The purpose of the Call for Expression of Interest is to solicit interest from existing or prospective Implementing Partners that wish to participate in UN-Habitat operation and contribute complementary resources (human resources, knowledge, funds, in-kind contributions, supplies and/or equipment) to achieving common objectives as outlined below and subsequently agreed in an Agreement of Cooperation

<Call for Proposals for local Civil Society Organisation or NGOs for implementing activities that strengthen the resilience of internally displaced populations and local, vulnerable communities in four cities in Burkina Faso>               

 

Project Key Information

• UN-Habitat Project title : Increase resilience of local actors in contexts of massive internal displacement and COVID-19 ; (original title : « Renforcement de la résilience des collectivités territoriales face aux déplacements massifs de populations et à la pandémie du Covid-19 »)
• Locations
  • Town/City: Kaya, Kongoussi, Tougouri (Centre Nord region) ; Dori (Sahel region) ;
  • Country: Burkina Faso
• Anticipated start date: November 2021
• Estimated duration of project in calendar months: 5 months
• Maximum proposed value in US$:
• Lead Organization Unit: Regional Office for Africa, Burkina Faso country office,

 

Brief Background of the Project

(State the purpose, main goal, and specific objectives of the project)

In order to advance integrated solutions for urban internal displacement in Burkina Faso, the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat), with the support of the European Union’s Instrument contributing to Sustaining Peace (IcSP), is implementating a project to “Strengthen the resilience of local authorities in the face of massive population displacements and the Covid-19 pandemic” in the regions Centre-North (Kaya, Kongoussi and Tougouri and the Sahel (Dori).

In coordination with the Ministry of Town Planning, Housing and Cities (MUHV), through the implementation of the project, it will be:

- (i) increase the institutional and operational capacities of the municipalities impacted by the influx of populations in order to better respond to the challenges generated by these massive and unexpected arrivals of populations;

- (ii) increase the access to basic social services (school, health, drinking water and sanitation) and to suitable housing for the benefit of vulnerable communities (IDPs and local people) in the face of the strong pressure induced by the unprecedented population growth;

- (iii) contribute to strengthening the socio-economic and health resilience of vulnerable internally displaced and indigenous communities, especially women and girls through income-generating activities;

- (iv) to strengthen social cohesion, peaceful living together, the mitigation of stigmatization of vulnerable communities and ultimately the consolidation of peace, and finally

- (v) reduce the environmental impact of the humanitarian crisis.

Centered on a participatory planning approaches putting the beneficiary populations and local and regional administrative services at the heart of its implementation strategy, the implementation of the project in the cities of Kaya, Kongoussi, Tougouri and Dori builds upon the establishment of Municipal Urban Resilience Cells (CMRU) for each city with the support of certain local associative structures (CSOs or local NGOs).

The implementation of certain activities related to the strengthening of the socio-economic and health resilience of vulnerable populations (IDPs as well as local people) and the reduction of the environmental impact of the security and humanitarian crisis will be ensured by associative structures in the regions of Centre Nord and / or Sahel with proven experience in the conduct of activities in the context of a humanitarian emergency.

The call for submission is published to find a local associative structure (Civil Society Organisation or local NGO) to support the achievement of the objectives, the expected results and the mission. The Implementing Partner will be requested to propose a methodology and activities to strengthen the socio-economic and health resilience of internally displaced populations and local, vulnerable communities and to reduce the environmental impact of the security and humanitarian crisis in coordination with the Municipal Urban Resilience Units (CMRUs) in the towns of Kaya, Dori, Kongoussi and Tougouri.

 

Main activities and outputs:

The Implementing Partner will be undertaking main activities as follows (but not limited to):

• Propose a methodology and activities for achieving the following objectives:

- Increase the entrepreneurial capacities of vulnerable women and girls from internally displaced populations and indigenous communities so that they can develop and implement income-generating activities;

- Support women and girls in setting up income-generating activities in Kongoussi, Kaya, Dori and Tougouri;

- Contribute to risk mitigation related to gender-based violence for IDP communities and local communities;

- Contribute to raising awareness of the health risks in precarious living conditions both on temporary shelter sites and in areas of spontaneous settlements in general and on the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in a specific;

- Strengthen the knowledge and skills of local communities and beneficiaries of the projects neighborhoods on mitigating environmental impacts.

