REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL – RFP

Storymap celebratory publication

Dear Sir/Madam,
You are invited to submit an offer for Contract for Services – 10th Biennial GEF International
Waters Conference (IWC10) Storymap in accordance with the present solicitation document.
The Request for Proposal (RFP) consists of this cover page and the following Annexes:
Annex I Instructions to Offerors
Annex II General Conditions of Contract
Annex III Terms of Reference (TOR)
Annex IV Proposal Submission Form
Annex V Price Schedule Form
Annex VI Vendor Information Form
Your offer comprising of technical proposal and financial proposal, should be sent through two
separate emails no later than 21 July 2024 23:59 (CET), as follows:
• The Technical offer should be sent to the following email, with the mention “Technical
Proposal – IOC/MPR: IWLEARN 10th Biennial GEF International Waters Conference
(IWC10) Storymap – name of the bidder” ioc.procurement@unesco.org
• The Financial offer should be saved in a password-protected file and sent to the following
email, with the mention “Financial Proposal – IOC/MPR: IWLEARN 10th Biennial GEF
International Waters Conference (IWC10) Storymap – name of the bidder” in
subject: ioc.procurement@unesco.org .
Offers addressed at any other email accounts will be disqualified. All files together should not exceed
10 M per email. If need to include additional content, please include link to shared drive on the main
proposal document(s). Please DO NOT use Dropbox.
This letter is not to be construed in any way as an offer to contract with your firm/institution. Your
proposal could, however, form the basis for a contract between your company and UNESCO.
You are requested to acknowledge the receipt of this letter and to indicate whether or not you will be
submitting a proposal. For this purpose, and for any requests for clarification, please contact Ms.
Malek Ameri at m.ameri@unesco.org.

1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE PROJECT AND ASSIGNMENT
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is the largest public funder of projects to improve the global
environment. An independently operating financial organization, the GEF provides grants for projects
related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, and
persistent organic pollutants. The GEF International Waters (IW) focal area targets transboundary water
systems, such as river basins with water flowing from one country to another, groundwater resources
shared by several countries, or marine ecosystems bounded by more than one nation. The GEF
currently unites 183 member countries—in partnership with international institutions, civil society
organizations, and the private sector—to address global environmental issues while supporting national
sustainable development initiatives. Since the inception of the GEF in 1991, the IW portfolio (more than
470 projects with about US$2.8 billion of GEF grants and US$18.6 billion in co-finance invested in more
than 170 GEF recipient countries) has delivered substantive results and replicable experiences to be
scaled up and mainstreamed globally.
GEF IW:LEARN is one of these projects, and its mandate is to promote experience sharing and learning
among the GEF IW projects and the country officials, agencies, and partners working on them.
IW:LEARN operates as a central hub of information and knowledge sharing and delivers a host of
programmatic initiatives for the benefit of the GEF IW portfolio of projects. In pursuit of its global and
regional objectives, IW:LEARN seeks to strengthen global portfolio experience sharing and learning,
dialogue facilitation, targeted knowledge sharing and replication in order to enhance the efficiency and
effectiveness of GEF IW projects to deliver tangible results in partnership with other IW initiatives.
IW:LEARN is currently in its fifth phase (IW:LEARN5, 2022-2026).
One of the main activities of IW:LEARN5 in 2024 is the organization of the 10th GEF International
Waters Conference (IWC10) - the signature learning event of the GEF IW portfolio. The IWC objectives
are to facilitate cross sectoral and portfolio-wide learning and experience sharing. Participants strive to
solicit advice from the existing GEF IW portfolio on burning issues and to assist in building participant
capacity in key management and technical areas. The IWC10 will take place on 23-26 September 2024
in Uruguay, with a pre-conference on 21-22 September 2024 in Montevideo, gathering 300-350
participants (from more than 100 GEF IW projects and 80 countries, and including government
representatives, project managers, staff of international and non-governmental organizations, and the
private sector. The Project Coordination Unit (PCU) of IW:LEARN, headquartered at IOC/UNESCO is
Paris is in charge of the organisation of the IWC10.
2. OBJECTIVES OF THE CONTRACT
The Contractor will design and build an interactive platform that captures the journey of the 30 years of
GEF Portfolio in International Waters, featuring success stories and multimedia content from various
projects to showcase the impact of GEF IW investments on the ground. This digital experience is
designed to highlight various global water basins, using a dynamic and engaging multimedia approach.
The platform should be map-based, open source, data-driven, and story-driven to be presented during
the IWC10 (23-26 September 2024, Punta del Este Uruguay), and further to be included in the
iw:learn.org website, as described in the Tasks below, and under the guidance of the IW:LEARN PCU.
3. SPECIFIC TASKS
The Contractor will be responsible for the production of :
3.1. Landing page
The landing page features an animated video that visually engages users while providing an overview of
GEF and IW Learn over the years. This will include dynamic visuals and interactive elements.
3.2. Main Page

