Automation checklist | Version XX | 04 March 2020

Suggested business
activities for
consolidation at the
country level
2020 CBO Guidance Package

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 CBO Suggested Activities

Background

The Secretary-General, in his reports on repositioning the UN Development System (A/72/124

and A/72/684), set a number of ambitious objectives for a transformation of UN system’s
operations, which were subsequently endorsed by the General Assembly in resolution 72/279.
These objectives included the target of establishing common business operations (CBO) for all
UN country teams by 2022, with all location-dependent services consolidated at country level.

The Business Innovations Group (BIG) established an inter-agency project team to develop and
pilot proposals to implement these objectives, which foresee consolidation of back-office
services in-country and an enhanced level of cooperation between UN entities both in-country
and offshore.

An outcome of these objectives is the attached list of activities in a Service Catalogue, which is
structured according to the following categorization: Level 1 – Business Process, Level 2 –
Service, Level 3 – Activity. The Service Catalogue includes 204 activities that are distributed
among the following six process areas: administration, finance, human resources, information
and communications technology, logistics and procurement.

The Catalogue was specifically developed to list work activities under these six categories as an
aid to country teams in their review of consolidation opportunities. As such it does not address
some cooperation opportunities considered under a Business Operations Strategy (BOS), such
as sharing of physical assets, or collaboration in procurement actions. Consequently, the BOS
catalogue is currently under review in order to combine both catalogues in one consolidated
document.

Methodology

Following an interagency consultation process which reviewed consolidation possibilities in the

field, a shortlist of 106 activities is suggested to offer opportunities for higher return on
investment in case they are consolidated at the country level. This list needs to be tailored to
local context and volume, noting that activities might be added to or removed from the
suggested shortlist as considered appropriate by the Country Team.

The list of suggested activities for consolidation is based on:

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 CBO Suggested Activities

• Business Operations Strategy (BOS) service catalogue and past implementation

experience;
• Country visits and consultation undertaken by the BIG Project Team in 2019;
• UN Services Marketplace Survey (with the participation of 21 UN Entities);
• Inter-agency discussions and working group consultations for each functional area.

Process Service Activity

Administratio Travel 1. Domestic/ international ticketing

2. Assisting VIP visitor
n
Accommodatio 3. Hotel bookings for visitors
4. Guesthouse management
n

Services for UN Protocol 5. Custom exemption

common 6. Packing/ exemption certificates/ shipment of personal effects of
management
relocating staff
premises and 7. Resident cards for new international staff & dependents
UN single 8. Staff vehicles
9. Staff driving licenses
premises
10. Visa arrangements for outgoing/ incoming official travel
Meetings and 11. Booking of conference room/ meeting rooms within office catering
services
conferences –
12. Catering services
internal

Meetings and 13. Liaison with internal sections for conference arrangements
14. Liaison with hotels for conference arrangement
conferences –
15. Interpretation/ translation for conferences
external

Copying and 16. Bulk printing/ copying/ binding in-house

17. Bulk printing / copying / binding through external party
printing
18. Servicing / maintenance of photocopiers through third party

Security and 19. Managing security personnel and services (UN or external
workforce)
fire safety

General Admin 20. Reimbursement for private use of UN assets (phone, vehicles, etc.)
21. Pouch and mail management
Services

Archiving 22. Archiving of documents

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 CBO Suggested Activities

Office supplies 23. Buying/ distributing office supplies

Asset 24. Counting and disposal

25. Asset control and validation - including condition reporting and
Management
impairment
26. Management and reporting assets on loan
Administratio Building 27. Real estate portfolio management and facility planning
28. Office lease contract management
n Management
29. Office space and parking space management
30. Building maintenance
31. Cleaning services
32. Garden maintenance
33. Ground maintenance
Additional
34. Office furniture and fittings
services for UN 35. Maintenance of office utilities equipment e.g. heating, air
common conditioning, generator, etc.
36. Reception service
premises 37. Cafeteria / catering service
38. Utilities management
39. Staff welfare spaces
40. Environmental management and environmental initiatives
Meeting and 41. Setting up / equipping in-house meeting rooms
conferences –
internal

Security and 42. Fire equipment, maintenance and drills

43. Managing office badges
fire safety

General admin 44. Information announcement / communications display/boards

45. Intranet content management
services

Administratio Light vehicle 46. Vehicle fuel management

47. Vehicle de-kitting, preparation and local disposal
n fleet/
48. Vehicle and driver booking
transport 49. Vehicle rental
50. Vehicle maintenance, repair, warranty and recall management
51. Vehicle insurance, accident reporting, claims management (Locally
contracted third party insurance)
Services for Fleet
52. Vehicle tracking systems, management and reporting
53. Driver management
54. Vehicle outfitting/kitting (Locally procured)
55. Vehicle road worthiness inspection and disposal survey
56. Car parking pass, road tolls, parking and speeding fines
management
Finance Partner 57. Macro- and micro-assessment of implementing partners
58. Monitoring of partner activity
financial
59. Coordination of capacity development
management

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 CBO Suggested Activities

and
development

VAT 60. Preparing Value Added Tax submissions and tracking / accounting
for reimbursements
management

Local banking 61. Establishing and managing common local banking contracts

Human Talent 62. Vacancy announcements

63. Local recruitment outreach
Resources sourcing and
64. Screening/long-listing applicants
recruiting 65. Interview/assessment of short-listed candidates
administration 66. Selection panels
67. Common rosters

Local 68. Consultant terms, conditions, and fee rates

69. Consultant recruitment
consultant
70. Consultant administration
administration

Staff support 71. Medical services and dispensary

72. Staff counselling
administration
73. Activities to boost staff well-being

Information Telecoms 74. Manage security and operational radio infrastructure (incl.
installation & maintenance of HF/VHF radios)
and
75. Common VSAT
Communicatio 76. Local mobile and desk telephones
ns Technology 77. Manage PABX
78. Installation and management of any other equipment required for
local connectivity and telecom
ICT services 79. Helpdesk
80. Case management / service ticketing system

ICT 81. Management of ICT hardware infrastructure

82. Manage local area network (office network)
infrastructure
83. Support for staff conferencing (audio, video etc.)
84. Business continuity planning and response for ICT

Logistics Assets sharing 85. Warehouses, planes, trucks, ships, boats, forklifts etc.

Managing 86. Customs clearance of goods

imports

Planning 87. Logistics capacity assessments

88. Logistics risk management

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 CBO Suggested Activities

Transport 89. Consolidating country level logistics related contracting

Procurement Procurement 90. Procurement planning / strategy

planning /
Strategy

Market 91. Market analysis, Requests for Information and Expressions of

Interest
analysis

Vendor 92. Vendor screening

93. Vendor registration
management
94. Vendor roster / database
95. Vendor communication and liaison, including performance
feedback
Sourcing 96. Assistance to sections in the development of ToR / SoW and bid
evaluation criteria
97. Supply requisition
98. Request for proposal
99. Invitation to bid
100.Small value purchase
101.Proposal / bid evaluation
102.Bid approval process (involving Committee if needed)
103.Purchase order issuance
Contract 104.Contract establishment and issuance
105.Contract database management and contract administration
management

Third party 106.Procurement services for third parties

procurement
(Governments,
Partners, etc.)

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