The Ministry of Energy and Water Resources of the Federal Government of Somalia is responsible for implementation of integrated Water Resources Management, component 1 under **“**Promoting Resilience Through an Integrated Approach to Water, Environment and DRR in Somalia project funded by SIDA through UNDP Somalia to address the country’s resilience and wellbeing of water-stressed, ecologically fragile, and vulnerable communities. The component promotes an integrated approach and addresses capacity needs and gaps and national priorities for the water sector, identified in the National Water Resources Strategy and other national strategies and policy documents of Somalia.

The project builds on past experiences, complements the ongoing national efforts under the National Water Resources Strategy (NWRS, 2021-2-25) and National Development Plan (NDP-9), and calls for an integrated approach to deliver results on the ground in the areas of integrated water resources management, environmental governance, and disaster risk management. The program at large has two overarching outputs: to (i) build capacity in IWRM and “water” at large and (ii) establishment geospatial technology unit.

The expected outcome of IWRM capacity development is to contribute to strengthening Somalia’s capacity to build water security and bring well-being to its people. This will be achieved through two main outputs. Output 1: Enhanced Individuals Capacities for IWRM in Somalia , Output 2: Enhanced Institutional Capacities for IWRM in Somalia.

IWRM focuses on critically important issues for the survival and sustenance of the people, their livelihoods and the ecological resources within which they live. Somalia presents huge capacity gaps, both at the individual and institutional levels, to promote integrated water resource management in the country. In a water-scarce country like Somalia, every drop of water matters and needs judicious use. While the people across social fabrics need to be aware of efficient use of water, the institutions and the officials responsible for water resource management must be trained and equipped with the skills, capacity, and systems on IWRM that would promote effective decision making on water allocations and efficient utilization of water resources at all level enabling IWRM helps to bring clarity on how water is converted into goods and services (i.e., how water is allocated between sectors and in-sector use efficiency) and how these benefits are shared among recipients. Human capacity in water professions is scarce in Somalia. The project focusing on both short term and long-term capacity development to enhance the capacity of individual and institutional level.

The Ministry plans to establish a geospatial unit at the HQ office of the Ministry in Mogadishu that will enable to the Ministry to produce, collect, disseminate and application of geospatial data on water and climate sector for decision making process and improve flood and drought early warning system in Somalia.

The establishment of Geospatial Technology Unit is expected to undertake analysis, assessment and implementation of all water related technologies such as data collection, analysis, mapping and assessment in the field of water resources. The unit will have links with the federal member states institutions for in the field data collection and analysis.

The water institutions at federal and states level are in desperate need to improve necessary equipment and technical facilities that the staff can use for their daily work and on-job training. Without tools both soft and hard it is difficult if not impossible to achieve good results at work. Therefore, work stations at the institutions mandated with water resources management will need to be properly equipped. This will include GIS equipment that will work with satellite and Resistivity Equipment for surface and groundwater investigations.

This project is part of the roadmap implementation of the NWRS which provides a suite of strategies, objectives, and actions for the water sector for the 2021-2025 period. However, some of the outcomes will only be realized in the longer-term. The NWRS targets to unlock key actions and align with the Provisional Constitution (2012), Sustainable Development Goals and sectoral policies and laws. The NDP-9 will be the key driver for the NWRS over the next 5 to 10 years.

Under the NWRS, there are three Strategic Goals for this first edition that provides the basis for future water sector developments: Goal 1: Establishing a Functional Water Sector Governance Framework provides the strategic approach and actions towards strengthening water sector governance; Goal 2: Operationalizing Integrated Water Resources Management which provides the strategic approach and actions towards improved and integrated water resource management as a basis for ensuring sustainable water resource development and the provision of sanitation services.

During the assessment phase of the strategy development, many issues and challenges were identified including lack of Geospatial unit at the Ministry which address the issue of data management challenges to water sector of Somalia.

Objective of the work

The overall objective of this consultancy service is to support and develop technical proposal aiming at establishment of Geospatial technology Unit to enhance the institutional and individual capacities of the Ministry of energy and Water Resources. The specific objectives of the consultants will be as follows:

• Conduct and identify capacity gaps on Geospatial technologies for Water sector
• Identify and draft the software and hardware tools and equipment requirement of the Geospatial unit of the Ministry
• Advice and support the technical specifications and functions of the Geospatial Unit
• Develop and draft a technical proposal on establishment of the Geospatial unit
• Provide any other related tasks assigned by the Ministry

Scope of the Work/Expected outcome

The consultant(s) will develop a technical proposal for the establishment of Geospatial unit at the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources of the Federal government of Somalia. The consult will:

1. Develop a technical proposal for geospatial unit establishment at MoEWR headquarter in Mogadishu
2. Provide on job training to the staff of the Ministry at the Federal and State level
3. Development of national geospatial data standards to direct and regulate spatial data collection and sharing
4. Investigate the current situation in Somalia to assess the needs for national geospatial data standards development
5. Investigate the gaps and challenges of geospatial data collection and dissemination in Somalia particularly water sector
6. Collect information on relevant data available across the country in different systems and databases, summarize the findings and recommendations for standardization and integration of the existing data to improve the geospatial unit
7. Collect information on successful international experience of national geospatial data standards development, summarize the findings and recommendations,
8. Develop and recommend the required software and hardware to the geospatial unit
9. Prepare and submit a technical proposal on establishment of Geospatial unit requirements to the Ministry

Qualification and Experience

Experience:

• Minimum of 8 years of relevant experience with similar assignment

Academic Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree or equivalent in geography or urban planning, or equivalent with technical specialization in Geo-spatial technology, cartography, data management, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) or equivalent.

Competencies:

• Working and Strong practical experience in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is very essential.
• Knowledge of technical aspects of geospatial data management and utilization; familiarity with coordinate geometry, data conversion, and validation, spatial analysis and visualization.
• Ability to solve GIS-specific problems and convey GIS information to non-GIS people.
• Relevance Experience in managing data collection, entry and maintenance.
• Ability to handle a large volume of work in an effective and timely manner

Languages:

Fluency in English and Somali Languages