Verfahrensangaben

Mauritania's border regions with Mali - Hodh El Gharbi, Assaba, and Guidimakha - are among the country's most dynamic yet most challenged territories. High poverty rates, limited infra-structure, and increasing climate pressures affect livelihoods and social cohesion. While the decentralization framework entrusts municipalities with the delivery of basic services, there is a need to further strengthen their technical, financial, and institutional capacities to fully meet citizens' expectations.

The project ProCommune - Strengthening Border Municipalities is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), in partnership with the Mauritanian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF). It forms part of the umbrella programme Peace and Social Cohesion in Mauritania and contributes to the national decentralization strategy and the 2030 Agenda - specifically SDG 1.5 (resilience to poverty and shocks) and SDG 16.7 (inclusive and effective institutions). The project runs from December 2024 to November 2027.

Overall objective: Selected Mauritanian municipalities provide improved, needs-based public services to their populations. The project supports 17 communes along the Malian border, home to about 1.2 million people, including women, youth, pastoralists, and refugees.

Key outputs:

1. Strengthened technical and organizational capacities of governmental and non-governmental actors at local and regional levels.

2. Enhanced coordination and cooperation among stakeholders at communal, regional, and national levels for inclusive governance.

To achieve these results, ProCommune promotes participatory planning and budgeting, transparent municipal management, and inclusive local decision-making. It provides tailored training, coaching, and advisory services for communes, decentralized services, and civil-society organizations. The approach systematically integrates gender equality, environmental sustainability, and conflict sensitivity, in line with the integrated territorial approach (ATI).

Given the region's exposure to climate shocks, insecurity, and migration, the project also fosters local resilience through community-based planning, risk assessment, and early-warning mechanisms. Cross-border cooperation and social cohesion are encouraged to prevent tensions and strengthen peace in the Sahel.

By reinforcing local governance and the relationship between citizens and the state, ProCommune supports more effective, inclusive, and accountable service delivery in Mauritania's border areas.

The present tender aims to contract a qualified consulting firm or consortium to provide technical assistance and capacity development services that contribute to project output 1.
The contractor will work closely with local authorities, decentralized technical services, and civil-society organizations across the three target regions (Assaba, Guidimagha, Hodh Gharbi).

1. Objectives of the Assignment
- Strengthen the capacities of communes to plan, finance, and manage local development and basic services.
- Support participatory, transparent, and gender-sensitive local governance mechanisms.
- Contribute to evidence-based learning, communication, and capitalization of project results.

2. Main Areas of Intervention
1. Institutional and organizational development
o Support to communal structures for planning, budgeting, and reporting.
o Coaching of municipal teams on administrative and financial management.
2. Capacity development and training
o Design and implementation of training programmes for elected officials, communal staff, and local associations.
o Development of practical tools and guidelines for participatory planning and local service delivery.
3. Support to local development initiatives
o Assistance in identifying, formulating, and monitoring microprojects financed by the local development fund.
o Integration of gender equality, climate adaptation, and conflict-sensitive approaches into project selection and implementation.

4. Knowledge management and communication
o Collection and analysis of data for monitoring and evaluation.
o Documentation of best practices, preparation of case studies, and dissemination of results.
5. Coordination and synergy building
o Collaboration with MEF, DGDDL, DGAT, and other partners (EU, UNICEF, ENABEL, World Bank).

3. Expected Deliverables
- A detailed inception report with methodology, work plan, and results framework.
- Training modules, manuals, and facilitation tools adapted to local contexts.
- Regular technical and financial reports, including data on indicators and lessons learned.
- A capitalization report summarizing good practices and recommendations for scaling up.

4. Implementation Approach
The consultant will apply a participatory, adaptive, and results-oriented methodology aligned with GIZ standards. Capacity transfer, ownership by local actors, and coordination with other donors are key principles. Activities must integrate the cross-cutting themes of gender equality, climate resilience, and conflict sensitivity.

Cf. tender documents.

GIZ may optionally commission contract amendments and/or increases based on the criteria in the tender documents to the successful bidder of this tender. For details, please see the terms of reference.

According to Article 160, Section 3 of the German Act Against Restraint of Competition (GWB), application for review is not permissible insofar as
1. the applicant has identified the claimed infringement of the procurement rules before submitting the application for review and has not submitted a complaint to the contracting authority within a period of 10 calendar days; the expiry of the period pursuant to Article 134, Section 2 remains unaffected,
2. complaints of infringements of procurement rules that are evident in the tender notice are not submitted to the contracting authority at the latest by the expiry of the deadline for the application or by the deadline for the submission of bids, specified in the tender notice.
3. complaints of infringements of procurement rules that first become evident in the tender documents are not submitted to the contracting authority at the latest by the expiry of the deadline for application or by the deadline for the submission of bids,
4. more than 15 calendar days have expired since receipt of notification from the contracting authority that it is unwilling to redress the complaint.
Sentence 1 does not apply in the case of an application to determine the invalidity of the contract in accordance with Article 135, Section 1 (2). Article 134, Section 1, Sentence 2 remains unaffected.

All communication takes place in English via communication tool in the project area of the procurement portal.