Consultancy Services to Undertake Audit of the OECS Skills and Innovation Project

ORGANISATION OF EASTERN CARIBBEAN STATES REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST NAME OF PROJECT - OECS SKILLS AND INNOVATION PROJECT (SKIP)

GRANT NO.: E286

Assignment Title: Consultancy Services to Undertake the Audit of the OECS Skills and Innovation Project (SKIP)

Reference No . LC-OECS COMMISSION-575350-CS-LCS The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) has received financing from the World Bank toward the cost of the OECS Skills and Innovation Project (SKIP), and intends to apply part of the proceeds for Consultancy Services to Undertake the Audit of the OECS Skills and Innovation Project (SKIP). The objectives of the consulting services (“the Services”) is to allow the auditor to express a professional opinion on the project financial statement as to whether they are free from material misstatements and are prepared in accordance with stipulated accounting standards, the eligibility of expenditures, compliance with applicable laws, regulations and financial clauses of the trust fund agreement and to report on the adequacy and adherence of the internal controls. The engagement will include an audit of resources provided by the Bank and an assessment of the internal controls of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Commission. The disbursement from the World Bank (WB) disclosed in the Project financial statements should be reconciled with the WB records. The OECS now invites eligible consulting firms (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services. The minimum required qualifications and experience are listed in section X111 of the TOR below. The Qualifications and Experience of Key Experts shall not be included in the shortlisting criteria . Key Experts will not be evaluated at the shortlisting stage.

The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to Section III, paragraphs, 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers” September 2023 and (‘Procurement Regulations’), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest. To obtain the maximum degree of comparison among Expressions of Interests (EOIs) and facilitate the evaluation process, the EOI should be a maximum of 20 pages (including annexes) with the following information included below. Any pages exceeding this limit will not be considered for evaluation or shortlisting. Title page with name of firm submitting the EOI : should contain name of firm (or joint venture and/or a sub-consultancy, if applicable), address, email, telephone, name of contact person and date of submission.

Expression of Interest: including the firm’s general and specific experience, pool of experts etc.

Consultants may associate with other firms to enhance their qualifications, but should indicate clearly whether the association is in the form of a joint venture and/or a sub-consultancy. In the case of a joint venture, all the partners in the joint venture shall be jointly and severally liable for the entire contract, if selected. A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Least Cost Based Selection (LCS) method set out in the Procurement Regulations. Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours 08:30 a.m. – 4: 3 0 p.m. (0830 to 1630 hours ). Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States OECS Skills and Innovation Project P.O. Box 179 Morne Fortune Castries Saint Lucia

TEL: [contact details removed]/68

E-mail: procurement@oecs.int

An electronic copy of the Expressions of Interest must be sent by October 19, 2026 to: Yasmine Anatole, Procurement Officer

At the following email address: [contact details removed]

copied to: [contact details removed]

The email submissions should include the name and address of the Firm and shall be clearly marked in the subject line as “ Expression of Interest – “Consultancy Services to Undertake the Audit of the OECS Skills and Innovation Project (SKIP)”. The Terms of Reference for the submission of expressions of interest for this consultancy is provided below. Auditor Terms of Reference

FOR THE AUDIT OF:

REGIONAL OECS SKILLS AND INNOVATION PROJECT FINANCED BY WORLD BANK LOAN IDA E2860 IMPLEMENTED BY THE ORGANISATION OF EASTERN CARIBBEAN STATES DURING THE PERIOD MARCH 9, 2024 – JUNE 30, 2028

I. Basic Considerations for Audits of Projects Financed by the World Bank These Terms of Reference provide the basic information needed by the auditor to obtain an understanding of the engagement, in order to prepare a proposal and to plan and perform the audit of the project. To deepen understanding of the assignment, the audit firm must also read the following documents relating to the project: Project Appraisal Document, Project Grant/Financing Agreement, World Bank Disbursement Guidelines for Projects (2017), World Bank Procurement Regulations, the Project Disbursement and Financial Information Letter and the Project Operating Manual. These documents can be obtained from the OECS Commission via email upon the award of the contract. Furthermore, these documents are specifically considered an integral part of the TORs. The project financial period covers the period from July 1 to June 30. II. Relationships and Responsibilities The client for this audit is the Implementing Entity (IE), and the Bank is an interested party. A Bank representative may participate in the entrance and exit meetings; supervise the work performed by the auditors to ensure that it complies with the terms of reference and the applicable auditing standards, and to provide comments on the draft audit report. The implementing entity of this project is the OECS Commission. The IE is responsible for preparing all the financial statements and reports required, and for ensuring that all the necessary records are available for the audit, that all the accounting entries and adjustments are made, and that all the necessa