 

The main results expected from the selected entity are the following:

- Women and girls from local communities and internally displaced populations are trained in selected priority income-generating activities and business development in order to increase their socio-economic self-reliance in Kaya, Dori, Kongoussi and Tougouri;

- Local business micro-cluster initiatives are initiated promoting cooperation between local communities and internally displaced populations;

- Awareness-raising campaigns for increasing the attention of local communities on hygiene, public sanitation, environmental issues and particularly around the Corona virus pandemic (COVID-19) are being implemented in all four cities;

- Capacity building activities for the promotion of environmental protection and on how to use green economy initiatives, are conducted for the benefit of local communities and specifically for local people and IDPs living in the newly developed neighbourhoods built as part of the project in each city.

 

Responsibilities of the selected entity:

The Civil Society Organization (CSO) or Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) which will be selected for service provision will work in close cooperation with the Municipal Urban Resilience Cells (CMRUs) to advance the implementation of the above activities, including:

- Propose an adequate number of people to be trained aligned to the training methodology;

- Define, together with the CMRUs, selection criteria for beneficiaries benefiting from capacity building actions on income generation and other activities (where applicable) ;

 

A, Strengthening socio-economic resilience:

- Identify suitable income-generating activities for women in vulnerable situations (both local people as well as IDPs), tailored to the local context (including the security and humanitarian crisis settings as well as the existing skills), (including those under B);

- Organize consultations with each CMRU for the validation of the proposed lists of activities for income generating activities;

- Develop training modules around the identified promising income-generating activities;

- Facilitate micro-clusters of businesses focused on creating a productive alliance between local and IDP women.

 

B, Environmental protection, green jobs and circular green economy (including waste recovery and greening of urban spaces)

- Organize training sessions on the management chain (collection, sorting and recycling) of household waste for the inhabitants of the project’s neighbourhoods and introduce opportunities for businesses development around waste management and environmental protection);

- Based on the trainings, equip community groups (Local Cooperatives for Housing and Waste Recovery) with equipment for the collection, sorting and recycling of waste;

- Design and organise awareness raising activities (e.g. in schools, which have benefitted from the project’s investments and for the women beneficing for the ) on the importance of environmental protection;

- Acquire and install bins in public spaces in areas benefitting from the project implementation;

- Organize activities for planting and maintenance of green spaces in public spaces in the project neighbourhoods or nearby, based on proposals and in coordination with the CMRU.

 

C, Reducing and preventing Gender-Based Violence

- Organize community awareness forums and/or activities on GBV in informal settlements with high concentrations of IDPs and within SATs (e.g. theatre sessions; or similar);

- Develop a communication strategy around GBV including design and disseminate key messages to be disseminated on local media on the risks of GBV (including in local languages) or information materials around GBV;

- Organize training sessions for actors at regional and provincial level (Kaya, Kongoussi and Dori) on how to reduce GBV in their areas of responsibilities.

 

D, Hygiene and public health

- Organize awareness campaigns for ​​IDP and indigenous communities on good practices in hygiene and sanitation adapted to their current living environment (with limited access to water and sanitation);

- Design and disseminate relevant messages on good practices in hygiene and environmental public health;

- Organize activities on public health actions in schools, health centers, green spaces, public gardens, etc., including on the impact of environmental degradation on health;

- Organize, in conjunction with regional and / or provincial health services, awareness campaigns to prevent the spread of Covid-19;

- Provide communities with materials for reducing the spread and preventing Covid-19.

 

Risk Analysis

(State the risks associated with this project and the mitigation factors)

- The highest risks for the overall project, including the implementation of the proposed activities, are caused by the decreasing security situation in the Centre Nord and Sahel region, which might drastically reduce accessibility of project locations. While not really a good option in Burkina Faso’s context, online trainings supported by UN-Habitat’s urban experts and the CMRU in the project’s locations might be an option, in case facilitators might not be able to be physically present in the project locations.

- Measures imposed to reduce the spreading of COVID-19 might reduce the number of participants. This could be mitigated by using training facilities, which allow physical distancing and other protection measures. During the activities, masks will need to be provided.

 

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria	Submission Details/ Documents Required
Legal Status	Certificate of registration/incorporation i.e., Proof of registration in Country of Origin. Proof of registration of Country of operation Proof of country operational presence
Organization profile and details	Clear organization profile and structure of the organization indicating: Organization’s vision, mission and objectives Management structure Members of the Governing Board and their Designations duly certified by the Corporate Secretary, or its equivalent document Proof of membership to professional associations if any.
Financial Capacity	Audited company financial statements (balance sheet and income statement) and auditors report for the last two years
Exclusive bank account	Is the organization willing and able to have a separate bank account for the funds provided by UN-Habitat?

