Deadline 10 July 2023
Call for Expressions of Interest for partners to implement the project: Harare Sustainable City Initiatives: (Promotion of Carbon Neutral Urban Basic Services and Energy Efficient Built Environment)
Date first published: 3 July 2023
Deadline for submissions of EoIs: 10 July 2023
Introduction
UN-HABITAT is the central player for knowledge sharing, monitoring, and reporting on progress to accelerate the implementation of an inclusive New Urban Agenda to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. UN-Habitat is mandated by the General Assembly to ensure adequate shelter for all and to promote sustainable urbanisation globally. The Agencyโs headquarters is in Nairobi and is responsible for assisting member states to develop their housing and urban planning policies. UN-Habitat carries both normative and operational interventions globally. UN-Habitat is also one of the leads United Nations agencies for monitoring the implementation of SDG 11: โSustainable cities and communities: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainableโ. Since its establishment in 1977, UN-HABITAT has partnered with different organisations, national and local governments, civil society organisations, Community-based organisations, private sectors, and academia, to promote sustainable human settlements development and sustainable cities interventions. These programs help cities to develop their low-emission pathways with clear strategies that are suitable to their local context. UN-Habitat has designed and implemented sustainable waste management policies, strategies, training courses as well as waste-handling equipment for local authorities. In 2020, the agency organised a regional workshop on the transfer of the Integrated Resources Recovery methodology from Southeast Asia to Africa. This affordable waste management system was well received by local governments in Kenya and Cameroon and several of shown key interest in adopting them.
UN-Habitat promotes Integrated Resource Recovery Centres (IRRC), a facility where a large portion of domestic waste (e.g. from households, markets, commercial establishments), can be processed in a cost-effective way with low-cost appropriate technologies. IRRC focuses on organic waste (fresh organic waste coming mainly from kitchens, restaurants, vegetable wholesale markets, parks, and lawns) including meat and fish waste, and inorganic waste (mainly paper, packaging materials, and appliances made of plastic, glass, tin, aluminum, iron, etc.). IRRCs typically have the capacity to process 2 to 50 tons per day, depending on the population whose needs must be met and investment size.
The city of Harare lacks the resources and capacities to carry out effective and efficient municipal solid waste management. As a result, the city implements short-term end-of-pipe solutions that involve poor collection, transportation, and disposal. This approach only spatially displaces a fraction of the total waste generated by dumpsites. This linear path of disposal is resource intensive and inefficient. There are several community-based organisations involved in waste management throughout the city, operating at low capacity for a lack of proper equipment and adequate resources. Only a fraction of waste is collected and recycled. They make a living by selling recycle waste.
In an effort to assist the city of Harare to improve the service delivery to its citizens with a particular focus on the urban and peri-urban poor, UN-Habitat has developed a project entitled Harare Sustainable City Initiatives with funding from Sida and other partners. The overall project objective is to provide better living conditions to Harare citizens by increasing and improving their access to sustainable waste-to-wealth services, and clean energy provisions and to promote energy and resource efficiency in Zimbabweโs built environment.
The project will showcase good examples of integrated sustainable waste management, resource recovery from waste, urban renewable energy generation for productive uses, and mainstreaming energy and resource efficiency into building policies and building practices. The project will demonstrate tangible sustainable zero-waste practices, clean energy solutions and energy efficiency principles to encourage replication and upscaling.
Learning from international best practices, the Harare Sustainable City Initiatives plan to build two IRRC in Harare to provide a low-cost integrated waste management facility that will process and recover resources from waste.
Furthermore, UN-HABITAT has earned a reputation for partnering with different organizations across the world in fostering a better urban future for all through the promotion of energy and resource efficiencies in the built environment, to mention a few. UN-Habitat also assists national and local governments to develop sustainable energy and climate action plans and implementing related programs. To demonstrate its capacity, between 2013-2018, UN-Habitat partnered with East African organizations to promote capacity building and knowledge transfer for energy access, energy efficiency, and low-carbon technologies in the field of sustainable housing. The partnership was executed through the Promoting Energy Efficiency in Buildings in East Africa (EEBEA) project which saw UN-Habitat working with the Joint development of courses for Energy efficient and sustainable housing in Africa (JENGA). In this regards, UN-Habitat, through the Harare Sustainable City Initiative would like to mainstream energy and resources efficiency into building code, building regulation, building practices in Zimbabwe.
