The European Union and British Council have trained the D-Ability Initiative on Financial management. This much-needed capacity-building training programme was implemented by the Agents for Citizen-Driven Transformation (ACT).
The training took place in Port Harcourt, Rivers State Capital city.
Some of the key points covered include:
Understanding the true cost of programmes to develop an accurately realistic budget
Monitoring the financial status of each programme and that of the organization on an ongoing basis.
The usefulness of developing and using financial manual or finance policy
Fraud and how to mitigate fraud.
Qualities of a good financial report, among others.
The importance of financial manuals, all procedures, and processes ensuring that donors’ money will be used wisely and only for the intended purpose crafted into the document must be followed by implementing the programmes for the organization. The document is developed by the board to ensure accountability and transparency by all actors working with and for the financial manual and its implementation in the organization. The manual is a well-established financial system in an organization that makes such an organization more attractive to donor agencies.
Financial manual and its implementation help in finance governance, Jobs roles and description, Department principles and values, Audit roles and responsibility, Fraud and financial fiduciary, internal audit report, external audit and audit report, annual financial report, and stakeholder’s management.
The training was one of the many ways the European Union and British Council strengthened the capacity of selected CSOs in Nigeria so that they can be sustainable and drive development in their various communities.