Introduction

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-Habitat, is mandated by the UN-General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all. UN-Habitat works with varied partners including cities, central governments, local authorities, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector in the implementation of the Habitat Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in particular, Goal 11 of “Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. 

As cities around the world rapidly urbanising, they are increasingly facing urban mobility challenges key among them traffic congestion, pollution and road traffic crashes. The transport sector also significantly contributes to global energy related carbon emissions. Public transport comprising efficient bus systems, trams, metros and non-motorised mobility such as walking, and cycling are emerging an ideal mix to curb the growing urban transport challenges and meet the transport needs of citizens. UN-Habitat collaborates with governments at city, regional and national levels on development and implementation of policy, guides and tools for sustainable urban mobility; provides technical support for development of effective transport systems and supports knowledge, advocacy and capacity building. 

UN-Habitat is the lead implementing agency for the Project on: “Building back safe, sustainable and resilient transport and urban mobility systems in Western Balkan and Central Asian landlocked developing regions”. This initiative is funded by the 15th tranche of the United Nations Development Account with the primary objective to strengthen the capacity of local and national governments within the Western Balkan, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regions in sustainable urban mobility planning. The focus is on establishing durable, long-term investment strategies that improve accessibility and connectivity for all while concurrently addressing climate emissions and reducing road fatalities. Specifically, this project aims to support three cities in Western Balkans and Eastern Europe - Chisinau in Moldova, Kragujevac in Serbia, Vushtrri in Kosovo[1] - and two cities in Central Asia - Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan and Almaty in Kazakhstan - the focus is on establishing durable, long-term investment strategies that improve accessibility and connectivity for all while concurrently addressing climate emissions and reducing road fatalities.

Along with UN-Habitat, this project is co-implemented with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

Objective

The proposed collaboration under this call is to support the planned activities within the above-mentioned project for the City of Bishkek to strengthen local and national capacity on long-term, sustainable urban mobility planning and robust investment decisions towards public transport, walking and cycling, with co-benefits in terms of improved urban air quality and resilience. This would be achieved through the following two Outcomes. 

Expressions of interest

UN-Habitat invites Expressions of Interest from Not-for-Profit Organizations, and Governmental and Inter-Governmental organizations, academic or research institutions to support the delivery of UN-Habitat’s Project on: “Building back safe, sustainable and resilient transport and urban mobility systems in Western Balkan and Central Asian landlocked developing regions”.

The selected partner will coordinate and implement the project and engage in day-to-day communication with the local stakeholders for the project to support the City of Bishkek in undertaking activities to address urban mobility challenges/traffic congestion issues and identifying/prioritizing potential solutions.

The consultant’s key responsibilities will encompass capacity building, training activities, data collection and analysis, facilitating stakeholder workshops for developing vision and prioritized solutions, and drafting reports and documents, taking into account the following parameters:

1. On capacity building and training activities

   1. Assessing the level of skills and experiences for collecting and utilising transport data in the relevant team in the City of Bishkek;

2. On data gathering and analysis

   1. Gathering information and reviewing/analysing the current mobility situation of motorized (private vehicles, freight, and public transport) and non-motorized (pedestrian and cycling) transport network, physical condition, accessibility, efficiency, safety, and congestion;

   2. Reviewing the legal framework (central and local strategies, plans etc.) and make sure that these are taken into account for implementing an efficient mobility strategy at study area level;

   3. Assess the transport data gaps through literature review and consultation with the key stakeholders.

   4. Conduct and coordinate the transport data collection and analysis through a co-development approach, where city officials would work alongside the International and National Experts.

   5. Provide support to the team in the City through co-developing and implementation of a web-based survey form according to contextual relevance and unique needs of the City, including the translation of the survey form.

3. On facilitating stakeholder engagements through Workshops

   1. Coordinate the development of urban mobility future vision and strategy, and identify priority measures and actions through participatory process, engaging with key stakeholders at the local and national level;

   2. Work with decision-makers, private sector, investors and various transport operators to explore opportunities with collaboration for the implementation of prioritized mobility solutions.

4. On drafting of reports and documents 

   1. Documenting the data gathering and analytic works, capacity building and training activities, and stakeholder engagements to develop and propose vision for the City of Bishkek that integrates findings from transport data gathering and analysis, co-developed and consulted goals and objectives.

The EOI should contain, but not be limited to, the following: 

1. Overview of the organization: the vision, mission, main areas of work, organisation’s governance structure, number of staff members and other key information that describes the organisation;

2. Experience of the institution/ organization in the areas of transport data collection, public participation and workshop organisation, and urban mobility planning or transport planning;

3. Experience of the institution/ organization in collaborating with the local government and local authorities in the area of transport or urban mobility, or relevant fields.

4. Description of experience and qualifications, or CV/Resume of key professional staff. 

5. If applicable, provide publications, tools, and/or other relevant resources that showcases the experience of the institution/ organization in the area of transport data collection, data analysis, mobility planning, capacity building and/or training;

6. Copies of financial statement and organisation pamphlet/ annual reports;

Structure of the application

To help you with the submission of your application, you are encouraged to follow the template attached at the Annex of this document. The evaluation of the applications will follow the structure of that template.

Budget

UN-Habitat will contribute financial resources up to USD 12,000 (Twelve Thousand United States Dollars). 

Overall Timeframe

The work outlined in this EOI is expected to commence by 1 February 2025 and completed by 31 March 2026. 

Submission Requirements and Guidelines

Expression of Interest must be delivered by email no later than 10 January 2025 to unhabitat.ubss.eoi@un.org and yuki.takada@un.org with the Email Subject containing “EOI_Bishkek Implementing Partner for Mobility Project”. Failure to indicate the reference may result in your proposal not being considered.

Contact Information:

For any questions related to the application please write to:

Mr. Yuki Takada

Urban Basic Services Section – Urban Mobility

United Nations Human Settlements Programme

(UN-Habitat)

P.O. Box 30030 Nairobi, Kenya

yuki.takada@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 Expressions of Interest/or solicitation process.

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