years) in the relevant areas of expertise.

3. Meeting conditions

The Oversight Committee shall meet at least quarterly, and may meet more frequently as circumstances require (such as PR reporting cycles). Meetings shall take place about 2 weeks prior to each regular quarterly CCC meeting, so that Committee deliberations may be reported to the CCC. When possible, the Oversight Committee should receive the appropriate supporting documents from the CCC in time for each regular meeting, in order to fulfill its oversight responsibilities.

The Oversight Committee will then report to the next CCC meeting on its deliberations and recommendations.

The Oversight Committee may invite representatives of the PRs and SRs, LFA and other implementing partners and stakeholders to attend its meetings and field visits (as needed) in view of providing information, feedback, and expertise to enrich the deliberations.

It is recommended that each disease subgroup be represented at each regular Oversight Committee meeting. The attendance of at least one of the co-chairs is required for each meeting.

4. Roles and Responsibilities of Oversight Committee

The CCC Oversight Committee is responsible for providing oversight to existing Global Fund grants in Cambodia in five areas:

Financial – assuring appropriate, timely, and effective use of funding from the Global Fund;
Programmatic – assuring timely and effective implementation of Principal and Sub Recipient workplans;
Procurement - ensuring transparent, competitive, and effective procurement and supply management with appropriate quality assurance and in accordance with national laws
Management – ensuring that the grants are well managed in all areas (including financial, programmatic, and procurement areas), as well as actions or conditions required by the Global Fund are performed.
Performance – assuring the achievement of intended results in short- and intermediate-term periods.

Its general responsibilities are detailed as follows:

A. Build capacity and prepare annual plans for CCC oversight

Clarify oversight function and oversight committee responsibilities and build oversight committee members’ capacity for oversight
Orient and train new CCC members on oversight guidelines and retrain existing members on oversight roles and responsibilities of the CCC, PR, SRs, and other stakeholders
Develop approaches for engaging CCC members and program stakeholders in the oversight process
Develop annual oversight work plans and budgets

B. Gather information on program and grant implementation

Gather program performance, financial, and procurement information for Global Fund grants using routine reports and available data
Gather information on Global Fund grants through site visits and participation in joint PR and SR performance review meetings
Gather information on Global Fund grants by identifying specific issues

C. Identify implementation issues, problems, and bottlenecks

Analyze information to identify problems and bottlenecks requiring CCC attention and crosscutting issues that require attention from a broader range of stakeholders
Document problems, issues, or bottlenecks for CCC review and decision making
Prepare comprehensive analyses of identified issues to present at a CCC meeting

D. Provide guidance and recommendations to inform CCC decision making and further actions

Provide presentations of issues identified, and subsequent recommendations to inform CCC decision making and further actions
If required, help CCC understand issues and determine appropriate actions

Request extraordinary CCC meeting when urgent problems arise

E. Follow up and report on results to the CCC and program stakeholders

Follow up on decisions made and recommended actions and report on results to CCC and program stakeholders
Report back to CCC and program stakeholders on progress, remaining issues, and additional follow-up required

F. Review and provide assistance on new funding requests

Review concept notes, budgets and related documents during the drafting process of new funding requests, and provide recommendations and comments to the CCC
Take part in steering committees charged with coordinating the elaboration of each disease component integrated into the funding request

5. Technical Resources and Outside Expertise

The Oversight Committee shall utilize external technical expertise on a regular basis or for special activities to advice the Oversight Committee on matters of program implementation, management and evaluation. The CCC or the Oversight Committee decides when to create ad hoc working group and consult other external experts depending on the magnitude of the issue and the anticipated scope of work and GFATM requirements and policies.

6. Coordination with the RAI2E Regional Steering Committee (RSC)

As stated in the RSC Terms of Reference, “The RSC recognizes that it shares a strategic oversight mandate for malaria with the respective national Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCM) in each of these five countries, which were established as national multi-stakeholder bodies to oversee Global Fund investments nationally.

In order to facilitate this mandate, the Oversight Committee shall ensure good communication, consultation and collaboration with the RSC secretariat. Representatives of the RSC secretariat shall be invited as observers to each Oversight Committee meeting, and shall be given the opportunity to present updates on RSC matters and provide advice and expertise to Oversight Committee deliberations when necessary.

7. Conflict of Interest

The potential for conflicts of interest in oversight committee members can be considerable because the CCC OC members may include Global Fund grant implementers. CCC conflict-of-interest mitigation policy provides clear procedures on identification, declaration, documentation, and management of conflicts of interest.

All Oversight Committee members must declare any conflict of interest that will or could arise in the course of undertaking their oversight duties. All will sign a declaration at the beginning of their service. In addition, whenever the situation arises, a member must immediately declare his or her conflict of interest. The member must recuse himself or herself from conflicted matters under discussion.