Deadline: 11-Feb-21
The Municipal Empowerment and Resilience Project is a joint initiative by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). The project is being implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities (MoIM) and funded by the European Union (EU), through its Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis.
The project aims to strengthen the long-term resilience of sub national authorities in Lebanon as well as that of host communities and displaced persons affected by the crisis. The Project’s geographic areas of intervention are Tripoli Municipality, the Federation of Municipalities of the Northern and Coastal Metn, the Urban Community Al Fayhaa and Union of Tyre municipalities with a total of around 92 potential partner municipalities.
In its geographical focus area, MERP will support municipalities in the implementation of basic service and LED projects that address the immediate needs of host, displaced and refugee communities. At the same time, MERP sees the design and implementation of such projects as a key opportunity to strengthen municipal capacity to conceive and propose basic service/LED projects through hands-on learning and coaching.
Objectives
- Subnational authorities will have enhanced capacities to engage in holistic, area-based planning and to consider different scenarios that respond to the needs of the host, refugee, and internally displaced person (IDP) populations.
- Service delivery will be increasingly responsive and will generate more significant social stability outcomes based on the needs of the host, refugee, and IDP populations.
- Subnational authorities will be empowered to facilitate local economic development and will have better access to municipal investment that will benefit the extension of public services and economic opportunities for the host, refugee and IDP populations.
Eligibility Criteria
- Targeted municipalities: Municipalities under the three Unions of Municipalities and Tripoli municipality are eligible to apply. Municipalities can apply for an individual project or for a joint project.
- Individual projects: Projects that benefit one municipality.
- Joint projects: Municipalities can submit a concept note for a joint project. However, for joint projects, only infrastructure projects are eligible. In the case of joint projects, municipalities are required to pick one pole municipality.
- Number of concept notes: Each municipality can submit one concept note only, either for a joint project or an individual project (e.g. a municipality that is part of a joint project cannot submit an additional concept note for a project that benefits the municipality only).
- Types of intervention: proposed projects can fall under any of the following sectors: infrastructure, transportation, education, agriculture and food security, energy, health, social protection, tourism, socio-cultural, environment (except: solid waste management) and livelihood. The projects can consist of new construction or rehabilitation. N.B. for joint projects, only infrastructure projects are eligible.
- Budget of the project: The share to be funded by MERP shall not exceed USD$330,000 excluding design & VAT, whether it is a project for an individual project or a joint project. The municipality is expected to contribute by cash or in-kind. No transfer of funds is foreseen in the frame of this intervention.
- Duration of the project: The planned duration of project implementation (excluding design and permit phase) shall not exceed 8 months.
For more information, visit https://www.lb.undp.org/content/lebanon/en/home/projects/MERP.html