IOFFICIAL ~~~l DOCUMENTS The World Bank 1818 H Street N.W. (202) 473-1000 INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT Washington, D.C. 20433 Cable Address: INTBAFRAD INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION U.S.A. Cable Address: INDEVAS AQ C ,2016 Honorable Amara M. Konneh Minister of Finance Ministry of Finance P.O. Box 10-9013 Broad Street Monrovia, Liberia Re: Grant No.TF0A2018 Republic of Liberia: Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women Honorable Konneh: In response to the request for financial assistance made on behalf of the Republic of Liberia ("Recipient"), I am pleased to inform you that the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association ("World Bank"), acting as administrator of grant funds provided by various donors ("Donors)" under the Early Learning Partnership Multi-Donor Trust Fund, proposes to extend to the Recipient a grant in an amount not to exceed one hundred fifty six thousand and five hundred United States Dollars (U.S.$156,500) ("Grant") on the terms and conditions set forth or referred to in this letter agreement ("Agreement"), which includes the attached Annex, to assist in the financing of the project described in the Annex ("Project"). This Grant is funded out of the abovementioned trust fund for which the World Bank receives periodic contributions from the Donors. In accordance with Section 3.02 of the Standard Conditions (as defined in the Annex to this Agreement), the World Bank's payment obligations in connection with this Agreement are limited to the amount of funds made available to it by the Donors under the abovementioned trust fund, and the Recipient's right to withdraw the Grant proceeds is subject to the availability of such funds. The Recipient represents, by confirming its agreement below, that it is authorized to enter into this Agreement and to carry out the Project in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth or referred to in this Agreement. Please confirm the Recipient's agreement to the foregoing by having an authorized official of the Recipient sign and date the enclosed copy of this Agreement, and returning it to the World Bank. Very truly yours, INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION By_ 6 Inguna 1obra Country Man er for iberia AGREE REPUB OF LIBE A By: _ Authorized Repre entative Name: AMAFA [ .ONAw Title: WISTErK OF F1lAW- Date: ffgrmh 9 1101(n Enclosures: (1) Standard Conditions for Grants Made by the World Bank Out of Various Funds, dated February 15, 2012 (2) Disbursement Letter of the same date as this Agreement, together with World Bank Disbursement Guidelines for Projects, dated May 1, 2006 Grant No. TFOA2018 ANNEX Article I Standard Conditions; Definitions 1.01. Standard Conditions. The Standard Conditions for Grants Made by the World Bank out of Various Funds dated February 15, 2012 ("Standard Conditions") constitute an integral part of this Agreement. 1.02. Definitions. Unless the context requires otherwise, the capitalized terms used in this Agreement have the meanings ascribed to them in the Standard Conditions or in this Agreement and the following term has the following meaning: 2 Grant No. TFOA2018 ANNEX Article I Standard Conditions; Definitions 1.01. Standard Conditions. The Standard Conditions for Grants Made by the World Bank out of Various Funds dated February 15, 2012 ("Standard Conditions") constitute an integral part of this Agreement. 1.02. Definitions. Unless the context requires otherwise, the capitalized terms used in this Agreement have the meanings ascribed to them in the Standard Conditions or in this Agreement and the following term has the following meaning: (a) "MGCSP" or "Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection" means the Recipient's ministry responsible for gender, children and social protection, formerly known as Ministry of Gender and Development (MoGD). Article II Project Execution 2.01. Project Objectives and Description. The objective of the Project is to support the scale-up of the World Bank financed Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls Project (TF No. TF0A2018). The Project consists of the following parts: Part A: Provision of life and job skills training to adolescent girls and young women to enable them to seek employment, including follow-up job placement support. Part B: Building the capacity of the adolescent girls unit, within the MGCSP, to enable it to efficiently carryout the implementation of the Project, including the hiring of staff required for the purpose. 