Tenders are invited for Consultant or Firm for End of Project Evaluation and Case Study With the North-Eastern Cottage Organization (NECO). Project Name: Improve Community Action on Biofriendly-ICAB Overview North-Eastern Cottage Organization (NECO) was founded in 2016, composed of experienced and expert persons (10 staff with 2 non-IP) who are working at the grassroots to empower communities at the Northern and the Northeastern part of Cambodia. It is registered with MoI on December 27, 2022, #7370 Prakas. included the registration with Taxation Department of Government, Labor Automated Central Management System and National Security Social Fund and Accounting and Auditing Regulation in 2023. The NECO has a main office based in Preah Vihear and Battambang provinces. The provincials target areas are covered Stung Treng, Preah Vihear, Pusat, Koh Kong and Battambang. Target groups: Kuoy, Poar ang Chong Indigenous Peoples. NECO was awarded from the GEF SPG UNDP for the project number KHM/SGP/ OP7/Y5/CORE/IPAE/2025/03 under IP Access to energy initiative programme in 2025 for a ten-month to implement the project named Improve Community Action on Bio-friendlyICAB from 4th September 2025 to 30th June 2026. The project site located in Ta Taok commune, Samlout district, and Battambang province of South Cardamom Mountain, Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary. This project is designed to strengthen the capacity of Indigenous Communities in Phnom Rai village by interpreting traditional knowledge with scientific approaches to address climate change and support of Indigenous Communal land Titling recognition. It focuses on enhancing economic, social, cultural and environment resilience through a series of targeted interventions. Central to the initiative is provide purifier water system by introducing the solar energy to IP community and a local Tuek Sok Secondary School. The project combined infrastructure development, community governance, renewable energy, and capacity building to improve access to safe drinking water, support household irrigation, and promote daily vegetable gardening while strengthening local ownership and contributing to Cambodias Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Project Information The three target villages, together with Teuk Sok Secondary School, OTraeng Village and Peam Ta Village, are long-established settlements inhabited by Indigenous ethnic minorities, including the Jarai, Kreung, and Tampuan peoples, small groups living together after 1979. These communities also include families who remained from the Khmer Rouge forces after the 1998 integration process and who now live alongside the general population. Phnom Rai Village, meanwhile, is an Indigenous Por community. All target locations are situated in Ta Tok Commune, Samlot District, Battambang Province, within the Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary, between the southern Cardamom Mountain range and the Samlot Multiple Use Area. During the period from 1991 to 1998, local communities described this area as a center of extensive illegal logging and forest destruction carried out by Thai companies, including Wooden Company and Chao Praya Company, along with three to four affiliated subsidiaries. Valuable timber and wildlife continued to disappear until 2016, before the area was officially designated as a protected area. Forest crimes persisted until 2023 despite efforts by environmental officials, wildlife sanctuary authorities, armed forces, and local authorities to prevent and suppress them. Between 2013 and 2021, the area experienced widespread land encroachment and clearing for private ownership after reports emerged that the Royal Government planned to construct a border belt road. In addition, land trading and encroachment by some local communities and outside settlers resulted in the destruction of parts of the mountainous landscape rich in steep slopes, valleys, and biodiversity, transforming them into durian plantations, cassava fields, maize farms, and other permanent agricultural plantations. KraNhoung Up-Stream, which forms the headwaters of the Sangker River and the Tonle Sap Great Lake system, has experienced a decline in water volume due to the destruction of forest cover in the area. Fish resources in the mountain streams, which Indigenous Poar communities and local residents traditionally depended upon for food, have also declined, and many wildlife species have disappeared. Construction of the KraNhoung Stream Dam began in early 2025 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2027 (a 36-month implementation period). The dam aims to store water for irrigation and reduce flooding in certain areas of Battambang Province. The dam will be 35 meters high and 343 meters long, with a reservoir area of 303 hectares. This project affects two villagesPeam Ta and OTraengwhich must be relocated because they lie within the current planned reservoir basin. As a result, residents of these villages