I N F O R M AT I O N

B R I EFPSEA Assessment& PSEA Toolkit© UNICEF/UN0199455

For CSO Partners

I N F O R M AT I O N B R I E F F O R C S O PA R T N E R S

PSEA Assessment and PSEA Toolkit
In February 2020 UNICEF will roll out a requirement to conduct PSEA Assessments for all CSO partners,
together with a PSEA Toolkit. The objective of the PSEA Assessment and the PSEA Toolkit is to facilitate asustained improvement in SEA prevention measures and a reduction of SEA risks in programme
implementation across the development sector. The Assessment and Toolkit have been developed through a
consultative process with a range of stakeholders, including CSO partners and other UN agencies, during 2019.
This document aims to provide relevant information to partners about the PSEA Assessment process andits implications, and about the Toolkit.

Key features of the PSEA Assessment:• PSEA Assessment is required for all CSO partners and is valid for five years.
• The Assessment rates organisational capacities to prevent SEA. The organisational capacity rating
converts to a SEA risk rating, i.e., high organisational capacity on PSEA converts to low SEA risk rating,and vice versa.
• The Assessment covers 6 core standards: 1. Organisational Policy; 2. Organisational Management and
HR Systems; 3. Mandatory Training; 4. Reporting; 5. Assistance and Referrals; and 6. Investigations.
• Based on field testing, an Assessment takes 1-2 hours to complete by UNICEF & partner together.
• INGO HQ’s will be assessed at HQ level, and the rating will be applied to all relevant country
offices of the HQ. However, some questions, or parts of some questions, may need to be assessedat country level.
• PSEA Assessment for national CSO’s is completed together with the partner either by UNICEF staff
or third-party service provider.
• At rollout date, all partners will be assigned a high risk assumed rating in UNICEF system, and this risk
rating will remain in place until the PSEA Assessment has been completed.
• Low risk assumed rating is available when there is no risk of SEA, e.g., for desk-based research projects.
• SEA high risk assumed or high SEA risk triggers additional programmatic visits by UNICEF, with focus
on beneficiary level monitoring with SEA questions.
• PSEA Toolkit and training package are resources to be used in conjunction with the Assessment toincrease understanding, capacity and systems on SEA prevention and protection.
• Partners are encouraged to use the PSEA Assessment included in the Toolkit as a self-assessment
and to use the tools in the PSEA Toolkit to proactively initiate improved policies, procedures andsystems on PSEA, prior to the UNICEF PSEA Assessment.
• Partners with a High SEA risk rating are encouraged to develop an Action Plan to address PSEA
organisational capacity gaps highlighted through the PSEA Assessment process.

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INFORMATION BRIEF | PSEA ASSESSMENT AND PSEA TOOLKITFor more information please visit the UNICEF CIVIL SOCIETY PARTNERSHIPS WEBSITE• PSEA toolkit may be used as a resource to develop SEA prevention policies, procedures and systems.
• Assessment is updated, and SEA risk rating revised after partner notifies UNICEF of improved policies,
procedures and systems to improve prevention of SEA.
• UNICEF cannot continue to work with a Partner with a High SEA risk or High SEA risk assumed rating
for more than twelve months. Partnerships still at High SEA risk or High SEA risk assumed rating after
12 months will be terminated.
• With medium or low SEA risk rating, future PSEA Assessment process can be completed in tandemwith the Microassessment process. Risk ratings remain separate.
• Consolidated findings from PSEA Assessments in any given country, including lessons learnt about theeffectiveness or lack thereof of specific strategies, should be shared with other actors in the sector.
• UN agencies have agreed to accept the findings of PSEA assessments completed by other UN agencies (provided the assessment tool meets a minimum set of 6 established criteria), and thereby avoid
duplication of PSEA Assessments by multiple UN agencies on shared partners.
• Target dates for rollout: implementation from 1 February 2020 in two phases, starting with high risk
contexts in 34 countries as phase1. A list of the Phase1 and Phase2 countries is attached at Annex B.