2.02. Project Execution Generally. The Recipient declares its commitment to the objectives of the Project. To this end, the Recipient shall carry out the Project through the MCGSP in accordance with the provisions of: (a) Article II of the Standard Conditions; (b) the "Guidelines on Preventing and Combating Fraud and Corruption in Projects Financed by IBRD Loans and IDA Credits and Grants", dated October 15, 2006 and revised in January 2011 ("Anti-Corruption Guidelines"); and (c) this Article II. 2.03. Institutional and Other Arrangements. Without limitation upon the provisions of Section 2.02 of this Agreement, the Recipient shall, for the purposes of the implementation of the Project: (a) Carry out the Project in accordance with the manual for the World Bank financed Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls Project, dated January 16, 2013 (TF No. TF013809) outlining implementation, institutional, financial and disbursement, monitoring and evaluation, and procurement arrangements, as shall have been agreed with the World Bank for the purposes 3 of Project implementation, as the same may be amended from time to time with the concurrence of the World Bank, Project Operational Manual (POM). (b) Maintain, at all times during the implementation of the Project, the Project Financial Management Unit (PFMU) within the Ministry of Finance or any successor acceptable to the World Bank, with staff in numbers and with functions and qualifications acceptable to the World Bank, for the purpose of carrying out the financial management functions of the Project. 2.04. Donor Visibility and Visit. (a) The Recipient shall take or cause to be taken all such measures as the World Bank may reasonably request to identify publicly the Donors' support for the Project. (b) For the purposes of Section 2.09 of the Standard Conditions, the Recipient shall, upon the World Bank's request, enable the representatives of the Donors to visit any part of the Recipient's territory for purposes related to the Project. 2.05. Project Monitoring, Reporting and Evaluation. (a) The Recipient shall monitor and evaluate the progress of the Project and prepare Project Reports in accordance with the provisions of Section 2.06 of the Standard Conditions and on the basis of indicators set forth in the POM. Each Project Report shall cover the period of one calendar quarter, and shall be furnished to the World Bank not later than forty five (45) days after the end of the period covered by such report. (b) The Recipient shall prepare the Completion Report in accordance with the provisions of Section 2.06 of the Standard Conditions. The Completion Report shall be furnished to the World Bank not later than six months after the Closing Date. In order to assist the Recipient in preparing the Completion Report, the Recipient shall employ consultants in accordance with the provisions of Section 2.06 of this Agreement. 2.06. Financial Management. (a) The Recipient shall ensure that a financial management system is maintained in accordance with the provisions of Section 2.07 of the Standard Conditions. (b) The Recipient shall ensure that interim unaudited financial reports for the Project are prepared and furnished to the World Bank not later than forty five (45) days after the end of each calendar quarter, covering the quarter, in form and substance satisfactory to the World Bank. c) The Recipient shall have its Financial Statements audited in accordance with the provisions of Section 2.07 (b) of the Standard Conditions. Each audit of the Financial Statements shall cover the period of one fiscal year of the Recipient. The audited Financial Statements for each such period shall be furnished to the World Bank not later than six months after the end of such period. 4 2.07. Procurement (a) General. All goods and consultants' services required for the Project and to be financed out of the proceeds of the Grant shall be procured in accordance with the requirements set forth or referred to in: (i) Section I of the "Guidelines: Procurement of Goods, Works and Non- consulting Services under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits and Grants by World Bank Borrowers" dated January 2011 (revised July 2014) ("Procurement Guidelines"), in the case of goods and non-consulting services; (ii) Sections I and IV of the "Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits and Grants by World Bank Borrowers" dated January 2011 (revised July 2014) ("Consultant Guidelines") in the case of consultants' services; and (iii) the provisions of this Section, as the same shall be elaborated in the procurement plan prepared and updated from time to time by the Recipient for the Project in accordance with paragraph 1.18 of the Procurement Guidelines and paragraph 1.25 of the Consultant Guidelines ("Procurement Plan"). (b) Definitions. The capitalized terms used in the following paragraphs of this Section to describe particular procurement methods or methods of review by the World Bank of particular contracts, refer to the corresponding method described in Sections II and III of the Procurement Guidelines, or Sections II, Ill, IV and V of the Consultant Guidelines, as the case may be. (c) Particular Methods of Procurement of Goods and Non-consulting Services (i) Except as otherwise provided in sub-paragraph (ii) below, goods and non-consulting services shall be procured under contracts awarded on the basis of International Competitive Bidding. (ii) The following methods, other than International Competitive Bidding, may be used for procurement of goods and non-consulting services for those contracts which are specified in the Procurement Plan: (A) National Competitive