Finally, UN-Habitat has designed and built a concept of energy hub called Multifunctional Clean Energy Centres (MCEC) to enhance access to affordable and reliable energy service to the urban and peri urban poor. Several systems have been built in Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique. The MCEC is used to improve sanitation facilities, access to safe water and modern energy services, create jobs for urban and peri-urban poor. The MCEC combines several urban basic services in one roof namely: solar energy, biogas and sanitation system connected to public toilets, washroom facilities, water kiosk and other basic services that are affordable for poor communities. MCEC also act as station for the collection, transfer, treatment, and recycling of the waste collected in the area and also include community spaces that can be rented out for meetings, vocational trainings or utilized as office space. MCEC provided with solar energy systems, enables the community to access affordable, reliable, and clean energy services.
The Harare Sustainable City Initiatives plans to build two MCEC in Harare to provide affordable and reliable energy services to the local population.
Objective
The Harare Sustainable City Initiatives aims at enhancing the overall well-being, health, and living conditions of Zimbabwe citizens through access to sustainable and low carbon urban basic services from sustainable solid waste management and the use of renewable energy systems. The project will also promote the production and use of low-carbon building materials.
This will be achieved through improved operations of municipal solid waste management, technologies transfer, energy and resource recovery, clean energy generation and promotion of climate-responsive building material production. The project will enhance energy access to targeted communities by providing a reliable and renewable energy supply generated from locally available resources.
Expressions of interest (EOI)
UN-Habitat invites Expressions of Interest from academic or research institutions; Not-for-Profit Organizations, Governmental and Inter-Governmental organizations to support the delivery of UN-Habitatโs Harare Sustainable City Initiatives, and to provide better living condition to Harare citizens by increasing their access to basic services (energy, water, sanitation, and solid waste management) and to promote sustainable energy and resource efficient built environment in Zimbabwe.
The following activities shall be carried out by the selected partner:
Facilitation of site selection for project implementation and engage with local authorities to obtain all legal document s for the operation of the sites;
Facilitation of the stakeholdersโ engagement in the project
Facilitation of the selection process of the project beneficiaries
Recruit and manage staff for the operation of the waste transfer stations.
Overall, on-the-ground implementation of the project, including day-to-day activities.
Engage in additional resource mobilisation to contribute to the operation of the facilities.
Reporting on the project's progress
The EOI should contain, but not be limited to the following:
The overall experience of the organization in the areas of project implementation. A short conceptual proposal on how the organization plans to develop and implement this initiative incl. scope and nature of work. The support/ contribution the organization is willing to make including cash and in-kind; (contribution in terms of staff time, office space and equipment and other support in cash and in-kind should be expressed in monetary terms.) Copies of statement of annual budget of the previous 2 years. Copies annual activities report of the previous 2 years. Copy of two latest audited reports, and Governance and organizational structure; experience and qualifications of key professional staff and infrastructure facilities of the organization.
Requirements
UN-Habitat is looking for implementing partners with track records in working with the communities on waste recovery activities. Implementing partners should have at least 5 years of working experience in the field of waste management, counseling, and rehabilitation or clean energy, sustainably built environment, etc.
Academia, Not for profit organisations, and government institutions are encouraged to send their EOI
Budget
UN-Habitat will contribute financial resources up to USD 495,000 (Four Thousand Nine Hundred and Fifty United States Dollars) towards this Agreement of Cooperation. The EOI shall refer to counter-part contributions (cash and in-kind) of the applying entity.
Overall Timeframe
The work outlined in this EOI is scheduled to commence by 15 July 2023 and be completed by 15 July 2026.
Submission Requirements and Guidelines
Expression of Interest must be delivered by email no later than 10 July 2023 to unhabitat.ubss.eoi@un.org with the reference โEOI-Harare sustainable City 2023โ in the subject of your email.
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:
Vincent Kitio,
Lead Urban Energy Solutions, Urban Basic Services Section โ
United Nations Human Settlements Programme
(UN-Habitat)
P.O. Box 30030 Nairobi, Kenya
Vincent.kitio@un.org
CC: Mr. Souleymane Diawara
Team Assistant, Urban Energy Solutions Team
Email: Souleymane.diawara@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 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.