TECHNICAL COOPERATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE OFFICE OF CABINET’S CHIEF AND THE UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

This document certifies the Agreement celebrated, on one hand, by the OFFICE OF CABINET’S CHIEF, hereinafter “PCM”, dully represented by its head, Mr. Roberto Dañino Zapata and on the other hand, the UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, hereinafter “UNDP”, dully represented by its Resident Representative, Mrs. Kim Bolduc, pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth below:

1. BACKGROUND

1.1. The Office of Cabinet’s Chief (PCM) is a Public Entity created by the Legislative Decree N° 560, Peruvian State’s Executive Power Law, aimed at, among other things, helping the President of the Republic to direct the general policy of Government, by coordinating the cross-sectorial activity of the public and administrative function of the State.

1.2. Through Supreme Decree N° 065-2001-PCM, the TRUTH COMMISSION was created aimed at clarifying the process, facts and liabilities of terrorist violence and of the human rights violation produced from May 1980 to November 2000, attributed to terrorist organizations as well as to State members. It is also in charge of proposing initiatives aimed at asserting peace and harmony among Peruvians. Through S.D. N 189-2001-EF, resources are allocated to the TRUTH COMMISSION by the Office of Cabinet’s Chief (PCM) Budget Line, so that the COMMISSION starts its operation and implementation.

1.3. UNDP is a Multilateral Technical Cooperation Entity which promotes the National Execution of Projects, understood as a way aimed, essentially, at strengthening the technique and institutional capabilities existing in the country, by using and promoting the capability and efficiency of the national execution entities. UNDP is a part of the United Nations Organization System, which is based on universally known principles, such as the promotion and protection of human rights. UNDP, by strengthening initiatives related to human rights, promotes that one of the main objectives of the United Nation’s system be sustainable in time.

1.4. Since the objectives of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission are acknowledged by the civil society and the main political parties, as key elements for the long and mid term development of the country and taking into account that the UNDP’s mandate includes contributing to the increase of democratic governability, UNDP deems fair to provide its support to such Commission works, in the conditions set forth in this Agreement.

1.5. UNDP, to channel its assistance to PCM, within the framework of the main activity called “Terrorist Violence and Human Rights Violation Research”, will implement the Project PER/01/023- “TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION”, which objectives and results will be specified in the corresponding Project Documents.

1.6. UNDP will provide US$ 50 000 (fifty thousand US dollars), for the implementation of the PER/01/023 Project, once this Agreement has been entered. Such amount will be available in the PER/01/023 Project Budget.

1.7. On its part, the Peruvian Government will carry out a contribution to such project of S/. 919 300 (nine hundred nineteen thousand three hundred soles), which will be considered as “shared costs”. Under this concept, we must consider the financing coming from financial sources other than those of UNDP. This support of “shared costs” will be transferred to UNDP between September 1 and December 31 of this year, through PCM, in order to use them in the framework of PER/01/023 Project.

1.8. PER/01/023 Project will receive during 2002, amounts from the Government’s Treasury, additional to those specified in the foregoing paragraph, which will be opportunely communicated, in order to increase the “shared costs” resources of said Project.

1.9. Besides from UNDP’s support, the Project will be able to receive “shared costs” resources coming from other international cooperation sources, concerned with helping the Truth and Reconciliation Commission goals and/or the PER/01/023 Project objectives.

2. OBJECTIVES

2.1. PCM hereby requests UNDP its technical and professional assistance in its capacity as a Multilateral Technical Cooperation Entity, in relation to the execution of activities which will be financed with the resources mentioned in the foregoing Section. The initial financing for the corresponding management is S/ 919 300, amount which comes from the difference between the authorization issued by Ministry Resolution N° 147-2001-PCM dated August 2, 2001, and the fund schedule of August.

2.2. In this regard, by this document, the parties agree that UNDP will directly manage and receive the amount determined in the foregoing paragraph coming from PCM, as well as additional and complementary funds of the Government’s Treasury and from other international cooperation funds, which together with UNDP’s support will be allocated to providing technical and professional assistance for the execution of the TRUTH COMMISSION project, which has the following goals:

a) Analyzing the political, social and cultural conditions, as well as the behavior which, from society and State institutions, contributed to the tragic violence situation Peru went through;

b) Contributing to clarify, through the respective jurisdictional entities, the crimes and human rights abuses committed by terrorist organizations or some state members, trying to determine the victims’ whereabouts and situation and identifying, to a greater extent, the alleged responsibilities;

c) Preparing reparation and importance proposals of the victims and their relatives;

d) Recommending institutional, legal, educational and other reforms, as prevention guarantees, so that they are received and processed by legislative, political and administrative initiatives; and,

e) Establishing monitoring mechanisms of their recommendations.

