Call for Expression of interest
| Beneficiary Country: | Southern African Development Community (SADC) |
| Reference Number: | SADC GDMP C003G |
| UNCCS Code: | 763300, 720000, 560000, 551000 |
Description:
- Consulting Services for the Development of Policy Level Decision Support Guidelines/Materials for Groundwater Management in the SADC Region.
The project is looking for consultants with experience in the development of communications material at policy level with experience in marketing, communications, awareness, media or similar areas of expertise.
The services fall under Sub-component 2.4 of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Groundwater Drought Management Project Consulting Services for Groundwater and Drought Management. SADC through UNOPS will be financing the services described under a Global Environment Facility Trust Fund Grant (TF 055090 SADC).
Deadline Date for Submission of EOI:
April 1st 2010
Posting Date:
March 5th 2010
Objectives and Scope
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) harbours the goal of fostering cooperation and mutual benefit from the resources of the region amongst its member countries – Angola, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Seychelles, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
A number of the fifteen countries in SADC share river basins and are dependent upon groundwater for both domestic and commercial water needs. Recent trends indicate that the region is getting progressively drier. Traditional surface water sources are threatened by this development resulting in SADC member states becoming increasingly dependent upon groundwater. Since some of the aquifers spread across national boundaries, like river basins, water allocation issues between nations will need to be addressed.
In the region, to address degradation of water resources, there has been a concerted effort to move towards integrated water resources management (IWRM) and the development of transboundary water resources cooperation through the establishment of River Basin Organizations. In general the focus has been on surface water and its management. In addition knowledge and data about surface water is readily available; however to achieve IWRM the groundwater component needs to included, which to this point has largely gone under recognised and data required for its management in limited and incomplete.
More specifically, groundwater resources in SADC’s arid areas are under threat from over-exploitation, contamination, land use changes and introduced exotic plant species. These threats have arisen as result of population pressures and economic development and are linked to agriculture, tourism, industry, mining and pollution from human waste and agricultural chemicals. These problems are compounded by the cyclical nature and variability of climatic conditions in the southern African region.
Currently there is very limited groundwater management and knowledge in the SADC Member States with inadequate resources dedicated to the task and a general lack of effective institutions and technical capacity. To compound the situation there is also limited information on regional aquifer systems, Groundwater Dependant Ecosystems (GDEs) and the potential impacts of climate change.
SADC developed this Groundwater and Drought Management Project to raise the awareness of groundwater and the need for its management; in addition to providing tools to water resources managers and policy makers to facilitate informed decision making.
Project Aims
SADC member states have developed a Strategic Action Plan for water resources management and development inclusive of a programme on groundwater management, of which the “SADC Groundwater and Drought Management Project” is a part.
The Project aims to address the aforementioned groundwater issues through three inter-related components:
- Development and testing of a groundwater drought management plan at a pilot level in the Limpopo Basin;
- Regional groundwater drought management support;
- The establishment of a Regional Groundwater Management Institute of Southern Africa to continue long term monitoring and the promotion of better management and awareness in the SADC region and at national level.
Expected Procurement Components
The aim of this consultancy is to increase awareness among policy makers, primarily government officials and parliamentarians, of the importance of groundwater and its sustainable management in the SADC region, It is expected the consultant will undertake two activities:
- Production of simplified Decision Support Guidelines (DSGs) and tools for groundwater management from previously/concurrently developed technical material to communicate key issues to Policy Makers and facilitate informed decisions on technical groundwater management issues.
- Design a strategy and mechanism for the dissemination for the DSGs to the appropriate persons responsible for Policy decisions on water, groundwater and natural resources management in the SADC Region.
Project Location
The project activities will be conducted at the location of the selected Consultant and the SADC secretariat in Gaborone Botswana (location of the Project Management Unit).
Duration and Timing
The assignment is proposed to start in May 2010 and be carried out over a period of approximately 6 months.
Special Procurement Conditions and Additional Information
It is anticipated that the consultancy would be led by a marketing/advertising firm and include a communications specialist and hydrogeologist with both having at least 10 years of experience.
SADC/UNOPS invites suppliers capable of providing the Consulting Services to submit their Expression of Interest. It is desirable to have participation of local professional skills where available and to have a suitable mix of international, regional and local staff in any team proposed. All experts must be independent and free from conflicts of interest in the responsibilities accorded to them. Firms may associate to enhance their qualifications.
In order to be considered as a potential supplier, interested enterprises should submit their Expression of Interest including the following information:
- Brief presentation of your enterprise including number of staff, turnover, years in business;
- Reference list demonstrating your qualifications for participating in this possible upcoming bidding process;
- CVs of key team members;
- Relevant past projects, experience in the region, etc.;
- Contact information (full name and address, country, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail address, website and contact person)
The Expression of Interest and accompanying documents (max. 15 pages, not including appendices) must be received by UNOPS, at the address below, no later than 1700 hours on April 1st 2010 (GMT+2). No Expressions of Interest will be considered after this time.
Alternatively, Expressions of Interest can be sent by e-mail to the contact person below. Please indicate Ref. No.: SADC GDMP C003G on all submissions.
The procurement of services covered by this EOI will be conducted under the IBRD’s Consultant Qualification Selection (CQS); in such cases the EOIs received will be evaluated on each consultant’s/firm’s experience and competence relevant to the assignment and a resulting shortlist will be established. From the shortlist the firm with the most appropriate qualifications and references shall be asked to submit a combined technical-financial proposal and then be invited to negotiate the contract.
This call for Expression of Interest does not constitute a solicitation. SADC/UNOPS reserves the right to change or cancel the requirement at any time during the EOI and/or solicitation process. SADC/UNOPS also reserves the right to require compliance with additional conditions as and when issuing the final solicitation documents. Submitting a reply to a call for EOI does not automatically guarantee receipt of the solicitation documents when issued. Invitations to bid or requests for proposals and any subsequent purchase order or contract will be issued in accordance with the rules and procedures of UNOPS.
SADC/UNOPS Contact Information
Mailing Address:
UNOPS/SADC
Private Bag 282
Gaborone, Botswana
Physical Address:
Plot 115, Unit 7b
Kgale Mews
Gaborone, Botswana
Attn: Mr. Philip J. Beetlestone, PMU Manager
Tel: +267 721 10 748
Fax: +267 392 4099
E-mail: PhilipB@unops.org copied to SemakalengH@unops.org
Website: www.sadc-groundwater.org