are required to move to new locations within the same commune and district, mostly moved close to Phnom Rai village. The Indigenous Poar community of Phnom Rai Village has been facing severe water shortages during the dry season, from January to May, since 2019. This is largely due to the expansion of commercial crops such as durian, rambutan, and mangosteen, which require large amounts of irrigation water, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides. At the entrance to Phnom Rai Village, a Chinese company cultivates approximately 50 hectares of durian, bananas, and various vegetables. The company also competes for irrigation water and pumps large quantities into storage facilities using high-capacity machinery. Within this area, only OTa Vay Stream and OTa Teak Stream serve as the main water sources for local residents. During the rainy season, runoff from large plantations carries pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and other chemicals into these waterways. Throughout the year, women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities struggle to access clean water for households use and for growing home gardens that support their nutrition and livelihoods. Teuk Sok Secondary School is also facing a shortage of water for student hygiene and for vegetable gardening activities, which form part of the schools annual life-skills education program, especially during the dry season. Efforts to establish a school vegetable garden as a practical life-skills learning activity have been severely constrained by the lack of a reliable water source. To address the impacts on lives and livelihoodsparticularly for women, children, pregnant women, the elderly, widows, people with disabilities, Indigenous peoples, and especially residents of the villages that must be relocatedthe project will facilitate several interventions. These include the construction of solar-powered water wells and clean water stations, which can serve as community assets both now and in the future. The facilities will support forest protection activities, tree nurseries, youth-led irrigation for seedling production, womens home vegetable gardens, and daily household water needs. The project Improve Community Action on Bio-friendly is a pilot project that tests renewable energy technologies appropriate for Indigenous peoples lands and territories (for example, micro-hydropower, solar energy, wind energy, biogas systems, etc.). To achieve its goals, the project has established the following objectives and expected results: Objective 1: By the end of June 2026, Teuk Sok Secondary School and the Indigenous Poar community of Phnom Rai Village, Ta Tok Commune, Samlot District, Battambang Province, will have access to solar-powered clean water systems operating as community water stations. These facilities will generate community assets and support forest restoration and conservation activities, including tree nursery development and maintenance, irrigation of tree seedlings by youth groups, home vegetable gardens managed by women, and daily household water use. Expected Result 1.1: Two Clean Water Committees, comprising a total of 30 members (20 women), and one Procurement Committee consisting of 7 members (4 women), will be established and operating under approved terms of reference and working procedures. 1.1.1. Establishment of Water Purifier Committees and Regulatory Framework 1.1.2: NECO organized a one-day validation workshop to review, confirm, and endorse the drafted ground rules and regulations governing access to and benefits from the Phnum Rai pure drinking water system. 1.1.3. A one-day workshop for the Clean Water Committee and local authorities to develop a marketing strategy, with 63 participants including 45 women, conducted over one day. 1.1.4: Community Awareness and Membership Registration Expected Result 1.2: Two solar-powered clean water stationsone at Teuk Sok Secondary School and one in the Indigenous Por community of Phnom Rai Village, Ta Tok Commune, Samlot District, Battambang Provincewill be installed and fully operational. 1.2.1: Establishment and Functioning of Procurement and Quotation Committees 1.2.2. A one-day Procurement Committee meeting to prepare bidding announcements for drilling 2 wells and installing 1 water filtration system equipped with 1 solar power system, with 8 participants attending 1.2.3: Procurement Committee Meeting and Preparation of Bidding Documents 1.2.4. Two wells, each 50 meters deep with a diameter of 30 cm, were drilled at Tuek Sok Secondary School and Phnom Rey Village by the selected contractor. 1.2.5. Construction of two cement water tank stands, each 3 meters high, and procurement of two 3,000-liter aluminum water tanks, with 10 participants involved over a period of 10 days. 1.2.6: Install one water purification system for producing purified water with a capacity of 3,000 liters pe Tender Link : https://www.bongthom.com/job_list.html?category_id=55&order_by=start_date&order_dir=desc
