Finance and Budget Assistant

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system, and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment.

Our mission is to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.

Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, we work through our divisions as well as our regional, liaison and out-posted offices and a growing network of collaborating centres of excellence. We also host several environmental conventions, secretariats and inter-agency coordinating bodies. We categorize our work into seven broad thematic areas: climate change, disasters and conflicts, ecosystem management, environmental governance, chemicals and waste, resource efficiency, and environment under review. In all of our work, we maintain our overarching commitment to sustainability.

Headquartered in Brasília since 2004, the office in Brazil is linked to the regional headquarters in Panama. UNEP Brazil's mission is to disseminate, among its partners and to society in general, information on environmental agreements, programs, methodologies and knowledge on relevant environmental issues on the global and regional agenda, in addition to promoting greater participation and contribution of experts and Brazilian institutions in international forums, initiatives and actions.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. This position is in UNEP’s Climate Change Division, Mitigation Branch, GEF Climate Change Mitigation Unit at the Brasilia duty station.

Under the direct supervision of the Finance and Budget Assistant, the UN Volunteer Finance & Budget Assistant will be responsible for the following duties:

Project Design and Development:
• Verify documents for overall accuracy, consistency and uniformity in presentation and ensure comprehensiveness and compliance, cross-check consistency of figures in tables with the text of the reports and verify references to other reports and documents and ensure that all necessary corrections are incorporated.
• Assist in preparation of budgets with respect to project documents.
• Initiate set up of banking details for executing agencies.
• Facilitate the disbursement of funds to the executing agencies.


Project Implementation:
• Provide guidance to Executing Agencies on financial reporting as per the project cooperation agreement with the agencies, and on the templates to be used for meeting these reporting requirements
• Track circulation of new project internalizations and all projects revisions through UNEP clearance and approval processes
• Prepare fund documents for budget allocations and prepare the necessary documents in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Operating system
• Provide guidance to Executing Agencies on the expenditure report template; review expenditure reports to ensure (a) correct amount and objects of expenditures have been charged (b) validity of charges (c) availability of funds; provide feedback to Executing Agencies as necessary in order for the agency to complete the document correctly
• Initiate processing of expenditure recording
• Assist in the follow-up on outstanding financial reports with the executing agencies
• Utilize the Unit’s finance dashboard to the financial reporting of all Executing Agencies and overall status of projects and advise on any anomalies.
• Provide guidance to Executing Agencies on the cash advance template, review cash advances received and provide feedback to Executing Agencies as necessary in order to complete the document correctly
• Process cash advances and follow up on remittances of funds, process UNDP fax authorizations and sub-allotments to Executing Agencies
• Notify payees on status of payments and investigate complaints of non-receipt
• Prepare budget revision templates, provide guidance to Executing Agencies on the budget revision template, review budget revisions received and provide feedback to Executing Agencies as necessary in order for them to complete the document correctly
• Ensure that all Executing Agencies are using the same budget, expenditure report and cash advance templates, and work with these partners to facilitate the use of the correct templates where needed
• Assist in the reconciliation of project accounts against independent audit certificates received from executing agencies
• Inform Executing Agencies of upcoming financial reporting requirements


Project Evaluation and Closure:
• Update a project database with relevant project information on revision/closure of project
• Assist in provision of financial information required in Project Implementation Review (PIR), Mid-term review/Evaluation and Terminal Evaluation.
• Assist in the preparation of project completion and closing revision and supporting schedules.
• Prepare request for refund of unspent balances.
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General
• Develop new flowcharts and improve on existing flowcharts for the review, approval and processing of financial transactions and project contract documents.
• Provide general administrative support.
• Maintain and keep up-to-date project files
• File and archive documentation in soft and hard copies and keep log of archived files
• Draft routine correspondence with respect to enquiries related to relevant financial and budget matters.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.


Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:
• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day)
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country
• Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly arrived UN Volunteers
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.

Results/expected outputs:

• As an active UNEP team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly and high-quality support rendered to UNEP and its beneficiaries in the accomplishment of her/his functions.
• Accurate project finance data maintained
• All financial reports of all projects assigned which are due to be completed within the duration of the UNV contract are finalized.
• Executing agency partners receive timely guidance on completing financial reports.
• All executing agency partners receive responses to their queries within five working days.
• The development of capacity through coaching, mentoring and formal on-the-job training, when working with (including supervising) national staff or (non-) governmental counterparts, including Implementing Partners (Ips);
• A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for peace and development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed