I) What is a Technical review
II) How to conduct a technical review
The objective of the technical review process is to ensure that proposals are of the highest possible quality before final approval by the HC.
The review committees are comprised of groups of technical experts, per sector/cluster, that review project proposals according to their technical merit and the appropriateness of budget provisions. Sufficient time and effort have to be dedicated to ensure that substandard projects are approved or rejected.
The technical review stage ends with the financial review by Finance HQ. Both programmatic and financial feedbacks are compiled by the HFU and shared with the applicant for their consideration.
Please note: in case the GAM reference is not entered and saved by the implementing partner, the project proposal cannot move to ‘Budget Cleared’.
II) How to conduct a technical review
1- Cluster Coordinator
Once the project has been approved by HC and sent under Technical Review, the Cluster Coordinator can access the relevant project proposal by selecting it from the Project Task List in the homepage.
The Cluster Coordinator and Specialists must review the project proposal and leave comments under each tab of the project in the comments section. Please click here if you want to know more on how to leave comments.
The Cluster Coordinator can make comments conveying their evaluation of the project proposal.
Once you have reviewed the project proposal click on [Continue] to open the task page.
The Cluster Coordinator can return the project back to HFU by clicking on [Return to HFU].
2- HFU
After reviewing the TR reviewed project from the Cluster Coordinator and all the comments saved, the HFU can click on [Continue] to open the task page.
At this stage, the HFU can choose to:
- [Send to IP for re-draft]: click here to send the project proposal back to the Partner for re-draft if revisions to the project proposal are needed based on CC, Specialists, or CBPF Finance comments.
- [Send to FCS Finance for TR]: click here to send the project proposal for financial review.
- [Send to Cluster Coordinator for TR]: click here to send back the project proposal to the CC.
- [TR Not Recommended]: click here to reject the project proposal based on the HFU, CC, CBPF Finance or Specialist comments.
Send to CBPF Finance for TR
Upon clicking on [Send to FCS Finance for TR], the HFU will have to tick the checkbox wherein the HFU is held accountable for the reviewing of the project. Then click on [Next] to submit the project proposal for Technical Review to HFU Finance.
Note on Project withdrawal: if an Implementing Partner wishes to withdraw their project proposal during the Technical Review, they will have to contact HFU to have their project proposal withdrawn.
3- CBPF Finance:
The CBPF Finance receives the project proposal from the HFU after the project proposal has been reviewed by the HFU and the Cluster Coordinator, and after all the comments (if any) have been addressed by the IP.
Once you have reviewed the project, click on [Continue] to open the task page.
From here, the CBPF Finance can choose to:
- [Budget Cleared]: click here to validate the budget before the project can move to the GA preparation stage.
- [Return to HFU]: click here to return the project proposal to HFU if there are additional comments to be addressed by the IP. Please ensure you have left comments in the budget’s tab comments section if changes.
4- TR Recommended versus Non-recommended:
A project proposal is not recommended until it goes through the full technical review cycle of being reviewed and commented on by the Cluster Coordinator, (the advisor of cross cutting issues or Specialist if applicable), HFU and CBPF Finance. After the CBPF Finance (the last user group involved in the technical review) provides their final comments, the HFU will determine:
1. If the project is to be non-recommended
2. If the project proposal, based upon comments made, needs further revisions for further consideration
3. If the project proposal is good as is and is recommended