Conformed Copy - TF027209 - Social Policy Coordination and Implementation Grant - IDF Grant

Page 1 August 5, 1998 HE Fathallah Oualalou Minister of Economy and Finance Ministry of Economy and Finance Rabat Kingdom of Morocco Re: Grant for Social Policy Coordination and Implementation Program IDF Grant No. TF.027209 Excellency: I am writing on behalf of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the Bank) to indicate the Bank's agreement to make to the Kingdom of Morocco (the Recipient) a grant in an amount not exceeding US$190,000 (the Grant). The Grant is made in response to the Recipient's request for financial assistance and for the purposes and on the terms and conditions set forth in the Annex to this Letter-Agreement. The Recipient represents, by confirming its agreement below, that it is authorized to contract and withdraw the Grant for the said purposes and on the said terms and conditions. Please confirm your agreement with the foregoing, on behalf of the Recipient, by signing, dating, and returning to us the enclosed copy of this Letter-Agreement. Upon receipt by the Bank of the copy of this Letter-Agreement countersigned by you, this Letter-Agreement will become effective as of the date of countersignature. Very truly yours, INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT By /s/ Paolo Zacchia For Christian Delvoie Director Maghreb Department Middle East and North Africa AGREED KINGDOM OF MOROCCO By /s/ HE Fathallah Oualalou Authorized Representative Date: November 23, 1998 ANNEX Purposes, Terms, and Conditions of the Grant 1. The activities for which the Grant is given are as follows: technical assistance, including training, to assist the Recipient's Ministry of Social Development, Solidarity, Labor and Vocational Training (MSD) in building capacity for policy coordination among the Recipient's different Ministries involved in social development (Health, Education and Equipment). To these ends, the technical assistance comprises the following activities: (a) provision of consultants' services and organization of workshops and seminars to assist MSD in preparing a strategy for social protection policies and establishing a government-wide consensus on said policies; and (b) technical assistance for the setting up of a core unit within MSD with a permanent capacity to formulate and oversee the implementation of a coordinated social Page 2 development strategy and social expenditures policy. 2. Expenditures to be financed out of the proceeds of the Grant are as follows: Amount of the % of Grant Allocated Expenditures Categories (in U.S. Dollars) to be Financed (1) Consultants' Services 159,300 100% (2) Training and 30,700 100% Workshops TOTAL 190,000 3. The Recipient, through MSD, shall carry out the Activities with due diligence and efficiency; promptly provide the funds, facilities, services, and other resources required for the purpose; furnish all information covering the Activities and the use of the proceeds of the Grant as the Bank shall reasonably request; and from time to time exchange views with the Bank's representatives on the progress and results of the Activities. 4. Except as the Bank shall otherwise agree, procurement of the consultants' services required for the carrying out of the Activities and to be financed out of the proceeds of the Grant shall be governed by the provisions of Attachment I to this Annex. 5. The amount of the Grant shall be credited to an account opened by the Bank on its books in the name of the Recipient (the Grant Account), and the Bank shall disburse funds therefrom to or on the order of the Recipient to meet the expenditures specified in paragraph 2 above. The Recipient shall submit a written application for withdrawal of such funds in the form specified by the Bank. Withdrawal applications for the Grant shall be: (a) signed on behalf of the Recipient by the Minister of Economy and Finance or any other person authorized by him or her for such purpose; and (b) accompanied by evidence of the expenditures made, or, if the Bank shall so agree, to be made. Authenticated specimen signature(s) of the designated person(s) shall be provided with the first application. To facilitate the carrying out of the Activities, the Recipient may open a special deposit account (the Special Account) in Dirhams in its General Treasury on terms and conditions satisfactory to the Bank. Deposits into, and payments out of, the Special Account shall be made in accordance with the provisions of Attachment 11 hereto. 6. The Bank may require that withdrawals from the Grant Account be made on the basis of statements of expenditure for expenditures for: (a) services of consulting firms costing less than the equivalent of US$15,000; and (b) services of individual consultants costing less than the equivalent of US$10,000, all under such terms and conditions as the Bank shall specify by notice to the Recipient. 