Deadline

UN-Habitat’s vision is “a better quality of life for all in an urbanizing world”. UN-Habitat works with partners to build inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and communities. UN-Habitat promotes urbanization as a positive transformative force for people and communities, reducing inequality, discrimination and poverty.

In line with the New Urban Agenda, UN-Habitat seeks contribute to increased equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water, improved sanitation and sustainable management of water resources, including wastewater treatment, recycling and safe reuse. It does so by facilitating policy dialogue, sharing good practices, by providing technical assistance for the development and implementation of field demonstration projects, and by supporting local, national and global data collection and monitoring in order to strengthen advocacy, policy- and decision-making.

Under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN-Habitat is a co-custodian agency responsible for tracking global progress towards indicator 6.3.1 as part of SDG 6.3, which seeks to “by 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally”.

The partner will support UN-Habitat regionally to carry out an assessment of freshwater and wastewater flows in pilot Caribbean countries

 

Background

  • A series of webinars with Caribbean water and sanitation utilities have been co-organized by UN-Habitat in collaboration with regional partners such the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA), the Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association (CAWASA), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). 13 Caribbean countries participated in these webinars, which took place between March and June 2021, and addressed some of the most critical aspects of wastewater management, including data monitoring, technology options, governance, financing and communication.
  • Most of these partners and actors participated to the 17th High-Level Forum for Caribbean Ministers Responsible for Water in October 2021, and to
  • A data collection exercise jointly conducted by CDB, IDB, UN-Habitat and other regional partners to gather information on water and wastewater, in order to update the Regional Strategic Action Plan for Water Inventory and support CWWA and CAWASA.

 

Objective

The objective of this project is to collect and/or provide estimates in 5 to 10 pilot Caribbean countries of the flows of freshwater supplied (to industries, services and households), as well as of the wastewater flows treated (by type and level of treatment); using a tailored country approach and a simplified but standardized methodology aligned with the monitoring of the SDG indicator 6.3.1.

 

Activities

  • Preparation of a simplified questionnaire for data collection in collaboration with UN-Habitat, based on SDG indicator 6.3.1 and regional context;
  • Selecting 5 to 10 pilot countries based on their situation regarding (waste)water infrastructures, but also on their capacity and willingness to collaborate on (waste)water data aggregation and disclosure; 
  • Providing an in-depth analysis in at least one country on industrial water uses and industrial wastewater treatment/discharge.
  • Identifying local facilitators, and assessing common/specific technical challenges and major drawbacks/ bottlenecks in wastewater monitoring and reporting at national level;
  • Follow-up visits in some of the pilot countries, and/or organization of virtual meetings to share successful practices and knowledge, and build necessary capacity on wastewater reporting;
  • Supporting the pilot countries to collect, estimate and aggregate (waste)water data at national level, for creating a regional shared data repository in collaboration with UN-Habitat, line ministries, and National Statistic Offices.

 

The Expression of Interest (EoI) should contain, but may not be limited to the following:

  • A concept note including background information and the approach that will be applied to the institution’s contribution towards the activities;
  • Experience of the organization in the areas of sanitation and wastewater management, especially data collection and analysis. This should include a portfolio of projects undertaken in similar areas (references);
  • A financial proposal and draft budget. The support/contribution the organization is willing to make, including cash and in-kind. contributions in terms of researchers’ staff time, office space and equipment and other support in cash and in-kind should be expressed in monetary terms;
  • Governance and organizational structure; experience and qualifications of key professional staff and infrastructure facilities of the organization;
  • Certified true copies of original Audited Account Statements for the last two years; and            
  • Latest annual report.

 

UN-Habitat Financial Contribution

Upon selection, UN-Habitat will enter into an Agreement of Cooperation with the selected entity. UN-Habitat will contribute financially in the range of US$15,000 for the successful delivery of the outputs within the planned timeframe.

 

Overall Timeframe

The work outlined in this EOI is scheduled to commence in May 2021 and be completed within five months.

 

Submission Requirements and Guidelines

The EOI must be delivered in electronic format no later than 26 April 2022 to unhabitat.ubss.eoi@un.org with the reference number: EOI-26-04-2022 indicated in the subject.

 

Contact Information

Lars Stordal, Programme Management Officer, Urban Basic Services Section, UN-Habitat.

Lars.stordal@un.org

 

Other

Please note that this EOI notice does not constitute a solicitation. UN-Habitat reserves the right to change or cancel this requirement at any time in the EOI/or solicitation process.

Submitting a reply to an EOI does not guarantee that a Cooperation Partner will be considered for receipt of the solicitation when issued and only Cooperation Partners who are deemed qualified by UN-Habitat upon completion of evaluation of submission will receive the final solicitation document.