The Process• For national CSO: Assessment is completed jointly between UNICEF programme officer or consultant, andpartner programme manager. Partner provides evidence to support responses to each of the six core
standards. A list of suggested supporting documents which should be gathered together before theAssessment is found at Annex A attached, in the Proof of Evidence column. UNICEF and partner together
go through the Assessment questionnaire and review the supporting documents to confirm they meet the Core
Standards.
• For INGO’s: Assessment will take place primarily at HQ level, and the results will be applied to all country
level entities of the INGO HQ in UNICEF systems. INGO HQs are now requested to self-complete the PSEA
Assessment and upload the completed Assessment, together with relevant supporting documents(considered as Proof of Evidence of meeting the required standard) into the UN Partner Portal.
This exercise is completed remotely by the INGO HQ through the following steps:
1. INGO HQ self-completes the attached Annex A PSEA assessment following the instructions included. INGO provides any relevant comments to explain the self-assessment rating in the Comments
field. For any Core Standard which needs to be responded to by INGO country office, INGO HQ indicates “country office” in the comments field. If partial elements of the criteria are not determinedby INGO policy, procedure or systems, i.e., they are determined at country office of the INGO,
those elements of the procedure should be highlighted in the self-assessment form with a corresponding note in the Comment section.
2. INGO HQ uploads the completed form and any supporting documents in UNPP, Other Information
tab. (UNPP allows a maximum of 3 files in total to be uploaded here, with a size limit of 25MB per
file. It is suggested to zip all documents for the PSEA Assessment into one zip file to upload. INGO
HQ should email INGO-HQ-PSEA-Assessment@unicef.org if any difficulties are encountered withthe document upload.)

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3. INGO HQ emails INGO-HQ-PSEA-Assessment@unicef.org to inform UNICEF HQ DAPM/PIU (Division of Data, Analytic & Planning/Programme Implementation Unit) that the self-assessment has
been completed and zip file uploaded.
4. UNICEF reviews the completed PSEA assessment and verifies the ratings assigned by the INGO or
requests clarification.
5. UNICEF HQ shares INGO HQ-level assessment with UNICEF COs.
6. UNICEF CO completes the incomplete (“country office”) questions and the final SEA risk rating for
INGO in that country is calculated.

For national CSOs and INGOs:• The outcome (including overall SEA risk rating) is shared by UNICEF with partners.
• Partners who are rated High SEA risk are notified that partnership will be terminated if necessary gaps in
PSEA policies procedure and systems have not been addressed sufficiently to achieve a moderate or low
SEA risk rating within twelve months from date of original assessment.
• As partner implements new policies, procedures or systems to address PSEA gaps identified through the
PSEA assessment, these are shared with UNICEF, and rating for the specific core standard or standards isrevised accordingly, along with the overall SEA risk rating.
The PSEA Toolkit has been developed to support implementing partners to establish and/or strengthen PSEA
policies, procedures and systems within their organisation. The Toolkit covers five topic areas: Foundations;
Prevention; Reporting; Assistance; Investigations. The partner may use the Toolkit to develop an Action Plan
to address PSEA gaps identified through the PSEA Assessment process. The Toolkit includes templates andreferences for multiple PSEA policies, procedures and systems to support partners to address gaps.
The PSEA Toolkit Training may be undertaken by the partner to develop understanding of the PSEA Assessment and the PSEA Toolkit which is developed to support partners to address PSEA systems gaps.
These tools (Assessment, Toolkit and Toolkit Training) have been developed to operationalize UNICEF’s response to the requirements of the UN Protocol. They are also in line with the commitments to improve management of SEA risks and invest in capacity development of partners to implement the PSEA requirements
included in the revised General Terms and Conditions of the Programme Cooperation Agreements.