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Interactive globe: Present a dynamic, interactive globe for navigation. Users can explore the globe to
discover projects visually.
Points of interest: Features clickable stars marking 30 case studies and pins for each water body with
static data on GEF investment, challenges and impact.
Detailed descriptions: Each project includes an interactive element that opens to provide detailed
descriptions, objectives, impacts, and multimedia content [see: Story Content].
Search bar: Allows users to find projects by GEF ID, title, region, water basin, or key challenge.
Filters: Sorting projects by type (e.g., rivers, lakes, aquifers, large marine ecosystems), status (active,
completed), and themes (e.g., Climate Change Adaptation, Ecosystem Services, Pollution Reduction,
Socio-economic Benefits, Innovative Technologies).
Regional segmentation: Allows users to filter projects based on geographical regions for enhanced
discoverability.
3.3. Story Content
Introduction – an introductory screen that captivates users upon entry setting the tone for a journey
through decades of environmental stewardship.
Present the 30 years celebration interactive storymap:
Celebration of the 30 years of impactful GEF projects focusing on Interntional water bodies and
highlights of the evolution of GEF’s role and achievements in International Water. Examples of
informations to feature:
• Over this 30 years GEF has funded more than 480 International Waters projects
• Funds: GEF IW has invested some US$2.8 billion and leveraged approximately US$8.7 billion in
co-financing
• Impact: financing project in more than 170 countries.
• unique mandate to support transboundary cooperation shared marine and freshwater ecosystems.
• world’s largest funding mechanism for multi-country collaboration on freshwater and the ocean.
• Animations with the interactive globe to visualize funding distribution, number of projects per
water body type, impact statistics like water quality improvements, community benefits.
• Invitation to interact with the 30 stories and have a snap picture of the projects.
GEF IW
Active projects: more than 120
Beneficiary Countries: 80
Types of Water Bodies:
• Transboundary River Basins: 60
• Lakes: 16
• Aquifers: 19 (Including projects that combine surface and groundwater)
• Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs): 24
I. The 30 best cases/stories
a) Content Layout for Each Featured Project:
• Project Header:
o GEF ID and Project Title
o Water Body Name
o Start and End Dates

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o Project Budget
o Countries Involved
o Implementing Agency(ies)
o Executing Agency(ies)
• Project Details:
o Objective: Describe the main goal of the project, focusing on its intended
impact on water resource management.
o Key Challenge: Describe the environmental/social issues addressed and
alignment with GEF's goals.

