The Government of Somalia has been implementing road improvement programs as part of its transport policy. The programs have involved rehabilitation and maintenance of, trunk, urban and rural infrastructure. The ILO has been supporting the Government of Somalia to implement a number of infrastructure projects using the Local Resources Based Approaches (LRBA) also known as the Employment Intensive Investment Approach (EIIA) which maximizes the using of local resources including labour and material. This approach has the added advantage of maximizing employment creation opportunities in project design and implementation. This approach has been implemented in almost all the member states of Somalia.

Towards this end, the Project creating decent work opportunities for Somali IDPs, returnees and host communities through employment-intensive infrastructure improvement was developed in response to the Government’s initiatives on the Comprehensive Refugees Response Frameworks (CRRF) action contained in the Somalia National Development Plan and the Baidoa Strategic Development Plan to reintegrate IDPs and returnees into society. The project is co-financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development (BMZ) through Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) and implemented by the International Labour Organization (ILO), in partnership with the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and the Federal Member State (FMS) of Southwest State of Somalia.

The project aims to improve the socio-economic conditions for internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees and host communities in the district of Baidoa, Somalia through improvement of infrastructure and creation of employment opportunities.

The project is expected to deliver a set of targeted and interlinked economic, social and environmental benefits as well as serve as a model for future replication. It will also promote a set of innovations, together with the local administration and institutions that will help create better living conditions for the IDPs returnees and the host communities. The overall goal of the project is to build social, and economic resilience of the targeted communities in Baidoa, reduce their vulnerabilities, promote gender perspectives and resilient livelihoods.

A portion of the fund will be used for the rehabilitation of approximately 13-20 km of road, rehabilitation of markets and construction of drainage structures in Baidoa town. Under the project, the roads will be constructed with a sub-base and a cobblestone surface material because of the employment potential along its value chain, improved side drains and solar powered street lights.

The project has gone through the preparatory, planning and detailed design process. A feasibility study was undertaken between December 2019 and January 2020 to prioritize the list of infrastructure measures identified through participatory processes with the involvement of the IDPs, returning refugees and their host communities. A detailed design of infrastructure projects was undertaken from October 2020 to March 2021. The first Tenders were advertised in October 2021, and the construction commenced in May 2022.

The first round of road construction projects – 2 LOTS have been completed and the second round of projects- 3 LOTS is ongoing.

A second phase of the project has been approved.

ILO intends to appoint the services of a Consultancy Firm to support the ILO in further analysis of infrastructure scope/needs for phase 2, detailed design of phase 2 projects and technical supervision and contract management of the last round of phase 1 projects plus all projects in phase 2. The scope of design and supervision works is further elaborated in ad 2.3 below.

The ILO requires the services of a duly registered, qualified and experienced civil engineering consultancy firm (hereinafter referred to as “consultant”) to support the detailed design, preparation of procurement documents, technical supervision of and monitoring of infrastructure programme measures, ensuring quality control of all steps and aspects of the process and results. The consultant shall provide detailed engineering services to ensure that the detailed design is carried out to international standards, and construction works are executed in accordance with the designs, drawings and specifications, to meet the required standards. In this regard, this assignment will require a highly qualified engineering consulting firm with knowledge and experience in labour-based road and buildings design and construction works to undertake the tasks referred to as the ‘Scope of Services’ in the ToR.

The consultant shall report directly to the ILO, through the ILO’s Chief Technical Adviser (CTA).

The consultant will liaise closely with ILO EIIP Engineer/Training Adviser in all technical design and construction aspects and in training/mentoring of partners and contractors. The consultant will liaise closely with ILO Social Safeguards Officer with regard to government and community liaison, Social safeguards, grievance redress mechanisms. The consultant shall coordinate closely with the MoPW and BDA. In this regard, the MoPW and BDA will deploy Project Supervision Engineers (PSEs) who will work directly with the consultant on day -to- day project supervision.

Under the overall responsibility of ILO, and in consultation with the Ministry of Public Works (MoPW), South West State, and the Baidoa District Authority (BDA), the consulting firm is required to undertake the detailed technical design, project management and technical supervision of construction works and to provide capacity building of the partners.

For the purpose of defining deliverables, and without limiting the scope, the consultancy services are divided into three (3) broad result areas, viz:

1. Detailed design of infrastructure
2. Supervision of infrastructure works
3. Training/Capacity Building of the MoPW and BDA

The presumed duration of services is 30 lapsed months.