CONDUCTING AN EXTERNAL AUDIT FOR A GERMANY FEDERAL FOREIGN OFFICE (GFFO) FUNDED PROJECT / WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA REGION / NIGER, DRC AND MALI

Terms of Reference

For conducting an external audit for a Germany Federal Foreign Office (GFFO) funded project

Project name and number: Call to Action Field Implementation CAFI Glob/Care/Gender/CtA/2023/01 (GLO1289 FC: DEB17)

West and Central Africa Region

Niger, DRC and Mali

BACKGROUND

CARE Deutschland e.V. received a grant from German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO) for the implementation of the above-mentioned project dated 13.07.2023. The project’s starting date is 28.05.2023, its end date 31.12.2025. CARE Deutschland e.V. contracted Partners - Comité des Jeunes Filles Leaders (COJEFIL), Dynamique des Femmes Juristes (DFJ) and Femilead/ Global Media Campaign to End FGM (GMC) to implement the project in Niger, DRC and Mali respectively. This contract is formalised in a Partner Agreement with each partner. All partners are subject of these audit requirements.

As per the grant agreement, CARE Deutschland e.V. have agreed with the donor to carry out an external (independent) audit for the project implementation period from 28.05.2023 to 31.12.2025.

METHODOLOGY

The Auditor has to be member of an internationally recognised supervisory body for statutory auditing, and to provide documentary evidence to this. The Auditor will work mainly remote, undertaking visits at each Partner’s main office in Niger, DRC or Mali only if strictly necessary. The Auditor should be available to provide comments on donor questions after submission of the final report.

The Auditor should examine the financial statement on the basis of the audit plan and verify its compliance with the grant and donor conditions in order to issue an auditor’s report. The auditor should request a letter of representation from the grant recipient’s management stating that, to the best of its knowledge, the financial statement encompasses all transactions and receipts, is accurate and complete in every respect and that all grant conditions have been met. The Auditor should ensure that the audit file contains sufficient documents of an appropriate and relevant nature and should record the audit procedures used and the results obtained in the file. If the grant recipient has contracted out some of the activities covered by the grant, the auditor should establish whether checks have been made regarding the implementation of these activities and associated charges.

The steps listed in this document are not exhaustive or restrictive and may not impose any limitations on the auditor’s professional judgement. Any restrictions on the scope of the audit should be mentioned in the auditor’s report.

OBJECTIVE OF THE AUDIT

The auditor shall examine the financial statement and report on the results of the procedures performed in agreement with the conditions laid down in the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO) donor regulations and the specific grant agreement.

The GFFO donor regulations regarding audits include but are not limited to:

  1. Verification of revenue (received) and expenditure incurred (paid) on a Cash Accounting Basis according to FIFO
  2. Verification of timely spent funds (as specified in the grant agreement)
  3. Verification and presentation of expenditure in spending currencies vs EURO and all related exchange processes
  4. To make observations to determine whether the grant recipient has satisfied in every substantive respect the conditions laid down in the grant agreement. Any substantive matters which do not meet the conditions, and any indications of unlawful acts must be identified. Such observations should also include the requirements relating to any contribution by the grant recipient.

SCOPE OF WORK

The auditor shall produce a draft report, including a project expenditure report in the donor format (as described in ‘Annex 2, B. Quantitative documentary proof’), and a Management Letter outlining any finding in detail. Upon completion of the audit (i.e. after responding to the potential donor or organisation comments), the auditor shall produce five originals of the final audit report in English.

The auditor shall consider the organization’s internal control structure as relevant for the engagement, including verification of compliance with key grant conditions.

The auditor shall structure his auditor’s certificate according to the quantitative documentary proof of the statement of application of funds (Annex 2). He must record the commissions and documents which make up the terms of use made available on which the audit is based. In addition, the auditor shall include in the report the "Questionnaire - External Audit" requested by the donor and provide detailed answers to the questions of the questionnaire (Annex 3).

AUDITOR’S CERTIFICATE

The final auditor's certificate must contain the following (minimum requirement):

"We hereby certify that we have conducted a reasonable assurance audit of the statement of accounts of (name of the project-executing agency in the developing country) in respect of the financing of the project (name) on the basis of the following terms of use made available to us (list of commissions and documents). To this end, we have inspected the books and vouchers and report that:

  1. Proofs of receipts and expenditure have been properly furnished in the form of vouchers.
  2. The expenditures, for which evidence has been supplied, are in keeping with the appointed purpose as set out in the Financing Plan. Any deviations from the Financing Plan are described and explained separately.
  3. The amount and origin of documented income which is accounted for as counterpart contributions made by the project executing agency, the target group and/or other agencies in the project country have been specified.
  4. The terms set by the donor have been observed/have not been observed in the following points.
  5. Special notes (i.e. findings in the Management Letter)."

Expenditure which exceeds the budget appropriations for main budget categories by more than 20% shall be explained separately, if the approval of the GFFO has not previously been obtained.

In case of a qualified auditor’s report, the auditor should indicate (in the Management Letter):

  • the influence on the transactions and receipts included in the financial statement.
  • the grant conditions that have not been met; and/or
  • any unlawful acts identified.

REVIEW & AUDIT FILES

CARE Deutschland e.V. / GFFO reserves the right to review the audit. The auditor concerned should assist this review and supply the reviewer with all relevant documents relating to the audit.

The audit firm must keep an orderly and accessible audit file. It should keep the files for a period of seven years from the date of the submission of the audit report to the donor.

TIME FRAME

The audit shall start on 20.04.2026 remotely**.**

The draft audit report and the management letter shall be forwarded to Partner Organizations on or before 30.05.2026.

The final audit report and accompanying information will be submitted directly to the Partner Organizations stated above on or before 15.06.2026.

How to apply

Interested audit firms are invited to submit a complete proposal in English consisting of the following documents:

1. Technical Proposal

The technical proposal shall include:

  • Company profile and capacity statement (max. 3 pages), including:
    • Legal status and year of establishment
    • Membership in an internationally recognised supervisory body for statutory auditing
    • Confirmation of independence
    • Relevant experience in conducting external audits of donor-funded projects (preferably GFFO or comparable public donors)
    • Experience in the respective country/region
  • Proposed methodology and approach, including:
    • Description of audit approach
    • Sampling methodology
    • Risk assessment approach
    • Quality assurance process
  • Proposed team composition, including:
    • Roles and responsibilities
    • Estimated level of effort (working days per country)
    • Availability within the proposed timeframe

2. Financial Proposal

The financial proposal must:

  • Be presented in EUR
  • Indicate the total price
  • Provide a breakdown per country (if applicable)
  • Provide a breakdown of:
    • Professional fees
    • Travel costs (if applicable)
    • Any additional costs

All prices must be inclusive of taxes and other charges, where applicable.

3. Supporting Documents

  • CVs of key audit personnel, highlighting:
    • Professional qualifications
    • Relevant audit experience
    • Language capacities
  • Proof of registration and professional accreditation
  • Contact details (name, email, phone number of focal point)

SUBMISSION PROCESS

Proposals must be submitted by email only to: vergaben@care.de 

Subject line: “CAFI External Audit – [Country/Region Name]”

The deadline for submission is: 29.03.2026, 23:59 CET

Late submissions will not be considered.

Only shortlisted firms will be contacted.

CLARIFICATIONS

Questions regarding this tender must be submitted in writing to: vergaben@care.de 

Questions received may be consolidated and answered to all bidders to ensure equal treatment.