72 . MOPAN 2017-18 ASSESSMENTS . UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES IN THE NEAR EAST KPI 4: Organisational systems are cost- and value-conscious and enable financial transparency/accountability KPI score Highly satisfactory 3.11 The 2016-17 Programme Budget aligns financial resources with strategic objectives - resource requirements are specified by objective and by category of expenditure with the strategic objectives of the MTS 2016-21. Financial expenditure and results are monitored on a quarterly and 6-monthly basis. The agency’s current results-based monitoring system has not yet been integrated with the REACH system to enable full Results-based budgeting. UNRWA faces a significant challenge in the unreliability and unpredictability of revenue sources available to the Agency to deliver its core mandate to Palestine refugees in its five fields of operation. Given the agency’s current financial crisis, UNRWA undertakes detailed financial monitoring and reporting and is clear on the explanations for variances between planned expenditure and actual expenditure. UNRWA has a clearly articulated and transparent basis for decision making on resource allocation, working within the challenging financial reality of the Agency. The allocation of funding across UNRWA’s different programme areas is available in the Programme budget and the rationale for prioritising the programme areas of health and education is clearly understood across the organisation. At a programmes level, budgets are allocated in accordance with programme planning norms and service needs within the fields. Recognising that emergencies are an ongoing feature of its work, UNRWA takes measures to ensure that its emergency responses will not have recurring costs on its programme budget through its emergency appeals. Further, for emergency appeals, as part of annual planning UNRWA reviews allocations for each field office, based on an assessment of number of people in need, assistance provided per refugee and living conditions in each field. There is less clarity on the division and allocation of resources across Field Offices as a whole. UNRWA’s accounts are audited on an annual basis by the UNBOA and these audit reports are publicly available in line with international standards and contain a detailed record of Management response to earlier external audit recommendations. The agency has an Anti-Fraud and Anti-Corruption Policy and a well-developed framework of roles and responsibilities for implementation. UNRWA reports annually on fraud and corruption statistics annually as part of the Agency’s reporting obligations and certifications provided to the UN Board of Auditors. The agency has a whistle-blowers protection policy which is considered by the JIU to be robust. UNRWA’s Core Values and Standards of Conduct, and its Handbook on Ethics outline organisational expectations around the reporting of incidents and Standard Operating Procedures have been developed and implemented in 2017 for reporting on incidents with staff or assets. MI 4.1: Transparent decision-making for resource allocation, consistent with strategic priorities Score Overall MI Rating Satisfactory Overall MI score 2.33 Element 1: An explicit organisational statement or policy exists which clearly defines criteria for allocating resources to partners Element 2: The criteria reflect targeting to the highest priority themes/countries/areas of intervention as set out in the current Strategic Plan 2 N/A Element 3: The organisational policy or statement is regularly reviewed and updated 2 Element 4: The organisational statement or policy is publicly available 3