7. The Grant shall be disbursed in U.S. dollars. However, the Recipient may request any other currency required to meet an expenditure to be financed by the Grant, and the Bank will purchase that currency with U.S. dollars. 8. Withdrawals from the Grant Account shall be made only for expenditures for services supplied from countries eligible under the Consultant Guidelines. No withdrawals shall be made on account of payments for any taxes levied by, or in the territory of, the Recipient. 9. No withdrawals from the Grant Account shall be made after a date two years from the date of signature by the Bank of this Letter-Agreement, or such later date that the Bank may establish by notice to the Recipient (the Closing Date), except that the Bank may disburse against withdrawal applications for expenditures incurred prior to the Closing Date, which are received by the Bank within four months after the Closing Date. Any amount of the Grant then remaining unwithdrawn shall be canceled. 10. The Bank may at any time, by notice to the Recipient, suspend further withdrawals from the Grant Account if any of the following events has occurred: (a) funds withdrawn shall not have been used for the purpose agreed between the Recipient and the Bank; (b) the Activities shall not have been carried out in accordance with the standards or methods agreed between the Recipient and the Bank; (c) the Recipient shall not have complied with any of the obligations herein specified; or (d) the right of the Recipient, or any other entity to which the Bank has made a loan with the guarantee of the Recipient, to make withdrawals under any loan agreement with the Bank Page 3 or any development credit agreement with the International Development Association shall have been suspended. 11. The Bank may, by notice to the Recipient, cancel any amount of the Grant remaining unwithdrawn (a) at any time after withdrawals from the Grant Account shall have been suspended pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 10 above; or (b) if the Recipient fails to take action, satisfactory to the Bank, regarding the implementation of the Activities by December 16, 1998. Attachment I Procurement Section I. Consultants' Services Part A: General Consultants' services shall be procured in accordance with the provisions of the Introduction and Section IV of the "Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants by World Bank Borrowers", published by the Bank in January 1997 and revised in September 1997 (the Consultant Guidelines), and the following provisions of this Section I. Part B: Quality- and Cost-based Selection Except as otherwise provided in Part C of this Section, consultants' services shall be procured under contracts awarded in accordance with the provisions of Section II of the Consultant Guidelines, paragraph 3 of Appendix 1 thereto, Appendix 2 thereto, and the provisions of paragraphs 3.13 through 3.18 thereof applicable to quality- and cost-based selection of consultants. Part C: Other Procedures for the Selection of Consultants 1. Single Source Selection Services estimated to cost less than $50,000 equivalent per contract, may, with the Bank's prior agreement, be procured in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs 3.8 through 3.11 of the Consultant Guidelines. 2. Individual Consultants Services under paragraph 1 (i) and (ii) of the Annex shall be procured under contracts awarded to individual consultants in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs 5.1 through 5.3 of the Consultant Guidelines. Part D: Review by the Bank of the Selection of Consultants 1. Selection Planning Prior to the issuance to consultants of any requests for proposals, the proposed plan for the selection of consultants under the Activities shall be furnished to the Bank for its review and approval, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of Appendix 1 to the Consultant Guidelines. Selection of all consultants' services shall be undertaken in accordance with such selection plan as shall have been approved by the Bank, and with the provisions of said paragraph 1. 2. Prior Review (a) With respect to each contract for the employment of individual consultants estimated to cost the equivalent of $10,000 or more, the qualifications, experience, terms of reference and terms of employment of the consultants shall be furnished to the Bank for its prior review and approval. The contract shall be awarded only after said approval shall have been given. (b) With respect to each contract for the employment of consulting firms estimated to cost the equivalent of $15,000 or more, the procedures set forth in paragraphs 1, 2 (other than the third sub-paragraph of paragraph 2 (a) and 5 of Appendix 1 to the Consultants' Guidelines shall apply. 