Bidding (NCB), subject to the following additional provisions: (a) foreign bidders shall be allowed to participate in the NCB procedures; (b) bidders shall be given at least one month to submit bids from the date of the invitation to bid, or the date of availability of bidding documents, whichever comes later; (c) no domestic preference shall be given to domestic bidders for goods and works; and (d) in accordance with paragraph 1.16(e) of the Procurement Guidelines, each bidding document and contract financed out of the proceeds of the Grant shall provide that: (1) the bidders, suppliers, contractors and subcontractors shall permit the World Bank, at its request, to inspect their accounts and records relating to the bid submission and performance of the contract, and to have said accounts and records audited by auditors appointed by the World Bank; and (2) the deliberate and material violation by the bidder, supplier, contractor or subcontractor of such provision may amount to an obstructive practice as defined in paragraph 1.16(a)(v) of the Procurement Guidelines; (B) Shopping; and (C) Direct Contracting. 5 (d) Particular Methods of Procurement of Consultants' Services (i) Except as otherwise provided in item (ii) below, consultants' services shall be procured under contracts awarded on the basis of Quality- and Cost-based Selection. (ii) The following methods, other than Quality- and Cost-based Selection, may be used for the procurement of consultants' services for those assignments which are specified in the Procurement Plan: (A) Selection under a Fixed Budget; (B) Single-source Selection; (C) Selection of Individual Consultants; (D) Quality Based Selection; and (E) Least Cost Selection. (e) Review by the World Bank of Procurement Decisions. The Procurement Plan shall set forth those contracts which shall be subject to the World Bank's Prior Review. All other contracts shall be subject to Post Review by the World Bank. Article III Withdrawal of Grant Proceeds 3.01. Eligible Expenditures. The Recipient may withdraw the proceeds of the Grant in accordance with the provisions of: (i) the Standard Conditions; (ii) this Section; and (iii) such additional instructions as the World Bank may specify by notice to the Recipient (including the "World Bank Disbursement Guidelines for Projects" dated May 2006, as revised from time to time by the World Bank and as made applicable to this Agreement pursuant to such instructions), to finance Eligible Expenditures as set forth in the following table. The table specifies the categories of Eligible Expenditures that may be financed out of the proceeds of the Grant ("Category"), the allocations of the amounts of the Grant to each Category, and the percentage of expenditures to be financed for Eligible Expenditures in each Category: Category Amount of the Grant Percentage of Allocated Expenditures to be (expressed in USD) Financed (inclusive of Taxes) Goods, Consultants' 156,500 100% Services, Training, Operating Costs under the Project TOTAL AMOUNT 156,500 For the purpose of this Section the terms: (a) "Training" means the following expenditures incurred in providing training or workshops: (i) travel by participants and presenters to the training or workshop site; (ii) per diem allowances of such persons during the training or workshop; (iii) honoraria for the presenters; (iv) rental of facilities; (v) materials, supplies; and (vi) translation and interpretation services; and 6 (b) "Operating Costs" means the operating expenses incurred by the Recipient on account of Project implementation, including office supplies, vehicle operation and maintenance, video-conferencing equipment, rental charges, communication and insurance costs, special account banking charges, office maintenance costs, utilities, travel cost for Project staff and salaries of support contractual staff for the Project (other than consultants' services), but excluding salaries of officials of the Recipient's civil service. 3.02. Withdrawal Conditions. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 3.01 of this Agreement, no withdrawal shall be made for payments made prior to the date of countersignature of this Agreement by the Recipient. 3.03. Withdrawal Period. The Closing Date referred to in Section 3.06 (c) of the Standard Conditions is June 30, 2017. Article IV Recipient's Representative; Addresses 4.01. Recipient's Representative. The Recipient's Representative referred to in Section 7.02 of the Standard Conditions is its minister at the time responsible for finance. 4.02. Recipient's Address. The Recipient's Address referred to in Section 7.01 of the Standard Conditions is: Ministry of Finance P.O. Box 10-9013 Broad Street Monrovia, Liberia Email: j.yeyea@yahoo.com 4.03. World Bank's Address. The World Bank's Address referred to in Section 7.01 of the Standard Conditions is: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and International Development Association 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433 United States of America Cable: Telex: Facsimile: INDEVAS 248423 (MCI) or 1-202-477-6391 Washington, D.C. 64145 (MCI) 7