Other Information
Table 1: Available SEA Risk Ratings

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SEA Risk rating

Based on:High

PSEA Assessment of organizational capacities as Low

MediumPSEA Assessment of organizational capacities as Needs improvement

Low

PSEA Assessment of organizational capacities as Adequate

High Risk Assumed

PSEA Assessment not yet carried out

Low Risk Assumed

Representative decision that IP is low risk and PSEA Assessment is not required

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Table 2: Schedule of Minimum requirements for programmatic visits
Cash transfer amount in the year

Risk rating

Minimum programmatic visits in the year

High Up to $2,500

All risk levels

Not required³$2,501 - $100,000

All risk levels

1$100,001 - $500,000

Low

1Medium2

Significant or High

3

Low

2

Medium3

Significant or High

4

More than $500,001

A high-risk rating in the PSEA Assessment triggers additional programme assurance activities. CSO IPs also
have a risk rating derived from the micro assessment (or high risk may be assumed if no micro assessment
is done). The higher of the two ratings from the micro assessment and the PSEA assessment is used to determine the minimum required programmatic visits in the year. Where PSEA Assessment risk rating is high,the minimum required programmatic visits for those IP’s include beneficiary level monitoring with specific
SEA questions.
Further information and resources can be found at the UNICEF Civil Society Partnerships website.

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Annex A: PSEA Assessment
This assessment is intended to give UNICEF and its partners a baseline for tracking progress of partners’ organizational capacities on PSEA. These standards are aligned with the United Nations Protocol
On Allegations Of Sexual Exploitation And Abuse Involving Implementing Partners.
Partners and UNICEF counterparts (i.e. programme officers) (or UNICEF’s 3rd party service providers)
go through this assessment together before entering into a partnership to have a shared understandingof the partner’s organizational strengths and areas of improvement on PSEA moving forward. The PSEA
Toolkit contains a more detailed self-assessment checklist, which partners can use at any time to improve their organisational capacities on PSEA.
Partners are encouraged to use the findings to develop an action plan that reflects identified areas for
improvement on PSEA (see PSEA Toolkit Tool 1: Sample Template for Action Plan on PSEA) that UNICEF
and partners can revisit at regular intervals (i.e. every 6 or 12 months). The assessment can also help
identify areas where external support from UNICEF or other partners is needed, such as trainings, technical advice, funding or increased coordination with inter-agency activities. In addition, UNICEF records
the total score of each partner’s capacity assessment as an “SEA Risk Rating” and uses it to determine
the number of programmatic assurance visits needed by UNICEF staff and other follow-up actions.
To support partners’ efforts in addressing identified capacity gaps, the PSEA Toolkit provides practicalguidance on PSEA as well as an extensive list of additional resources in each section.

Instructions on the rating system for the assessment:
The table below provides (a) core standards on PSEA organizational policies and procedures and (b) criteria
for assigning ratings to each of these standards. Each standard includes a set of three criteria that the organization should consider for the rating. Organizations should use the “comment” section to document theorganization’s recent progress as well as support needs.
1 – Absent:
The organization is not working towards this standard. Give this score if the organization does not meet the standard.

2 – Progressing:
The organization has made some progress towards applying this standard, but certain aspects need to be improved.
Give this score if the organization partially meets the criteria.

3 – Adequate:
The organization fully meets this standard. Give this score if the organization meets the standard.

After reviewing and scoring the organization’s compliance with these standards, add up the totals for eachstandard to obtain a total score. This total score indicates the organization’s current capacities on PSEA and
its related risk rating.

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Total score

PSEA organizational capacities

SEA Risk Rating

8 or less

Low

High

9 – 14

Needs improvement

Moderate

15 – 18

Adequate

Low

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Core Standard

Core Standard 1 | Organizational Policy
Refer: PSEA Toolkit Section 4.2.1. Policies

12Comments:

Required 1: An organizational policy on PSEA exists

3

Proof of Evidence

Code of conduct
PSEA policy
Documentation of standard

and describes appropriate standards of conduct, otherprocedures for all personnel

preventive measures, reporting, monitoring,

to receive/sign PSEA policy

investigation and corrective measures.

