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BANGLADESH
Project title:
Protecting Biodiversity and Water Resources through Sustainable Chemical Management and Wastewater Pollution Reduction in the Textile, Apparel, and Leather (TAL) Industry in Bangladesh

CONSULTING SERVICES - Expressions of Interest

The Stichting ZDHC Foundation has received a 1.3 million Euro grant from Agence Française de Développement ("AFD"), and intends to use part of the funds thereof for payments under the following project Protecting Biodiversity and Water Resources through Sustainable Chemical Management and Wastewater Pollution Reduction in the Textile, Apparel, and Leather (TAL) Industry in Bangladesh.
The Services of the consultant shall consist of ZDHC Academy capacity building, providing ZDHC Performance InCheck, Verified Incheck and ZDHC ClearStream as analytical tools and technical assistance to TAL suppliers to implement sustainable chemical management framework & related pollution reduction measures via ZDHC Roadmap to Zero Programme, and follow-up on their performance. The project has an overall run-time of 42 months (2025-2028). Therefore, the services must be provided starting from 2025 and run until 2028, after the respective planning phases. KPIs and milestones for the project include:
• Cover 100 supplier sites and respective staff
• Conducting ZDHC Academy training courses as the needs of staff are identified within the first 36 months, including ETP operator training
• Supporting factories in building a Chemical Inventory List and related processes and improving their ZDHC MRSL conformance, rolling out the Performance InCheck to all supplier sites by the end of the second and throughout the third year of the project
• Conduct InCheck Verification at 50% of the supplier sites
• Conduct ZDHC ClearStream wastewater testing at 25% of the supplier sites based on risk determined by input chemistry performance and the baseline assessment
• Review the supplier site’s root-cause analysis in case of findings in ClearStream and evaluate the corrective action plans for ambitions to meet the ZDHC Wastewater Guidelines
• Provide knowledge support to supplier staff on Roadmap to Zero implementation, raising their potential to meet Supplier to Zero Level 2 within the first 36 month
The Services further include
• Liaise with and report to the ZDHC project staff and technical support team
• Liaise with Bangladesh authorities, AFD local office and other local stakeholders (e.g. brand offices)
• Liaise with and support the coordination among other international sustainability programmes and projects in Bangladesh
• Draw a roll-out and practical project plan within the first 4 months of the engagement
• Support ZDHC in performing an Environmental and Social Screening according to an AFD Environmental and Social Screening Document on factories prior to their selection.
• Co-hosting a project-related kickoff or awareness workshop with suppliers, supporting organisations (e.g. brands), associations and governmental partners.
• Conduct a baseline assessment on the status quo of Roadmap to Zero implementation at the supplier sites and the training needs of respective staff within the first year of the engagement
• Guiding the factory staff to conduct the necessary steps on InCheck, Supplier to Zero and ClearStream and in completing the ZDHC Resource Efficiency/ Air Emissions Module
• Provide practical expertise to factories on how to improve following the recommendations of the ZDHC Guidelines and platforms
• Generate and/or provide data and information necessary for implementing the Scientific Impact Evaluation of the Project and a closing evaluation
• Co-hosting of two workshops with local authorities, development agencies and international institutions
• Co-hosting further local stakeholder engagement events to support the progress of the project
• Support ZDHC as local customer support on the project
The overall objective of the grant request is to safeguard water resources & biodiversity through sustainable chemical management and wastewater pollution prevention following the ZDHC Roadmap to Zero Programme. The project also seeks to reduce pollution originating from the textile and leather industry, particularly in segments of the supply chain that have yet to adopt solutions.
The Stichting ZDHC Foundation hereby invites Applicants to show their interest in delivering the Services described above.
This Request for Expressions of Interest is open to:
q Consulting firms
q Joint Venture between consulting firms

Eligibility criteria to AFD financing are specified in sub-clause 1.3 of the "Procurement Guidelines for AFD Financed Contracts in Foreign Countries", available online on AFD’s website: http://www.afd.fr.
The Applicant shall submit only one application, either in its own name or as a member of a Joint Venture (JV). If an Applicant (including any JV member) submits or participates in more than one application, those applications shall be all rejected. However, the same Subconsultant may participate in several applications.

If the Applicant is a JV, the expression of interest shall include:
 a copy of the JV Agreement entered into by all members,
or
 a letter of intent to execute a JV Agreement, signed by all members together with a copy of the Agreement proposal,
In the absence of this document, the other members will be considered as Subconsultants.
Experiences and qualifications of Subconsultants will be taken into account in the evaluation of the applications.

Interested Applicants must provide information evidencing that they are qualified and experienced to perform those Services. For that purpose, documented evidence of recent and similar services shall be submitted.

Determination of the similarity of the experiences will be based on:
 The contract’s size;
 The nature of the Services, meaning the Consultant’s and/ or its JV to provide the demanded scope of ZDHC analytical tools (InCheck, ClearStream) and capacity building (ZDHC Academy training)
 The technical area and expertise in supporting ZDHC stakeholders in implementing the ZDHC Roadmap to Zero Programme as a ZDHC Approved Solution Provider. The role of a ZDHC Approved Solution Provider is also a necessary proof in the light of quality assurance and management.
 Track record of the Consultant and/or the JV in implementing large-scale and multi-year projects of similar size in the area of sustainable chemical management and/ or the textile, apparel and leather value chains.
The Client will also take into account for the evaluation of the applications the following items:
 Skills and availability of in-house technical back-up experts provided to the on-site experts;
 Local representation and language skills for communicating with local stakeholders
An application that does not meet any of these requirements will be rejected.]
Among the submitted applications, Stichting ZDHC Foundation will shortlist a maximum of six (6) Applicants to whom the Request for Proposals to carry out the Services shall be sent.
The Expressions of Interest must be submitted to the address below no later than 14 March 2025 .

ZDHC Foundation
Klaas Nuttbohm
Oudezijds Voorburgwal 316-B, 1012 GM Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Email: collaboration@zdhc.org
Interested Applicants may obtain further information at the address below during office hours:
Monday-Thursday 09:00 am to 02:00 pm CET
collaboration@zdhc.org