Integrity and Governance

The organization should complete and submit a signed Partner Declaration Form Provide the profiles of the Chairperson of the Board of Directors, Head of the Organization and Chief of Finance

 

Selection Criteria

Criteria	Submission Details/ Documents Required	Weighting
1.   Technical capacity		30%
1.1 Does the organization have the relevant experience and proven track record in implementing activities in the areas of the project? Has it managed in the past projects of similar technical complexities and financial size? Is the project linked with the core business of the IP?	List of projects executed in the last 2 years (value, location, donors, nature of projects, execution stage – completed or ongoing). Demonstrate how the experiences in past projects are relevant in the execution of the current proposal References from past donors
1.2 Does the organization have qualified technical staff with the experience and the technical skills required by the project? What is the staff size, type, qualification and education background?	CVs of key management staff, technical and non-technical staff that will be involved on the project How many technical staff do you have in the concerned Country for implementing the project? Is there reasonable assurance that such technical staff required by the project will continue to be available as needed in the Project?
1.3 Does the organization have a clear and strong link with an identifiable constituency relevant to the targeted population of the project? Does it have the ability to impact on the targeted population and on the issues? Does it have strong presence in the field (specifically the project cities) and for how long/since when ? Does it have adequate capacity to work in key areas/regions where the proposed field activities will be implemented?	Demonstrate, describe and provide proof of local operational presence, including link and ability to impact the targeted population.
1.4 Does the organization possess adequate physical facilities, office equipment, transport, etc. to implement the activities?	Provide location and list of office facilities, vehicles and office equipment locally available to implement the project.
1.5 Does the organization have formal procedures to monitor project execution (e.g. milestones, outputs, expenditures…)	Provide formal project monitoring policies and procedures
2.   Financial and administrative capacity		20%
2.1 Has the organization been in operation over a period of at least 2 years to demonstrate its financial sustainability and relevance?	State the years of operation Financial statements for the last 2 years
2.2 Does the organization have qualified staff in Finance? Is the current accounting system computerized and does have the capacity to collect and provide separate financial reports on the activities executed under the Agreement of Cooperation? Does it have systems and practices to monitor and report whether the project deliverables and expenditures are within agreed time and budget? Does it have minimum segregation of duties in place (separation between project management, finance/accounting and executive office)	CVs of key finance and accounting staff Description and key features and controls of the accounting system used Organization structure/ Organogram
2.3 Does the organization have the capacity to procure goods and services on a transparent and competitive basis?	Copies of procurement policies and procedures. The procedures should show how the IP procures locally.
2.4 Does the organization have formal procedures and controls to mitigate fraud such as multiple signature signatories on bank accounts, reporting and prosecution of incidences of fraud?	Describe anti-fraud controls and provide formal procedures
4.   Technical Proposal		50%
4.1 Is technical proposal sound and responds adequately to the specifications and requirements?	Technical Proposal document <provide link>
4.2. Is the methodology proposed for the implementation adapted to the specific local contexts and the audience (IDPs and people in vulnerable situations) ?
4.3. Is the content proposed for the different themes aligned with national and international standards or guidance from UN agencies ?
4.4. Does the partner propose innovative elements (including for trainings and awareness raising campaigns) that help to change behaviors?
Cumulative score for ratios		100%

Please send proposals to

stephanie.loose@un.org;

yombi.ouedraogo@un.org and

Sheila.sanouidi@un.org

Notes:

1. Interested Organizations must provide information indicating that they are qualified to perform the services (brochure, description of similar assignments, experience in similar conditions, availability of appropriate skills among staff, etc).
2. The CFP and accompanying documents must be received in accordance with instructions provided. CFP submitted to a different email address other than the specified one will not be considered.
3. CFP from applicants failing to provide the complete information to fulfill the basic eligibility criteria will be considered non-responsive.
4. CFP received after the above deadline will not be considered
5. Organizations will be selected in accordance with the procedure set out in the UN-Habitat IP Management policy and Standard Operating Procedures.
6. CFP from applicants failing to provide the requested information will be disregarded.
7. This CFP does not entail any commitment on the part of UN-Habitat, either financial or otherwise. UN-Habitat reserves the right to accept or reject any or all Proposals without incurring any obligation to inform the affected applicant(s) of the grounds.