Procurement
Background
The African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) is an autonomous African intergovernmental body formed in 2002 to provide a coordinating platform for water policy dialogue on the African continent and promote sustainable management and development of the continent’s water resources with a focus on expanding access to water supply and sanitation services in Africa. AMCOW serves as a delivery mechanism on water and sanitation to the Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment (ARDWE) of the African Union Commission.
To achieve its mission, AMCOW developed a twelve-year year Strategic Plan (SP) 2018-2030 to guide its activities and initiatives. In line with this overarching strategy, AMCOW has been operating under its current Strategic Operational Plan (SOP) 2020-2024.
The SOP 2020-2024 was designed to operationalize the AMCOW Strategy 2018-2030, focusing on key priority areas including:
Strategic Priorities:
- Ensure Water Security
- Ensure Safely Managed Sanitation and Hygiene
- Promote Good Water Governance and Transboundary Water Cooperation
- Strengthen AMCOW’s Governance and Operational Effectiveness
Cross-cutting Priorities:
- Enhance Water and Sanitation Resilience to Climate Change
- Contribute to Adequate and Sustainable Financing of Water and Sanitation Agendas
- Improve Monitoring, Evaluation and Knowledge Management Systems
- Strengthen Gender Equality and Youth Empowerment in Water and Sanitation
The SOP 2020-2024 also outlined specific objectives, activities, and key performance indicators for each priority area, providing a roadmap for AMCOW’s operations and initiatives over the last five-year period.
Objective
The objective of the task is to develop AMCOW (2025-2030) Strategic Operational Plan (SOP) which is aligned to the AMCOW strategy covering the period from 2018 to 2030. Currently, as we approach the end of 2024, the SOP is set to conclude, necessitating the development of a subsequent strategy. The development of the new SOP comes at a critical juncture.It is less than two years to the last milestone year of the Africa Water Vision expires in 2025. Formulation of the post-2025 Africa Water Vision, and an accompanying Continental Policy, is underway to provide a continental implementation framework for Agenda 2063.
A mid-term evaluation of the SOP 2020-2024 has been conducted, providing valuable insights and lessons learned for the development of the new SOP. The report of the evaluation provides a key background document vis-à-vis:
- consolidating successes from that implementation period;
- drawing on the lessons learnt in the same period; and,
- ensuring that mechanisms are put in place to cater for the emerging issues arising from evolving needs and priorities in the water and sanitation sector.
Thus, given the importance of this document in guiding AMCOW’s activities and initiatives during this pivotal period, AMCOW is seeking to engage the services of an experienced and professional independent consultant or team to develop the SOP 2025-2030.
Scope of Work
The new SOP 2025-2030 will play a crucial role in this transition period. Thus, it will not only translate AMCOW’s overarching strategy into specific actions but also bridge existing policy initiatives with the water and sanitation agenda beyond 2025. A particular overarching goal is to transition to an Africa Water Vision and Policy that can provide a strategic framework towards inclusive and climate resilient water security on the continent.
The SOP is expected to define high-level framework results to be attained at relevant levels; annual milestones to be achieved; work packages; and an indication of required inputs. It is expected that the existing indicator framework for monitoring the implementation of the SOP 2020 – 2024 will be updated, as appropriate, to track progress.
See the full Terms of Reference for the detailed deliverables and more: https://knowledgehub.amcow-online.org/resource/recruitment-of-consultant-s-for-development-of-amcow-strategic-operational-plan-sop-2025-2030
Evaluation Budget and Payment
A lumpsum contract, pegged at about 70 input days over a period of 7 calendar months from November 2024 to June 2025 – will be entered into with the successful bidder. If travel is envisaged, all costs related to flights, hotel accommodation and any other cost associated with a field travel should be indicated as a separate item.
Qualification and experience
The consultant (individual) or team leader (firm) is expected to have the following minimum qualifications and experience:
- Demonstrated experience in undertaking similar assignments within Intergovernmental mandated institutions such as the AU, Regional Economic Commissions, River and Lake Basin Organisations and the UN and the Not-for-Profit Organisations such as NGOs and Civil Societies within the last 15 years.
- At least an advanced degree in water resources management, development studies, strategic planning, or related fields. In case of team of consultants, the team leader should meet the qualification requirement, and the CVs of team members should be submitted.
- Demonstrated knowledge of, the African water sector, and the institutional landscape in Africa.
- Strong analytical, writing, and communication skills.
- Excellent coordination skills and experience in conducting stakeholder consultations.
Fluency in English is required; knowledge of French, Portuguese or Arabic is an advantage.
Qualified interested candidates or teams should submit their proposal (maximum 10 pages excluding CVs), including:
- An expression of interest and technical capability statement
- Technical offer describing in detail the approach and methodologies
- A statement confirming availability to conduct this assignment in the period stated.
- Relevant experience over the last 5 years. Please use the table below for each of the relevant assignments.
Interested individuals or firms are invited to submit a formal proposal and resume no later than 10 October 2024. The application should be addressed and emailed with a subject line: AMCOW SOP 2025-2030 to:
The Executive Secretary
African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW)
No. 11, T.Y. Danjuma Street, Asokoro District
Abuja, Nigeria. Email: info@amcow-online.org
