Evaluations & Audits

ECES considers evaluations, projects' verification of expenses and external audits as occasions to further improve in the implementation of activities in line with an effective financial management. Each project is constantly monitored through out its life time using a set of audit, financial and management benchmarks. 

External evaluations are undertaken at mid-term and/or at the end of the project according to specic contractual agreements. External evaluations provide objective verication of results and technical advice on project implementation. Moreover, they develop a global overview on project management and they contribute to internal project assessment.

 

EVALUATIONS

 

Please find below some examples of evaluation carried out within the context of ECES' projects:

 

• Final Evaluation of the Project in Support of the Transparency and Credibility of the Elections in Burkina Faso (PACTE-BF)

• Final Evaluation of the Citizens' Initiative for Peace Building, Leadership and Stability Programme in Madagascar (INCIPALS)

• Final Evaluation of the Programme of Support to the Credibility and Transparency of the Elections in Comoros Islands (PACTE II Comores)

• Mid-term External Evaluation of the Project in Support of the Transparency and Credibility of the Elections in Burkina Faso (PACTE-BF)

• Final Evauation of the Programme in Support of the Transparency and Credibility of the Elections in Guinea (PACTE Guinea)

• Final Evaluation of the Programme in Support of the Transparency and Credibility of the Elections in Madagascar (PACTE Madagascar)

• Final Evaluation of the Programme in Support of the Transparency and Credibility of the Elections in Comoros Islands (PACTE Comores)

 

AUDITS

 

In line with the regulations of its donors, ECES underwent several internal verifications of expenses and external audit during the last four years. ECES considers evaluations, projects' verification of expenses and external audits as occasions to further improve the implementation of activities in line with an effective financial management. Each project is constantly monitored throughout its life time using a set of auditing, financial and management benchmarks. ECES does this also via a specifically designed internal tracking software system where for each expense all the scanned supporting documents are stored in the software. Each expense, along with all the supporting documents scanned, is linked in the software to specific budget lines of the approved budget, thus allowing constant control of the level of expenses and preparing the ground for the final expenses verifications and external audits.

 

Verification of Expenses are carried out mostly following the indications of the donors if they have a preferred audit company that they would like ECES to use for a specific country or a specific project. Otherwise ECES collaborates with the most known audit companies at global level like KPMG, PWC, Deloitte, Moore Stephens and Ernst & Young. Here below some examples of verification of expenses and procedures carried out within the context of our projects:

 

 

• The Project for Citizens' Initiative for Peace Building, Leadership and Stability (INCIPALS) in Madagascar is audited by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC).
• The expenses verifications for the Project in support of the Benin Electoral Commission were carried out by Moore Stephens.
• The Project in Support of the Transparency and Credibility of the Elections in Burkina Faso (PACTE-BF) is audited by the international company - 2 AC Associés Audit & Conseil.
• The expenses verications of ECES’ Project in Guinea Conakry, PARCAN I and II and the Programme in Support of the Transparency and Credibility of the Elections in Guinea (PACTE-Guinea) were carried out by – Auditeurs Associés.
• The Project Preventing Electoral Violence in the Southern African Development Community (PEV-SADC) was audited by KPMG and Delta/Deloitte.
• The Project in Support of the Transparency and Credibility of the Elections in Madagascar (PACTE Madagascar) and The Project in Support of Transparency and Credibility of Electoral Process in Union of Comoros (PACTE-Comores I) were audited by Delta/Deloitte. PACTE Madagascar was also externally audited by Ernst & Young.
• The expenses verifications for the Project in Support of the Libyan Forum of Civil Society (LFCS) and the project in Support of the Democratisation of Libya (SUDEL I and SUDEL II) were carried out by KPMG while PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) carried out the three external audits for the same projects following the request of the EU.

 

 

All of expenses verifications and audits  were successful and no wrongdoing or mismanagement issues were reported. Expenses verifications and audits' reports can not be made public as per respective rules of the donors, organisations and electoral management bodies funding ECES and remain at their disposal for any use they would require.

 

ECES has been supported in the preparation of all its audit and financial verification exercises by PME-Conseils, the firm specialized in accountancy, business management and taxation that support ECES since 2013 in the overall financial management. 

 

ECES, is registered as a private not for profit foundation headquartered in Brussels with the business number 829998514 and with the consequent Belgian VAT number BE0829998514. Given the size reached by ECES the annual accounts, after being externally audited, are submitted to and published by the National Bank of Belgium. Since 2011, the ECES accounts were submitted and audited. The latest audit was conducted in May 2016, following the standard calendar requested by Belgian authorities.