3. Post Review With respect to each contract not governed by paragraph 1 of this Part, the Page 4 procedures set forth in paragraph 4 of Appendix 1 to the Consultant Guidelines shall apply. Attachment II Special Account 1. For the purposes of this Attachment: (a) the term "eligible categories" means the categories set forth in paragraph 2 of the Annex to this Letter-Agreement; (b) the term "eligible expenditures" means expenditures in respect of the reasonable cost of services required for the Activities to be financed out of the proceeds of the Grant allocated from time to time to the eligible categories in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 of the Annex to this Letter-Agreement; and (c) the term "Authorized Allocation" means the amount of US$190,000 to be withdrawn from the Grant Account and deposited in the Special Account pursuant to paragraph 3 (a) hereof. 2. Payments out of the Special Account shall be made exclusively for eligible expenditures in accordance with the provisions of this Attachment. 3. After the Bank has received evidence satisfactory to it that the Special Account has been duly opened, withdrawals of the Authorized Allocation and subsequent withdrawals to replenish the Special Account shall be made as follows: (a) The Recipient shall furnish to the Bank a request or requests for a deposit into the Special Account of an amount or amounts which do not exceed the aggregate amount of the Authorized Allocation. On the basis of such request or requests, the Bank shall, on behalf of the Recipient, withdraw from the Grant Account and deposit into the Special Account such amount or amounts as the Recipient shall have requested. (b) (i) For replenishment of the Special Account, the Recipient shall furnish to the Bank requests for deposits into the Special Account at such intervals as the Bank shall specify. (ii) Prior to or at the time of each such request, the Recipient shall furnish to the Bank the documents and other evidence required pursuant to paragraph 4 of this Attachment for the payment or payments in respect of which replenishment is requested. On the basis of each such request, the Bank shall, on behalf of the Recipient, withdraw from the Grant Account and deposit into the Special Account such amount as the Recipient shall have requested and as shall have been shown by said documents and other evidence to have been paid out of the Special Account for eligible expenditures. All such deposits shall be withdrawn by the Bank from the Grant Account under the eligible categories, and in the respective equivalent amounts, as shall have been justified by said documents and other evidence. 4. For each payment made by the Recipient out of the Special Account, the Recipient shall, at such time as the Bank shall reasonably request, furnish to the Bank such documents and other evidence showing that such payment was made exclusively for eligible expenditures. 5. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 3 of this Attachment, the Bank shall not be required to make further deposits into the Special Account: (a) if, at any time, the Bank shall have determined that all further withdrawals should be made by the Recipient directly from the Grant Account; (b) if, at any time, the Bank shall have notified the Recipient of its intention to suspend in whole or in part the right of the Recipient to make withdrawals from the Grant Account pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 10 of the Annex to this Letter-Agreement; or (c) once the total unwithdrawn amount of the Grant allocated to the eligible Page 5 categories shall equal the equivalent of twice the amount of the Authorized Allocation. Thereafter, withdrawal from the Grant Account of the remaining unwithdrawn amount of the Grant allocated to the eligible categories shall follow such procedures as the Bank shall specify by notice to the Recipient. Such further withdrawals shall be made only after and to the extent that the Bank shall have been satisfied that all such amounts remaining on deposit in the Special Account as of the date of such notice will be utilized in making payments for eligible expenditures. 6. (a) If the Bank shall have determined at any time that any payment out of the Special Account: (i) was made for an expenditure or in an amount not eligible pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Attachment; or (ii) was not justified by the evidence furnished to the Bank, the Recipient shall, promptly upon notice from the Bank: (A) provide such additional evidence as the Bank may request; or (B) deposit into the Special Account (or, if the Bank shall so request, refund to the Bank) an amount equal to the amount of such payment or the portion thereof not so eligible or justified. Unless the Bank shall otherwise agree, no further deposit by the Bank into the Special Account shall be made until the Recipient has provided such evidence or made such deposit or refund, as the case may be. (b) If the Bank shall have determined at any time that any amount outstanding in the Special Account will not be required to cover further payments for eligible expenditures, the Recipient shall, promptly upon notice from the Bank, refund to the Bank such outstanding amount.