Country: Iraq
Closing date: 30 Aug 2017
I.Background
In delivering the UNESCO’s commitment to provide technical assistance to the Government of Iraq towards improving capacities in managing integrated groundwater resources, “Advanced Survey of Hydrogeological Resources in Iraq, Phase 2 (ASHRI-2) project was implemented in partnership with GoI and KRI. The project is funded by the European Union (EU) with counterpart funding support from relevant ministries in both governments.
In 2010, UNESCO had launched and subsequently implemented Phase-I of the “Advanced Survey for Sustainable Groundwater Development in Iraq.” The proposed activities by the respective Project Document were carried over in Phase-II of the project, and relied on as the baseline inventory of hydrogeological knowledge established by UNESCO during Phase-I. The proposed action in Phase 1 focused on strengthening of the institutional capacity of government officials in driving sustainable groundwater management.
As follow-up project, UNESCO's Office for Iraq is currently implementing a 47-month project on “Advanced Survey of Hydrogeological Resources in Iraq, Phase 2 (ASHRI-2) that commenced Nov 2013 to October 2017 with funding from the EU. The overall objective of the project aimed at improving ground water resources' management with specific objectives: (i) To deliver an Advanced Survey of Hydrogeological Resources in Iraq; (ii) To build capacities in remote sensing technologies and mapping of hydrogeological resources; and (iii) To improve national planning and policy development capabilities of Iraqi institutions dealing with groundwater.
The expected outputs of the project include (i) hydrogeological survey report with Soil maps (thematic cartographic products), Hydrogeological maps (thematic cartographic products), an updated database, the delivery of Groundwater Exploration Navigation System (GENS), and specialized thematic maps (thematic cartographic products); (ii) capacity building in hydrogeological mapping, exploration and monitoring of hydrogeological resources, and ability to utilize “Drilling handbook“ specifically on ground-truthing exercises, and monitoring of groundwater on-site via digital mapping support devices; plus (iii) skill development for data interpretation and management, of hydrogeological resources.
The implementation process of ASHRI-2 has been confronted with a number of unexpected/unpredictable delays due to project framework conditions being beyond the control of the project management, such as post-conflict related, prevailing dysfunctional hydro-administrative bodies/line ministries on side of the beneficiaries, and lengthy administrative procedures asking for the approval of a no-cost-extension (NCE), while in fact the seen need for it had been addressed with the beneficiaries, and the client in August 2015. The NCE was finally granted towards the end of 2016, however, for effectively a much shorter period than suggested/applied for by the project management of UNESCO. This, circumstantially has resulted in a suspension of work and activities which caused a seriously disruptive stand-still of the entire implementation process for a period of about 10 months. The effective resumption of work and activities, and required remobilization of previously engaged personnel working on ASHRI-2, happened during the first two months of 2017. Upon remobilization and resumption of implementation activities, UNESCO - in a time consuming effort- managed to rearrange work-plans, and resources’ mobilization, including – but not limited to – contractual adaptations and cooperation agreements with all partners involved.
Thanks to the great support and understanding by the government representatives (for the key-stakeholders), UNESCO, alongside with its technical partners involved, has successfully managed to bring the implementation process back on track.
In line with the current mandate, UNESCO has developed the program to fit under the umbrella of joint donor assistance strategies (EU CSP 2011-2013 and United Nations Development Assistance Framework - UNDAF), in line with national priorities such as the National Development Plan (NDP). Referring to Water Policies, the NDP defines the following priorities relating to the management of water and groundwater resources as it particularly applies to the needs formulated by the Agricultural Sector:
(i) Reaching an agreement with the countries that share water from the Tigris and Euphrates and their tributaries (Turkey, Syria, and Iran) to do so according to international agreements and conventions to guarantee that Iraq obtains a quantitatively and qualitatively just share of water.
(ii) Complete the second stage of the water budget quickly (the strategic study of water and land resources) that the Ministry of Water Resources has undertaken for the various sectors that are beneficiaries and consumers, including agriculture, electricity, transport, swamps (Al-Ahwar), drinking, healthy water, industrial needs, and others.
(iii) Applying the principles of integrated management of water resources in coordination with all parties responsible for the ideal use of water resources and maintaining them
(iv) Strategically invest in groundwater dedicating required sums to buy digging equipment and holding the Ministry of Water Resources solely responsible for those resources. Random expansion in digging wells should be limited by preventing private companies, and even the government companies under the control of the state’s organizations, from investment except unless they have obtained approval from the Ministry of Water Resources.
(v) Building on the suggestions made by Turkey during water resource negotiations concerning the ideal and rational of water.
(vi) Establishing a database and information system in the field of managing water and irrigation to use in the processes of planning, managing the demand for water for different purposes, developing the apparatuses of measuring wastes and levels and methods of collecting hydrological and climate methods about the basins of the Tigris and Euphrates, and documenting them.
(vi)
Designed with government-led partnership and collaboration framework, the main stakeholders of the project included the relevant/mandated line-ministries namely the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) of the Central government and the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources (MoAWR) of the Kurdistan Regional Government.
Originally, ASHRI-2 was supposed to end by April 30 2016, based on a period of 30 months.
Integral to UNESCO’s evaluation policy and in compliance with the project agreement between EU and UNESCO, a full review will be carried out by an external evaluator, aiming at revealing salient recommendations with lessons learnt for future programming of similar interventions.
How to apply:
Your proposal should be submitted by e-mail no later than close of business on or before 30 August 2017 (18:00 Iraq time) at the following email addresses ONLY: