By Lemuella Tarawallie
UNICEF-SL, together with its implementing partner, the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development (MOPED), has trained partners in “Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers” (HACT).
The two-day training started on Tuesday at the New Brookfields Hotel in Freetown. It’s aimed at creating awareness of best practices in financial management, budgeting, bank reconciliation and segregation of duties. It’s also expected that participants would share their experiences and address emerging challenges.
During the opening ceremony the UNICEF Deputy Country Representative, LiV Elin Indreiten, stated that, “the HACT training is a chance for UNICEF and MoPED to have a clear and common understanding of what is expected of our partners in respect of HACT and risk assessment and partnership management”.
She added that the two-day training would “provide practical guidance on how HACT works, what is also expected of UNICEF, MoPED and partners and how HACT contributes to transparency, accountability and effective programme delivery”.
The UNICEF Deputy Country Representative stressed that, “HACT is not just a compliance tool, it is a key part of risk management and building stronger partnership, it helps UNICEF, MoPED to report to donors and partners on how the funds are spent and how it is supporting the development agenda and reaching tangible outcomes and results”.
LiV Elin Indreiten concluded that, “Through this capacity building training on Public Finance Management of partnership for aid development effectiveness, UNICEF is expecting improvement in better partnership for aid development effectiveness of Country programme cooperation for greater impact on life saving development and protection of children of Sierra Leone through the new Country Programme Cooperation 2025-2030”.
The Development Secretary in the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development (MoPED), Ambrose James, said, “This workshop is extremely relevant, as the Government of Sierra Leone continues to prioritize efficient, transparent, and accountable management of development resources as outlined in the Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP 2024–2030)”.
Mr James continued that, “In this regard, Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers (HACT) provides an essential framework for achieving greater efficiency, accountability, and partnership in the management of funds provided to implementing partners”.
The Coordinator of the Sierra Leone Association of Non Governmental Organizations (SLANGo), Alice Nenneh James, stated that “the HACT training is a non-explanatory strategy for UN organizations, and it talks about capacity assessment, policies and procedures, financial management, cash and some other things, quality assurance, and audit”. She noted that, “If we say we want to continue to implement UNICEF programmes and projects, these are some of the things that are very important”.