2.3. The amounts determined in the above paragraphs (2.1) and (2.2), will be transferred progressively to PNUD, through checks on behalf of the latter, pursuant to the needs the TRUTH COMMISSION activities considered on this Agreement require.

2.4. In this regard, PCM and UNDP agree to carry out activities aimed at providing technical and professional assistance for the TRUTH COMMISSION development areas. The enforcement of the scopes of this Agreement will be carried out through a UNDP Project which code will be PER/01/023. Therefore, pursuant to the norms ruling UNDP actions, the respective Project Document will be prepared.

2.5. The Project Document will have to reflect the fundamental and long term contribution the TRUTH COMMISSION – with the support from PCM, UNDP and other international cooperation agents – will carry out to guarantee the right of Peruvian society to know the truth, by facing the painful past firmly and without wish of revenge, by clarifying the terrorist violence facts and the serious abuses to human rights occurred during the last two decades, so that these do not happen again, and by creating the necessary conditions for a reconciliation based on justice.

3. CONDITIONS

3.1. PCM will act on behalf of the Peruvian Government, as National Executive Entity for the actions considered in this Agreement, for which it will assign an officer who will act as National Director of the Project mentioned in the above paragraph (1.5). Likewise, PCM will appoint an Acting Director in case the Head is absent due to service reasons.

3.2. PCM will be in charge of agreeing on the respective amounts which, within the framework of this Agreement, finance its activities and of gather said requirements in a single Budget which will be included as part of the Project Document mentioned in the above paragraph (1.5).

3.3. The Budget referred in the foregoing paragraph and the resources transferred by PCM will be the only referents which UNDP will take into account for the compliance of its commitments included in this Agreement.

3.4. PCM, within the framework of this Agreement, will be in charge of the following tasks:

a) Using the resources pointed out in paragraphs (1.6) to (1.9), exclusively for the scopes appointed in “TRUTH COMMISSION” PER/01/023 Project, thus ensuring the interests of the State, PNUD and other entities which could join to provide support to said Project.

b) Preparing, in coordination with UNDP, the Project Document mentioned in paragraph 2.4, where the objectives and results to be obtained in the framework of this agreement are detailed, as well as the needs from consultants and the financial requirements correspondent to PCM.

c) Identifying the required consultants for the compliance of the goals appointed in the Project Document.

d) Identifying the requirements of supplies/equipments/services which are required for the compliance of the goals appointed in the Project Document.

e) Preparing the reference terms for the individual consultants / consulting companies / service companies and, once hired, being in charge of the respective monitoring, technical supervision and compliance certification of the assigned tasks.

f) Signing contracts on behalf of the project, with individual consultants / consulting companies / service companies.

g) Preparing and periodically submitting to UNDP the advance reports and the final report considered within the Project Document.

h) Preparing and submitting to UNDP the corresponding payments applications, which will be paid by the National Director assigned by PCM for said task.

i) Approving, with the external auditors selected by UNDP, the accounts and financial statements certification.

3.5. UNDP, in compliance with Section 2 (Objective) of this Agreement, will be in charge of supporting PCM, within the norms ruling national execution projects, with the following:

a) Helping PCM to prepare the Project Document mentioned in paragraph 2.4 of this Agreement.

b) Helping PCM to coordinate with other international entities with which UNDP is institutionally related and which may contribute to achieve the objectives and results considered in the Project Document.

c) Helping PCM to promote the raising of additional funds from international cooperation sources, different to UNDP.

d) Helping PCM to identify national consultants and/or international experts, as well as to prepare the respective reference terms and, if necessary, the required contractors signatures.

e) Taking care that the profile proposed by PCM for the staff to be hired for the Project, corresponds to the respective Reference terms. Otherwise, UNDP may object the proposal, communicating it to PCM and making the corresponding recommendations.

f) Carrying out the Project monitoring and assessment, in compliance with the norms ruling national execution of UNDP Projects.

g) Identifying, within the group of UNDP Projects, those which may have interesting elements for PCM and addressing the documents of the case, as well as promoting coordination meetings among PCM and those in charge of said projects.

h) Managing the contracts of consultants and/or contractor firms, taking care that they comply with the terms stipulated in the contracts.

i) Verifying the origin of the payment applications and carrying out the appropriate payment.

j) Preparing the financial reports with the frequency required by PCM, which will reflect the applications of payments made and duly entered by PCM for the execution of the Project, with the corresponding payment registries carried out by UNDP.

k) Selecting the external auditors to be hired for the accounts certification of the Technical Assistance Project and of its financial statements, in compliance with the UNDP procedures and taking care of their hiring, subject to Non-Objection from PCM.

l) Providing diverse services which PCM may reasonably require.

