The GO4SDGs “SMEs Assessment” work stream in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) is led by the UNEP Regional Office for Europe and the Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (GGKP).  This work stream focuses on rapidly deploying an SME self-assessment solution on a region-by-region basis; the output of which will support the uptake of resource efficiency practices by providing SMEs with simplified and tailored access to existing support services such as capacity building, financing solutions and SME networks. The objective of this workstream is three-fold:

1. Deploy a system through which the needs of individual SMEs can be easily ascertained and that takes into account their sector of activity and location.
2. Develop a dynamic database of resource efficiency support services existing in the target region and which can be easily upscaled and replicated.
3. Match the existing resource efficiency support services with the identified SMEs based on their specific needs, and work with the organisations providing the support services to upscale and replicate them as required to meet the increased demand from SMEs.

The GO4SDGS workstream is also supporting the work of the United Nations Development Agency (UNDA) project “Enhancing sustainable public procurement (SPP) for the regional transition to inclusive green economy in EECCA”. The UNDA SPP project, which is led by the UNEP Europe Office and implemented jointly with UNECE and GGKP, aims to strengthen the capacity of selected countries in the EECCA region on sustainable public procurement and enhance the capacity of the business sector in the project countries to comply with sustainable public procurement regulations and procedures and respective sustainability criteria. Due to the focus of the GO4SDGS workstream on SME assessment, this project will support the SPP project in relation to the component focused on assessing the capacity of SMEs to comply with new sustainability criteria for public procurement in three focus countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine) within the EECCA region.

The GO4SDGS workstream will thereby ultimately support SMEs implement resource efficiency actions that will help them manage the impacts of the current COVID crisis, improve their ability to comply with SSP criteria and build resilience for both future crises and growing market competition.

Objective of the call of proposals

UNEP invites universities, research centres, think-tanks, business associations, National Cleaner Production Centers, NGOs and other civil society organizations to submit their proposals to provide technical assistance for the GO4SDGs “SME Assessment” workstream and UNDA Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) project in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA).

The applicant entity must demonstrate, based on the information requested below, that it is duly qualified and has the necessary experience to carry out the service described in the scope, duties and responsibilities of the technical assistance.

Only non-profit organizations will be eligible.

Scope, duties, and responsibilities

The project covers the EECCA region as well as a more in-depth focus on Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. The work will involve:

• Supporting the development of key partnerships with international, regional and national organisations and companies engaged with SMEs in the EECCA region and the three focus countries
• Assessing the ability of SMEs to comply with sustainability criteria related to priority product groups and providing them with advisory services
• Compiling existing SME resource efficiency and sustainable procurement knowledge products and support services and carrying out a comprehensive gap analysis
• Supporting the development and delivery of combined I-GO and SPP virtual training workshops
• Updating the SME Self-assessment tool recommendations and content, and subsequent translation into Russian
• Supporting communication campaigns to build awareness of the benefits of I-GO and SPP

Expected duration and deliverables/products

The expected start date of the contract is May 2021. The duration of the services is to the end of 2021. As the project must be completed during 2021, a possible reduced project duration period should be allowed for in case of any delay to the start of the project.

Form of presentation and deadline

Proposals must be submitted in digital format (PDF) and as a single file. The proposals must be sent to the following e-mail addresses: to Rie Tsutsumi, Regional Coordinator Resource Efficiency, UNEP (rie.tsutsumi@un.org), and to Hannes Mac Nulty, Green Industry Platform (hmacnulty@ggkp.org) no later than Tuesday 30 March, 2021, 22:00 (CET).

To facilitate communication, the subject line should be: " GO4SDGs “SME Assessment” work stream in Europe"

The proposal must be submitted in English.     

Interested partners can contact the project team for information on the ongoing UNDA SPP project and relevant partners. Information requests and general questions should be sent no later than Friday 19 of March 2021. Responses will be delivered through a Frequently Asked Questions document that will be shared with partners prior to the submission deadline.