As VLIR-UOS entered a new funding cycle with its donor DGD on 1 September 2022, VLIR-UOS updated its financial framework. The present version provides an updated general financial framework for VLIR-UOS-funded projects during the current Five-Year Programme 2022-2027 (FYP2). This framework was developed in close cooperation with all Flemish partner institutions.

The document consists of:

An introduction (principles and legal framework)
General financial rules
Programme-specific rules

This new financial framework mainly includes clarifications, simplifications, and much more flexibility compared to earlier financial guidelines. The VLIR-UOS project agreements have been simplified by transferring rules relating to for instance reporting deadlines, spending rates, and etcetera to the financial framework. Such rules will as of now only be part of the financial framework.

As VLIR-UOS has embarked on a process of administrative simplification, there will be future updates that further complement, clarify and/or simplify the framework. This means that this Financial Framework is subject to change.

Financial Framework FYP2 v1.02 (valid from September 1st 2024)

Financial Framework FYP2 v1.01

Formal Framework

the law of 19 March 2013 on Belgian Development Cooperation, as amended to date;
the Royal Decree of 11 September 2016 on the Non-Governmental Cooperation, as amended to date, whereby the Royal Decree of 7 October 2021 authorises five-year programmes of institutional actors, among which VLIR, to start on 1 September instead of on 1 January, and to stop on 31 August instead of on 31 December;
the Royal Decree of 11 September 2016 on the number of Joint Strategic Frameworks (JSF) of the Non-Governmental Cooperation including their geographical and thematic scope;
the Law of 22 May 2003 relating to the organisation of the budget and accountability of the federal state, as amended to date;
the approval of the thematic Joint Strategic Framework “Higher Education & Science for Sustainable Development (HES4SD)” of VLIR-UOS, ARES, and ITG by Minister for Development Cooperation Kitir on 7 June 2021;
the Ministerial Decree of 7 February 2022 on the Five-Year Programme of VLIR-UOS for the period 2022-2027 (FYP2);
the Integrity Charter, drafted on the initiative of the Minister of Development Cooperation and signed by VLIR-UOS on 14 June 2018, mandated to do so by the Bureau UOS, and any operational measures that have been or will be approved by the Bureau UOS;
the certification of the monitoring and evaluation system of VLIR-UOS by the “Dienst Bijzondere Evaluatie”, with reference to art. 33 of the Law on Belgian Development Cooperation, on 29 November 2017;
the interpretation of the legal framework referred to above, given by the Non-Governmental Cooperation Concertation Committee in the course of the five-year period (2017-2021), as well as all derogations granted by DGD to VLIR-UOS;
the VLIR-UOS FYP2 Financial Framework for the respective programmes, governed by the Royal Decree of 11 September 2016, as amended by the Royal Decree of 7 October 2021;
the FYP2 Scholarship Amounts for 2022-2027, approved by DGD on 20 April 2022 and translated by VLIR-UOS in the “FYP2 Scholarship Framework”;
the Client Assistance Package (CAP) note of 25 January 2022, developed by the VLIR Accounts’ Commissioner in 2020-2021 on the basis of the FYP1 formal framework (subject to modifications following the modification of the FYP2 formal framework), which is part of the Financial Framework;
the letter of the Federal Public Service Social Security of 3 March 2014 to VLIR-UOS regarding the social security treatment of mobility scholarships for research scholars who conduct research in Belgium in the context of HES4SD projects;
the agreement of 1 July 2015 on interuniversity agreements between VLIR and all Flemish universities relating to the communication on and the financial management and accounting of VLIR-UOS project expenses made by other Flemish universities than the contracting university, as amended by the addendum of 19 March 2021.