3.6 The consultants and/or contractors to be financed with the funds referred in this Agreement, will be hired pursuant to the norms ruling UNDP Projects under the mode of national execution. Said consultants and/or contractors will be fully responsible of the tax liabilities derived from their respective contracts.

3.7. The Health Insurance, Pension Fund and Life Insurance coverage will be exclusively under the responsibility of the consultants financed with the funds referred in this Agreement. With no detriment of this, PCM may include individual or corporate insurances, as long as there are resources especially allocated for that.

3.8. Consultants financed with the funds referred in this Agreement will not be considered as United Nations System officers, nor from other international entities which – if necessary – shall participate in the execution of this Agreement. Likewise, they will not be liable to the UNDP Statute and Staff Regulation, nor the UNDP Privileges and Immunities Agreement, subscribed with the Peruvian government.

3.9. UNDP will take care of the transparency and quality of the procedures, as well as of its compliance with the norms in force in the international cooperation.

3.10. UNDP will submit to PCM, its Procedures Guide, as a reference instrument to analyze the different operations referred in this Agreement. In order to guarantee the understanding of the Guide’s scope, UNDP will organize information and training meetings on UNDP procedures for the PCM‘s counterpart staff.

3.11. PCM and UNDP, in a term no longer than 10 days after having celebrated the Project Document mentioned above in paragraph (1.5), will agree on a coordination meeting schedule, in order to assure the compliance of the Objectives, Results and Activities indicated in said Document, and if necessary, to assure taking opportunely corrective measures.

3.12. UNDP will provide the Government, no later than April 30 of each year, until the conclusion of its services, with a Financial Statement showing the use of funds spent during the previous year.

4. COMPENSATION TO UNDP

4.1. In consideration to the services and expenditures implied by UNDP participation, this entity will charge and PCM will acknowledge, as only payment, an amount equivalent to three point five percent (3.5%) of the total amount spent coming from the “shared costs” resources which are referred above in paragraphs (1.7) and (1.9).

5. GENERAL LIABILITIES

5.1 PCM and UNDP agree to meet with all the dispositions included in this Agreement, in all matters concerning each party.

5.2. The parties agree that, upon request of any of them, an external audit could be carried out to certify the account and the financial statements, for which the selection of an auditor firm will be jointly agreed. The National Director appointed by PCM for this project will be in charge of approving such audit.

5.3. Except from any contrary disposition, all the financial statements and accounts will be expressed in US dollars and will be liable to the procedures of internal and external audit specified in the United Nations financial regulations, norms and guidelines.

5.4 For any kind of operation implying current exchange to US dollars, the Exchange rate in force in the United Nations will be used.

6. NOTICES

6.1. Any notice or any other kind of communication which is related to this Agreement, must be in written. The notice will be considered to have been carried out when it is sent to the following address:

PCM: Av. 28 de Julio 878, Miraflores, Lima 18
UNDP: Av. Benavides 786, Miraflores, Lima 18

7. VALIDITY

7.1. This Agreement will come into force at the moment of being subscribed and will end on October 15, 2002, and can be renewed upon request of PCM and upon the corresponding approval of UNDP.

7.2 Without detriment of what is set forth in the foregoing clause, each part may resolve this Agreement prior written notice ninety days in advance. By sending or receiving this notice, UNDP, with the cooperation of PCM, will adopt all the necessary measures to orderly stop its services. During this period all the parties will ensure the due compliance of the corresponding liabilities.

7.3 UNDP will be able to interpret as cause to resolve this Agreement, the improbable presence of informal interferences which try to influence UNDP, in relation to the processes charged to this entity for the hiring of goods and services suppliers.

7.4. None of the decisions stipulated in this Agreement may be interpreted as a waiver, on the UNDP’s side, to the United Nations Privileges and Immunities Agreement, which protect all its actions.

8. FINAL DISPOSITION

8.1 The parties agree to cordially and jointly resolve any controversy or difference which arises on the interpretation or the enforcement of this Agreement and will make all the possible efforts in order to overcome the same in the shortest term possible. Should any controversy or difference arise which is not resolved by agreement between the parties, the same will be submitted to the arbitration norms in force in the United Nations, through the mechanism denominated UNCITRAL. The parties agree to follow the decision dictated by the agreed arbitration tribunal, as a final sentence for any controversy.

This Agreement is subscribed in four (04) original copies with the same value, in the city of Lima on the 30th day of August 2001.

Office Cabinet’s Chief – United Nations Development Program

Mr. Roberto Dañino
Cabinet’s Chief