Other (please specify):(UN IP Protocol para 15 & Annex A.4)

Core Standard 2 | Organizational Managementand HR Systems

Comments:

ToR (e.g. PSEA-related
responsibilities)

Refer: PSEA Toolkit Section 4.2.2. Procedures

Contracts/partnership

Required 1: The organization’s contracts and partnershipagreements

agreements include a standard clause requiring contrac-

Recruitment procedure

tors, suppliers, consultants and sub-partners to commit(e.g. reference checkto a zero-tolerance policy on SEA and to take measureswith questions related toto prevent and respond to SEA.

SEA/child safeguarding)

Required 2: There is a systematic vetting procedure in

Other (please specify):

place for job candidates (e.g. reference checks, police
records, Google searches) in accordance with local laws
regarding employment, privacy and data protection, including checking for prior involvement in SEA.
(UN IP Protocol para 11; 15; & Annex A.1, A.2)

Core Standard 3 | Mandatory Training
Refer PSEA Toolkit Section 4.3.1. Training

Comments:

Required 1: The organization holds mandatory trainings
for all personnel on the organization’s SEA policy and procedures and the training includes 1) a definition of SEA(that is aligned with the UN's definition); 2) a prohibitionof SEA; and 3) actions that personnel are required totake (i.e. prompt reporting of allegations and referral ofsurvivors).
(UN IP Protocol para 17 & Annex A.5)

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Annual training plan
Training agenda
Attendance sheets
Other (please specify):

1Core Standard
Core Standard 4 | Reporting
Refer PSEA Toolkit Section 4.3.2. Awareness-raising and2

Comments:

3

Proof of Evidence

Communication materials
PSEA awarenessraising plan

Section 5.2. Reporting Mechanisms
Required 1: The organization has mechanisms and pro-

Description ofReporting Mechanism

cedures for personnel, beneficiaries and communities,
including children, to report SEA allegations that comply

Whistle-blower Policy

with core standards for reporting (i.e. safety, confidentiality, transparency, accessibility) and ensures that beneficia-

Other (please specify):

ries are aware of these.
For more information please visit the UNICEF CIVIL SOCIETY PARTNERSHIPS WEBSITE(UN IP Protocol para 19 & Annex A.3)

Core Standard 5 | Assistance and Referrals
Refer PSEA Toolkit Section 6.2. Assistance and Referrals

Comments:

Required 1: The organization has a system to ensure

Description of Referral
Process

survivors of SEA, including children, receive immediate

Referral form for survivors

professional assistance, referring them to qualified servi-of GBV/SEA

ce providers

Other (please specify):(UN IP Protocol para 22.d.)Core Standard 6 | Investigations
Refer PSEA Toolkit Section 7.2. Investigation
Procedures.

List of Service Providers

Comments:

Written process for review
of SEA allegations
Dedicated resource for

Required 1: The organization has a process forinvestigation(s) and/or

investigation of allegations of SEA and can provide

commitment of partner

evidence that it has appropriately dealt with past SEA

for support

allegations, if any, through investigation and corrective
action.
(UN
IP Protocol para 20, 22.a., & Annex A.6)

PSEA investigation
policy/procedures
Other (please specify):

TOTAL PER RATING (i.e. count all 1s, 2s and 3s)
GRAND TOTAL (i.e. 1s + 2s + 3s)
PSEA organizational capacities
SEA Risk Rating

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PSEA Assessment of [Name of the IP]:
Assessment completed by:
Email address:
Signature:
Date of Assessment:

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Annex B Phased Rollout Offices
Phase 1: Procedure is effective 1 February 2020 for the following offices:

Bangladesh
Central African Republic
Democratic Republic ofCongo ESARO
Ethiopia
Haiti
Iraq
Jordan

Libya
Mali
MENARO
MyanmarNigeria
SomaliaSouth Sudan
Sudan
Syrian Arab
Republic
WCARO
Yemen
ZambiaBurkina Faso
BurundiCameroon
Chad
Colombia
EAPRO

LACRO
LebanonMauritania
Mozambique
Pakistan
Palestine

Philippines
ROSA
TurkeyUgandaUkraineVenezuela

Phase 2 : Procedure is effective 1 July 2020 for all other offices.
All other offices may optionally begin application of the Procedure at any time prior to the designatedeffective date of 1 July 2020.

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