• Impact: Highlight key results and notable achievements in a storytelling.
o Impact on shared water resources: Describe improvements or conservation
efforts resulting from the project.
o Socio-economic Impact: Discuss how the project has benefited local
communities or contributed to economic development.
o Optional: Challenges and Lessons Learned: Note any obstacles encountered
during the project and insights gained that could inform future projects.
• Optional when we transfer to the website Further Reading: Links to detailed project
reports, publications, and related resources. We suggest to create a link.tree with all
the main info and material.
b) Visual and Supporting Materials:
• Images and Videos: High-quality photographs (JPEG or PNG format), before-and-after images,
video testimonials (MP4 format and up to 60 seconds subtitled in English), or documentary clips
relevant to the project.
• Graphs and Maps: Any graphical data or maps that illustrate the project’s impact or processes.
• Further Reading and Resources: Links to detailed project reports, publications, or any external
resources that provide more in-depth information on the project.
II. Static Data per water body
• Purpose: To feature the GEF IW projects summarized per water body.
• Layout: Pin on the map with static data on GEF Projects.
• Content:
o Water Body Name
o GEF IDs and Project Titles
o Start and End Dates (for the total investment)
o Project Budget (for the total investment)
o Countries Involved (for the total investment)
o Implementing Agency(ies)
o Executing Agency(ies)
o 1 to 2 Highlights per water body

3.4. Content Curation

The aim of the website is to curate and style existing IW Learn and GEF content, and in doing so
produce engaging and dynamic data visualizations. Accordingly, this is a content curation initiative, not a
content creation per se.
This would include
• Visual identity: Establish a compelling and unified visual theme that aligns with UNESCO’s branding
guidelines.

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• Content adaptation: Adapt the format and presentation of all curated content to fit the visual identity.
• Typography and colour scheme: Use standardised typography and colour schemes that enhance
readability and user engagement.
• Consistency: Maintain a consistent visual style across all content to reinforce brand identity and
improve user experience.
4. Duration of Contract
The contract will last for 5 months (August 2024 to December 2024).
5. Deliverables
• DEL 1: Present first 15 cases of best stories and 10 static stories.
• DEL 2: Present the introduction video and 50 static stories.
• DEL 3: Full storymap.
6. Qualifications and Experience
Firm
Mandatory
• At least 2 years of experience and expertise in producing high-quality storymaps and manage
waterbody data. Please, provide one to 3 links to samples of similar work done as part of the
technical proposal to support your expertise.
• Compliance with all relevant copyright and intellectual property regulations.
Desirable
Key personnel
Mandatory
• Proficiency in web-editing techniques.
• Demonstrated high quality, creativity and storytelling skills.
Desirable
• Project manager/Lead Developer has worked with at least one UN or similar international
organization
• Relevant team members have at least five years of experience in the field of communications,
marketing and advocacy
7. Assessment of Workplan and Approach
The timeline to deliver the first 30 stories, making sure to allocate time to communicate with
the IW:LEARN team and the IW GEF projects, to keep track and coordinate and adjust the
stories to the publication need.
All bidders whose proposals meet the technical requirements, as determined by the
proportion of technical criteria fulfilled, will be invited to participate in a formal interview. This
interview will provide an opportunity for bidders to present their proposals in detail and
demonstrate their capability to meet the project's needs.
Key staff from each bidding team will be expected to attend the interview. During this session,
they should be prepared to discuss their proposal comprehensively, including technical
solutions, their approach and workplan, and any other relevant aspects of their bid. The goal of

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the interview is to ensure that the bidder can effectively deliver the project as specified in the
RFP.
8. Sustainability Considerations
Within the framework of the UN Sustainability Management Strategy (2020-2030), UNESCO
has committed to promote and apply sustainable considerations in all its operations, including
those related to the procurement of goods, works and services.
Therefore, Bidders are strongly encouraged to comply with following Sustainability Criteria
(Environmental/ Social/ Economic) and provide proof of evidence on their commitment and
capacity to respond positively, to the below set of Criteria (Desirable):
• Prevention of Pollution: Bidders are encouraged to demonstrate a corporate environmental policy
or an environmental management system (ISO 14001 or equivalent)
• Gender inclusion: Bidders are encouraged to demonstrate commitment to integrate gender
mainstreaming in the project's approach and personnel structure
• Promoting sustainability throughout the supply chain: Bidders are encouraged to demonstrate that
they source responsible suppliers that incorporate environmental and social sustainability

objectives in their business practices, production methods and processes, conduct background-
check of potential suppliers for their record of social and environmental responsibility.