Survey, Clearance and Explosive Ordnance Risk Education in Ar-Raqqa and Deir Ez-Zor, Syria

Call description

UNOPS seeks an accredited, registered mine action organisation to reduce explosive ordnance risks in Ar-Raqqa and Deir Ez-Zor, Syria. The grant supports survey, clearance and land release, explosive ordnance disposal, risk education and community liaison for affected communities, displaced people, returnees and humanitarian and early recovery actors. Intended benefits include safer access to land and services and support for agriculture, livelihoods and recovery. The separate eligibility finding notes an inconsistency about commercial applicants.

The expected grant duration is 12 months. The call notes that dates may change depending on factors affecting proposal evaluation and award. The total grant funding available under the call is USD 1,470,000. The proposal budget ceiling is also USD 1,470,000; these are distinct call-wide and proposal-level limits, not evidence that every applicant will receive the full amount. Implementation remains subject to funding availability.

Priorities and eligibility

The eligibility section lists non-governmental and commercial mine action organisations registered to operate in the Syrian Arab Republic. Commercial applicants may not include profit margins. The call also requires registration evidence from the relevant Syrian authorities for mine action operations; the apparent conflict with the call objective should be resolved before relying on the commercial route.

At proposal submission, specified ineligibility or sanctions listings and failure to address allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse through the specified preventive measures, investigation and corrective action make an applicant ineligible. The suspension exclusion applies where the applicant is currently suspended from doing business with UNOPS and has been removed from its vendor databases for reasons other than engaging in proscribed practices. Actual or potential conflicts must be disclosed and resolved acceptably to UNOPS. Separately, the declarations template states that engagement in its listed critical areas does not automatically result in exclusion.

The call objective seeks a non-governmental organisation, while its eligibility section also lists commercial mine action entities without profit margins. The supplied evidence does not establish which wording governs. Obtain written clarification from UNOPS before a commercial entity relies on the listed applicant route.

The eligibility section requires permission to operate in Rural Damascus and Daraa, but the programme and pass/fail screening concern Ar-Raqqa and Deir Ez-Zor. It is unclear whether the former permission is also required or is an error. Seek written clarification; do not assume either set of permissions can be disregarded.

Which accreditation scope must an applicant demonstrate? The eligibility section names non-technical survey, explosive ordnance disposal and risk education, while pass/fail screening additionally names technical survey and clearance. Both refer to provisional UNMAS desk accreditation or national accreditation. Seek written confirmation of the required scope and submit evidence for the screening criteria where available.

Formal and eligibility screening is pass/fail. Proposals then need at least 70 % of the technical points to proceed to financial evaluation. The published weighting is 80:20 for technical and financial proposals. UNOPS may request clarification, but a response cannot change proposal substance; incomplete or materially non-compliant applications may be rejected.

Funding and application requirements

The call directs applicants to create personal and organisation profiles and apply through Grant+, entering proposal information, the financial proposal and results framework on the platform and uploading the narrative and other required documents. The instructions make Grant+ mandatory when the opportunity is published there; they also describe email and physical delivery where the call specifies those methods. The supplied call specifies Grant+, not an alternative submission channel. A consortium lead submits through Grant+ unless UNOPS instructs otherwise.

Sub-granting and contracting are permissible, and partnerships with Syrian national non-governmental and community-based organisations are encouraged for risk education and community liaison. A joint venture, consortium or association may apply where expertise is lacking: its lead submits on behalf of the group, and all parties are jointly and severally liable. An entity cannot be an applicant in one proposal and a sub-grantee in another, although it may be a sub-grantee in more than one proposal.

Application materials include the narrative proposal, financial proposal, declarations, registration and operational permission evidence, accreditation proof, a standalone code of conduct covering prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, and a safety and security management plan. The signed proposal declaration must be authorised; the proposal must be typewritten and electronically or wet signed. The call requests the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse self-assessment and directs applicants to complete it via the United Nations Partner Portal. The general capacity assessment questionnaire is for the selected applicant, not a universal application attachment.

Proposals and correspondence must be in English. Supporting documents are submitted in their original language; where that is not English, applicants must provide English translations of relevant excerpts and are responsible for their accuracy. The translation prevails for evaluation.

The proposal submission deadline stated in the call is 12 November 2026. The instructions say late proposals will be rejected.

The budget must use USD, itemise direct costs by subcategory, line and month, and explain estimates. Indirect costs may be up to 10 % of direct costs; proposals must be net of taxes and duties as specified. Applicants must budget for potential audit costs, capacity self-assessment costs and protection measures. Financial evaluation considers cost reasonableness, justification and allocation.

Recommendations

Inclusive delivery and accountability are assessed on practical detail, not commitments alone. Community-facing teams must have gender-balanced representation, and the proposal should show accessible and confidential feedback arrangements and tailored risk education. Describe specific adaptations, staffing continuity and referral arrangements, and show how disaggregated monitoring will inform delivery.

The programme design must distinguish the governorates: Ar-Raqqa prioritises release of hazardous areas, while Deir Ez-Zor prioritises contamination mapping, including non-technical survey along and outside the Euphrates valley. Both governorates require a feasible access and operations plan. Explain team deployment, disposal resources and contingencies against each geographical priority, rather than presenting a single undifferentiated activity plan.

The equipment rule affects both cash planning and cost reasonableness: necessary equipment purchases are not to be charged directly to UNOPS; organisations should buy equipment with their own funds and lease it at a competitive rate. Verify access to equipment and document lease-rate assumptions alongside the operational plan. The supplied evidence does not establish an applicant’s ability to finance the purchases.

The implementation plan, results framework and monitoring plan need to form a coherent account of how accredited teams will deliver and verify results. The call asks for mobilisation and demobilisation, projected productivity, indicators and means of verification, and representative pre/post risk-education assessments. Connect team capacity and timing to realistic targets and explain how survey, clearance and education results will be recorded and checked.